• Davenport played their hard-nosed brand of football last Saturday as they improved to 3-0 on the road this season with a 17-7 win at previously unbeaten William Jewell. The scoring for DU occurred in the first half with a Brandon Gielow 33-yard field goal in the first quarter and touchdowns by Myren Harris (27 yards) and D'Wan Mathis (one yard) on the ground in the second quarter. Harris ran for 102 yards on 20 carries and caught six passes for 61 yards. The Panthers limited the Cardinals to 302 total yards and sacked Tucker Griffin six times. Each team committed three turnovers in the contest.
• This week's contest against No. 2 Grand Valley State will ultimately come down to who wins the battle in the trenches. Davenport is yielding just 93.5 rushing yards per game which ranks 32nd nationally and fourth in the GLIAC. The Lakers identity is their physical play on the ground ranking third nationally and first in the conference averaging 312.5 yards per game. Both teams have been very stingy in the red zone this season as Davenport ranks fourth nationally (50 percent) and the Lakers rank eighth (55.6 percent).
• The Panther offense is still a work in progress as conference play opens on Saturday. The first half half has yielded 688 total yards compared to 514 in the second half. The scoring breakdown is 62 points in the first half compared to 27 in the second half. After 221 yards in the second half against Central Missouri, DU had just 10 second-half yards at William Jewell. 
• Grand Valley State has won the last two GLIAC championships and enter the contest having won 16 straight conference games. They get it done on both sides of the ball ranking sixth nationally in total offense (475.5) and ninth in total defense (224.5). The rushing attack is very balanced which doesn't allow the opposing defense to key on just one player. Khalil Eichelberger leads the team with 383 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Kenneth Jones has carried 37 times for 209 yards and three scores. Quarterback Avery Moore has 204 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while passing for 370 yards and two touchdowns. This season, GVSU has a total of 15 rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns.
   

• Davenport has been a quick start team through the first four games outscoring their opponents 62-19 in the first half. In addition, they have a 27-3 edge in the first quarter. If you go back to last year, over the last 14 games, Davenport has allowed just 13 points in the first quarter which has been a recipe for success. On the flip side, they will need to make adjustments in the second half as they have been outscored 51-27 this season.
• The Davenport defense has been a swarm to the ball unit and that is evidenced by 10 players recording double-digit tackles already this season. The ability to produce negative yardage plays has been a key component to allowing just 17.5 points per game. DU is sixth nationally in sacks per game (3.5) and 11th in tackles for loss per game (9.3).
• Redshirt junior Cal Doyle has been a quarterback ever since his arrival at Davenport, but who would have known that punter was his hidden talent. Doyle had never recorded a punt as a Panther until last week, but was pressed into duty at William Jewell. He averaged 43 yards on six punts and had the second longest punt in school history of 83 yards in the third quarter. Doyle was named GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.
• Myren Harris became the school's all-time leader rusher last Saturday with 102 yards at William Jewell. He currently has 1,237 yards and five touchdowns and found the end zone for the first time this season with a 27-yard TD run. He went over 100 yards on the ground for the eighth time in just 14 career games at Davenport and the second time this season. Harris is averaging 88.4 rushing yards per game at DU with the next closest average of 45.6 by Kyshawn Richards (2020-22).
• Cameren Grodhaus, the transfer from Lake Erie College, has been the biggest impact player in the secondary for the Panthers. Grodhaus leads the team with 26 tackles including 16 of the solo variety. He also has a pair of interceptions and three pass breakups. He is one of four GLIAC players with multiple interceptions this season. For his career, Grodhaus has recorded 203 tackles with 177 of those coming at Lake Erie in three seasons.
• Mike O'Horo has made the most of his opportunities in a two-QB system. O'Horo currently ranks third in the GLIAC with six touchdown throws in addition to fifth in pass efficiency rating (139.3) and fourth in passing yards (631). O'Horo had the third-best completion percentage in a game at DU going 21-of-30 (70.0) against Central Missouri. After completing just 45 percent of his passes in the first two games, O'Horo is completing 64 percent (32-of-50) in the last two games.
• Geemontae Peck has been the team's top interior defensive linemen over his 25-game career. Peck has totaled 96 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, and nine sacks. He set a career high with nine tackles at Thomas More on Sept. 7 and ranks fifth at DU in sacks and seventh in tackles for loss.

• Like most teams, the Panthers are trying to solve a way to get into the win column against GVSU. The Lakers lead 6-0 in the all-time series and have outscored the Panthers 223-28 in those contests. This will be the third matchup in Caledonia with the other games coming in 2022 (49-7) and 2018 (19-14). That 2018 meeting was the best chance at a win for Davenport as they led 14-13 before the Lakers scored on a 53-yard touchdown pass with 1:36 to play. The Panthers played without injured starting quarterback Jason Whittaker in the regular season finale last season and Grant Thwaites was thrust into the starting role. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 94 yards and an interception. DU finished with 187 total yards compared to 357 for GVSU. The Laker rushing numbers were 238 yards and five touchdowns. Tariq Reid led with the team with 120 yards and two scores.

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