After their third straight game with 50+ points, Ferris State will be traveling to Houghton to face off against the Michigan Tech Huskies.
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (6-0, 2-0 in the GLIAC) look to continue their dominance against the Huskies (5-1, 2-0 in the GLIAC), who are tied for second place in the conference.
The Huskies are off to another season where they started the season 5-1, which they did last season, but they only finished the season 7-4 and finished third in the GLIAC.
Ferris State and Michigan Tech have a long and storied history, stretching all the way back to their first matchup in 1947, where the Bulldogs won by a score of 2-0. Since then, the Bulldogs have a 24-23 game lead on the Huskies, while also having a 12-game winning streak, which goes back to 2012.
Michigan Tech has one of the better quarterback and wide receiver duos in the GLIAC. Being led by redshirt sophomore Alex Bueno, who has 1,154 yards through the air and a GLIAC-leading 12 touchdowns, while running for 385 yards and three touchdowns. With his main target being redshirt sophomore Nic Nora, having 385 yards and five touchdowns, which is the most in the GLIAC.
As the Bulldogs look to continue their winning streak against the Huskies, senior linebacker Isaiah Byars.
“We have to keep practicing hard,” Byars said. “No matter who we are playing we have to play hard and focus on our mistakes from this past week and the week goes on, we have to keep playing physical.”
The Huskies’ only loss this season came to Upper Iowa University, which took down Michigan Tech 21-14. The key in this game will be to keep the Huskies’ passing attack under wraps.
In the only two games that were close games, which were the loss to Upper Iowa and last week’s 16-14 victory against Davenport, the Huskies’ passing attack was held to less than 110 passing yards. While the Bulldogs only allow 179 yards per game through the air, they hold opponents to an average of 48% completion.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Wyatt Bower spoke about what it means to have the defense playing at such a high level.
”Yeah our offense has been playing great this year,” Bower said. “But the defense has been playing lights out for us. We wouldn’t have the success that we have been having without them, they have been playing their butts off.”
While this past week Ferris showed out once again in their third straight shutout against Wayne State, something the Bulldogs have not done since 1970, when they shut out Wisconsin-Milwaukee, North Park and Illinois-Chicago.
In the shutout against Wayne State, the Bulldogs defeated the Warriors 59-0. The Bulldogs were led by sophomore quarterback Chase Carter, who was put in during the second quarter. Carter went 7-10 with 112 yards and a touchdown, while adding 11 rushes for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
This victory has set a new school record for 20 consecutive wins, surpassing the previous mark of 19 set between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Head coach Tony Annese spoke about the new school record and what it means to his team.
“I told them after the game that is 20 wins in a row, which is a school record,” Annese said. “I think this school has existed for a long time, so when your making that kind of mark with school records that’s a moment of pride for them, and I’m proud of them.”
The Bulldogs will take on the Huskies this week in Houghton at Kearly Stadium for a 12 p.m. gametime.