Following the Bulldogs’ 23rd straight victory, Ferris State will travel to Harvey Randall Wickes Memorial Stadium to take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.
The No.1-ranked Bulldogs (9-0, 5-0 in GLIAC) take on the Cardinals (5-4, 4-1 in GLIAC) with the Cardinals coming off a 31-17 loss to Davenport.
Ferris State is coming off a 70-35 victory over the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a game that saw junior quarterback Carson Gulker begin to come into his own in his new “swiss-army knife” role. Gulker had six rushes for 44 yards and one touchdown, while adding two catches for 57 yards and another touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, freshman linebacker Brady Hamby had a day for the Bulldogs, having 15 total tackles in the game. Senior defensive back Justin Payoute had five total tackles of his own, including a tackle for loss, while also snatching his fourth interception of the year.
Head coach Tony Annese touched on the win.
“We scored on every possession until we threw a Hail Mary, and on the turnover,” Annese said. “The Wildcats kept our defense off balance, they are the tenth-best rushing offense in the nation so they run it well. Coach Richardson has done a really nice job of building that program; they are really challenging.”
The 70-35 win over the Wildcats marks the fourth time the Bulldogs have scored 60 or more points in a game this season. In the past five seasons alone, the Bulldogs have had six games where they have scored 60 or more points in a game. Gulker gave his thoughts on this feat.
“Our offensive unit has a lot of trust and confidence in each other and in what we do,” Gulker said. “I think it gives us a level of confidence that we can play at such a high level and put up a lot of points week in and week out.”
The Bulldogs and Cardinals first faced off all the way back on Oct. 4, 1975, and the Bulldogs hold an all-time record over the Cardinals 29-19-1, while riding a 10-game winning streak, that spans back to 2014.
Senior slot receiver Brady Rose knows the Cardinals are a tough team, but he is confident they can pull out the win.
”Saginaw will be a tough team,” Rose said. “We always have a good game against them every year. This would be one game closer to a conference championship and that’s one of our main goals. We have to make sure to come out and play tough this week.”
For the Cardinals, coming off a tough loss to Davenport, they look to attempt to right the ship against the Bulldogs. The Cardinals rely heavily on redshirt sophomore quarterback Mason McKenzie. This year alone, he has 1668 yards with 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season, while adding 817 yards and another seven touchdowns on the ground.
McKenzie’s number one target for the year is junior wide receiver Terrence Brown Jr, who has 581 yards and six touchdowns, while adding another 181 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinals are led by senior linebacker Christian Boivin, who has 84 total tackles on the season, with three and a half sacks, eight tackles for loss and an interception.
For the Bulldogs, one of their standouts on the defense is senior defensive lineman Kailib Davis, who thus far in the season has 19 total tackles, five sacks, which leads the Bulldogs and seven tackles for loss.
The Ferris State Bulldogs will take on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals in Saginaw on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m.