• The Davenport football program will be playing a team from the state of Maryland for the first time this Saturday as they welcome Bowie State to The Farm in Caledonia, Michigan for a noon kickoff. Both teams are coming off wins in week one as Davenport hosted Thomas More and picked up a 31-17 victory. The Saints were playing as a NCAA Division II football member for the first time in a transition from NAIA and are members of the G-MAC. Bowie State traveled to Delaware State and beat the FCS opponent 22-11. Both teams are receiving votes in this week's AFCA Division II national poll. Bowie State is garnering 38 poll points, while Davenport is sitting at 13 poll points.

• Jason Whittaker was named the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week for week one of the 2023 season on Tuesday. It is the fourth time receiving this weekly honor in his career at Davenport. Whittaker continued where he left off last season by throwing three touchdown passes with no picks in the 31-17 win over Thomas More. Whittaker threw for 276 and completed 65 percent of his passes in windy conditions. It was the fifth game of his Davenport career with three or more touchdown passes in a game. In addition, he accounted for a fourth touchdown with a one-yard run in the second quarter. Whittaker spread the ball to his teammates as he completed at least one pass to 10 different receivers in the victory.

•  The secondary went through some changes in the offseason, but may have found a new ball hawk and run stuffer in redshirt senior transfer Alaric Wooten. In his first game since coming from Western Illinois, he led the team with eight tackles including four solo stops against Thomas More. He also finished with 1.5 tackles for a loss of four yards and broke up a pass in the fourth quarter on 4th-and-10 which helped seal the victory.
• Linebacker Julius Wilkerson in his first game as a Panther after transferring from Wayne State, finished second on the team with six tackles which also included a half tackle for loss.
• Sophomore Xavier Marquez made his presence known as well on the back end of the defense. He finished with three tackles and led the team with three pass breakups. In addition, Marquez got his first interception as a Panther late in the fourth quarter with 1:40 remaining.
• On the offensive side of things, redshirt junior running back Myren Harris, a transfer from Wayne State, led the team with 82 rushing yards on 15 carries. He also caught three passes for 27 yards.
• Sophomore slot receiver Antjuan Collins opened some eyes in his debut with a team-leading seven catches for 81 yards and the first touchdown of the season for Davenport. Collins caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jason Whittaker on the second drive of the season.
• Lake Erie transfer Peyton Brown who had over 1,000 receiving yards last season, began his DU career with two catches for 73 yards. He caught a 47-yarder on 4th-and-1 at midfield to extend the first drive of the game and later in the quarter on 2nd-and-8 at the DU 43, he hauled in a 26-yarder to help setup DU's third touchdown.

• Junior wide receiver Preston Smith seemed like the No. 1 target heading into the season with the graduation of Sy Barnett. Smith was a Second Team All-GLIAC performer in 2022 and opened up 2023 with two touchdown catches against Thomas More. It was the third time in 11 career games at DU with multi-TD catches in a game. He caught a five-yard fade route in the back corner of the end zone to give DU a 14-0 first quarter lead and later in the fourth quarter scored the final touchdown for the Panthers on a 32-yard touchdown pass in which he weaved his way between defenders and into the end zone for the eighth time in his career. He finished the game with five grabs for 51 yards.
• Redshirt junior Austin Alward is coming off a First Team All-GLIAC campaign in 2022 and got off on the right foot in week one. He finished with five tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hurry last Saturday. In 25 career games as a Panther, Alward now has 87 tackles and 26.5 tackles for loss for his defensive end position.
• Sophomore Jaremey McQueen had a career-high five tackles including two solo stops versus Thomas More. McQueen was also credited with a half sack and forced a fumble in the first quarter which led to the first touchdown for the Panthers.
• Redshirt junior Daniel Wheeler also had a career-high four tackles with 2.5 coming behind the line of scrimmage. He also had one sack for a loss of six yards.
• Redshirt senior Nick Cain got a chance to start in one of the safety spots and came through with four tackles just one shy of his career high. He also picked off his third career pass coming in the fourth quarter which led to Davenport's final touchdown.

Live Video - Fee (FloSports)

Live Stats

Live Audio (96.1 The Game with Rick Berkey and Bill Rohn)

Tickets

Complete Game Notes