Davenport has climbed to No. 11 in the AFCA coaches poll and No. 14 in the D2Football.com poll this week after a perfect 4-0 non-conference slate. The Panthers will be well rested after a bye week as they prepare to travel to University Center for a clash with Saginaw Valley State.

The Panthers are coming off a dominant 42-7 road win at Northern Michigan in non-conference action at the Superior Dome on Sept. 19. Davenport spoiled NMU's homecoming with a strong running game and a stout defense that got after the quarterback. Cephus Harris would earn his second GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season by rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 53 yards and another score. Jonathan Palmer had his first multi-passing touchdown game of the season going 6-for-10 for 115 yards and two scores. Henry Cason caught his first TD as a Panther from 43 yards on the last play of the first quarter. B.J. Windham got his first interception of his career and returned it 29 yards to paydirt in the fourth quarter. James Young got his first career work at quarterback late in the game and rushed for a two-yard TD with 52 seconds to go. Davenport had seven sacks, just one shy of tying the school record, for a loss of 38 yards. Jalen Gaskin had two sacks for a loss of nine yards. Jaxson Engelberg recorded five tackles which included 2.5 tackles for loss and an eight-yard sack. Latrell Scott added nine tackles and 1.5 sacks for a loss of eight yards.

When it comes to the national stat rankings in Division II, DU has their fingerprints all over it.  The defense is 13th allowing just 27.3 percent conversions on third down. The defense is also 12th allowing 59 first downs and eighth yielding just 13.3 points per game. The seven sacks at NMU pushed the team to ninth averaging 3.25 sacks per game this season. The rushing attack currently ranks third averaging 312.3 yards per game. 

Saginaw Valley State opened the season with wins over McKendree and Texas A&M-Kingsville, but have dropped their last two against Northwood and Kentucky State. After winning the first two games by double digits, the Cardinals have fallen by seven points or less in the last two contests. The Cardinals are 2-0 at home and will be hosting their homecoming game against the Panthers. Devin Miles leads the team with 251 rushing yards and has scored two touchdowns. SVSU is averaging 123.8 yards per game on the ground and are giving up 84.3 yards. Connor Wolf has taken a majority of the snaps under center for the Cardinals and has completed 53-of-84 passes for 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. SVSU has a potent passing attack which ranks seventh in Division II and leads the GLIAC at 299.3 yards per game. JT Webber has been the deep threat averaging 30.4 yards per catch with two scores. Braden Hill leads the squad with five receiving touchdowns of his 11 total catches (305 yards).

The all-time series is deadlocked at four wins each between Davenport and Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals have averaged 24.3 points per game in the series compared to 18.9 for the Panthers. The Panthers have won three of the last four contests, including last year's 31-17 victory in Caledonia. The 14-point cushion was the largest margin of victory for Davenport in their four series wins. Mason McKenzie, now the starting quarterback at Boston College, threw for 188 yards and one touchdown, but was intercepted twice by Markell Gilford and Jamar Mills. D'Angelo Bellamy had a career-high 12 tackles, including nine solos. McKenzie was also sacked four times with Austin Stief recording 1.5 sacks for a loss of nine yards. D'Wan Mathis completed just five passes on the day, but two of those were for touchdowns. He found Clint Walker on a four-yard strike in the first quarter and connected with Keonta Nixon on a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter. The Panthers seized momentum early in the contest as Dom Grguric blocked a punt on SVSU's first possession and then returned it for a score. Cephus Harris rushed 17 times for 88 yards and a score. Nixon finished with three catches for 115 yards for DU. In the last visit to SVSU during the 2024 season, Davenport fell 24-14 on Nov. 2 after going scoreless through the first three quarters. The Panthers gained just 172 yards on offense and was forced to punt nine times. Mac VandenHout had an eight-yard rushing touchdown with 13:30 remaining and then threw one to Preston Smith for 18 yards with less than a minute to play.



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