• This week's contest features a pair of quality teams looking to remain in a position to fight for the GLIAC championship. Davenport, Saginaw Valley State, and Grand Valley State are all 3-1 in a three-way tie for second place. Meanwhile, Ferris State is 4-0, but has games against SVSU and DU in the last two weeks of the regular season.
• Davenport played their brand of smash-mouth football last Saturday in a rugged 19-14 win at Roosevelt to improve to 5-0 on the road this season. The Panthers are now 11-3 since the beginning of the 2022 season on the road. The Panthers held the Lakers to a program-record minus-21 rushing yards on 22 attempts. The last time a team was held to negative rushing yards was when Roosevelt was Robert Morris and DU held them to minus-6 rushing yards in the 2018 season opener. The Panther defense held the Lakers to a season-low 156 total yards and just 2-of-11 on third down conversions. The defense also limited the GLIAC's leading receiver sophomore Keonta Nixon to three catches for 70 yards (44 yards below his season average). Preston Smith hauled in a touchdown reception for the third week in a row coming on a 24-yard pass from Mike O'Horo in the second quarter. Antjuan Collins also took a kickoff back for a score for the second time this season with a 87-yard sprint to begin the second half.
• The Cardinals feature a stingy defense allowing 14.5 points per game which ranks third in the GLIAC and 15th in NCAA Division II. The Cardinals have a relentless pass rush as evidenced by ranking first in the conference and third in NCAA Division II with 3.63 sacks per game. Senior Leonard Henry IV leads DII with 10.5 total sacks and 1.31 per game. SVSU has a similar schedule to DU with four home games and seven away games. This is their third home game of the season.

• The Davenport passing game numbers might not overwhelm you, but this season it is having success when called upon. The 2024 season is currently second in the brief history of the program completing 56.9 percentage through the air (120-of-211). It trails the 2016 inaugural season by a mere one-tenth of a percentage point. The pass efficiency rating is 130.4 which is first all-time.
• The special teams unit for the Panthers has been a priority under head coach Sparky McEwen and this year is no exception. Brandon Gielow is 22-of-22 in extra points and 8-of-10 in field goals. He ranks first in the GLIAC and 12th in Division II in FG percentage. The Panthers have also blocked four kicks which leads the league and is 22nd in Division II. The kickoff units both lead the GLIAC averaging 30.81 yards per return and allowing just 14.59 yards per return. They are second in Division II in kickoff return average and sixth in kickoff return average allowed.
• Redshirt senior Myren Harris had his first back-to-back, 100-yard rushing games this season with 137 at Roosevelt. He moved up to first in the GLIAC with 642 yards this season. He now has 1,618 rushing yards in 18 games at Davenport. If you add his two years at Wayne State, Myren currently has 3,303 career rushing yards in 37 games for an average of 89.3 per game. He is currently ranked seventh in NCAA Division II in career rushing yards among active players and is tops in the GLIAC.
• Senior Preston Smith has at least two catches in every game this season for the Panthers and had a season-high five catches at Roosevelt. Prior to that, he caught four passes for a season-high 111 yards and a score against Wayne State. It was his fourth career 100-yard plus receiving day and the first since 112 yards on nine catches against Wayne State on Oct. 15, 2022. With his third catch against WSU, Smith hit 100 career receptions to become just the third Panther to ever accomplish that feat. He is second all-time at DU with 1,533 receiving yards and tied Nate Courturier for the all-time receiving touchdown record with his 17th at Roosevelt.
• Graduate student Austin Alward suited up as a Panther for the 41st time last Saturday against Roosevelt. He finished with two solo tackles and a 13-yard sack. His career totals equal 136 tackles, 40.5 tackles for loss, and 19.5 sacks. He ranks seventh all-time in tackles, first in tackles for loss, and first in sacks. He is currently tied for 10th among active NCAA Division II players in career sacks.
• Senior Brandon Gielow reached a milestone earlier this season becoming the all-time leading scorer in school history. He currently has 170 points consisting of 27 field goals and 89 extra points. He ranks ninth currently among all NCAA Division II active kickers in field goal percentage (79.4) and 19th in field goals made (27).
• Graduate student Cameren Grodhaus, the transfer from Lake Erie College, leads the team with 61 tackles and ranks second in the GLIAC in total tackles. He also ranks in a tie for second with three interceptions in the league. For his career, Grodhaus has recorded 286 tackles with 225 of those coming at Lake Erie in three seasons. Grodhaus is currently 10th among active NCAA Division II players in career tackles.
• Senior Antjuan Collins was named GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week at Roosevelt. Collins became the first Panther ever to return two kickoffs for a touchdown when he opened the third quarter with an 87-yard kick return to the house. Earlier this year, he returned a 96-yard kick return in the first quarter at Michigan Tech to set a new school record for longest kick return. This season, Collins has 432 kick return yards which is second in a season at Davenport. In addition, he currently ranks fifth in NCAA Division II in kickoff return average (33.2) and is one of eight players in Division II to return two kicks for a touchdown this season.

• The Panthers and Cardinals have had some thrilling games over the past two seasons with the Panthers claiming wins in 2022 (29-28) in University Center and 2023 (24-21) in Caledonia. The all-time series is tied at 3-3 with the Panthers winning twice in three tries at Saginaw Valley State. Last year's contest provided one of the most exciting finishes in DU history and propelled the Panthers to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the GLIAC. DU trailed 21-16 with 1:39 left in the game and drove 92 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Panthers converted on two fourth-down plays on the drive, including the game-winning play as Jason Whittaker ran for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 10-yard line with 11 seconds to go. Caleef Jenkins had a successful two-point conversion run for the final score of 24-21. Current projected starting quarterback Mason McKenzie (Caledonia HS) made his first collegiate start passing for 156 yards and rushing for 54 yards and a score. 

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