• The Panthers will host Northern Michigan in the final home game of the 2024 season as the program will honor this year's senior class and salute our armed forces on military appreciation day. The Panthers are coming off a 24-14 defeat at Saginaw Valley State snapping a two-game win streak over the Cardinals. The Wildcats faced No. 2 Ferris State in the Superior Dome and fell 55-9. NMU is looking to snap a 20-game losing streak, while Davenport has already posted their third-straight winning season and hope to maintain fourth place in the GLIAC standings.
• Davenport had beaten SVSU in two close games recently, but the Cardinal defense was as good as advertised in the 24-14 setback in University Center. Davenport was held to a season low in rushing yards (52), total yards (172) and third-down conversion rate (2-of-16). The Panthers were unable to get on the board until the fourth quarter down 17-0. Mac VandenHout saw his first significant game action at quarterback and the Rockford product ran for an eight-yard touchdown and threw for an 18-yard touchdown to Preston Smith in the fourth quarter. He finished 13-of-26 for 95 yards. Christian Jones had a great game on defense with seven tackles (six solo), a fumble recovery, and the second-longest interception return in school history of 65 yards.
• The Wildcats have been building towards the future and have a potential star in freshman running back Jahi Wood (Lansing Waverly). Wood is currently fourth in the GLIAC with 476 rushing yards and has the third-most carries in the league (122). The passing game has seen four different quarterbacks in an attempt this season and as a group complete just 37.7 percent (52-of-138) with six interceptions and five touchdowns. Michael Love has caught all five of those touchdowns this season with a total of 22 catches for 443 yards.

• This year's senior class will be greatly missed and have been a big reason why the Panthers currently sit at 6-3 overall and have had the kind of success they have had over the past three seasons. In terms of offense, 87 percent of the current rushing yards and 90 percent of the current receiving yards have been accumulated by the 2024 seniors. In terms of defense, 60 percent of the team's total tackles and seven of the top 10 leading tacklers will move on next year. On special teams, DU must replace the school's leading point scorer in Brandon Gielow and terrific kick return specialist Antjuan Collins.
• The Panthers have been able to cut down on their penalties over the last five games which was a point of emphasis for the coaching staff. Through the first four games, DU committed 44 penalties for an average of 104.25 yards per game. Since that point, DU has committed 29 infractions for an average of 50.6 yards per game.
• Redshirt senior Myren Harris has four 100-yard rushing games this season. He is first in the GLIAC with 679 yards this season. He now has 1,655 rushing yards in 19 games at Davenport. If you add his two years at Wayne State, Myren currently has 3,340 career rushing yards in 38 games for an average of 87.9 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 has had five catches in each of the last two games against Roosevelt and SVSU. 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 1,578 receiving yards and became the all-time touchdown receptions leader with his fourth-quarter score at SVSU. Smith has caught a TD in four straight games.
• Graduate student Austin Alward suited up as a Panther for the 42nd time last Saturday against SVSU. His career totals equal 137 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 13th 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 172 points consisting of 27 field goals and 91 extra points. He ranks 13th currently among all NCAA Division II active kickers in field goal percentage (77.1) and 19th in field goals made (27).
• Graduate student Cameren Grodhaus, the transfer from Lake Erie College, leads the team with 66 tackles and ranks second in the GLIAC in total tackles. He also ranks in a tie for third with three interceptions in the league. For his career, Grodhaus has recorded 291 tackles with 225 of those coming at Lake Erie in three seasons. Grodhaus is currently ninth 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 464 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 (33.1) and is one of nine players in Division II to return two kicks for a touchdown this season.

• Davenport is riding a four-game winning streak against Northern Michigan into Saturday's contest. The Panthers are also a perfect 4-0 at home against the Wildcats including last year's 28-12 victory. These contests have been rather low scoring over the years with the most combined points coming in 2018 (31-30 OT) and the average margin of victory in the entire series is 8.1 points. The last two wins for Davenport have been by double digits with last year and the 2022 contest (31-21). Myren Harris ran for 141 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown in the last year's game. Caleef Jenkins also rushed for 57 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. Michael Love for the Wildcats hauled in three passes for 57 yards and a score. Justin Peake led the defense with 15 tackles. Jax Hertel also contributed 10 tackles. Austin Alward had four tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss for DU. Jaremey McQueen also had two tackles for loss.

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