Ferris State Football begins their offseason following a quick end to their back-to-back championship defense.
The Bulldogs lost a tough matchup against their archrival Grand Valley State (10-1) in the first round of the playoffs 21-14 on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale.
The Bulldogs still finished the season with a winning record of (8-3, 5-1 in conference). The Bulldogs went undefeated (5-0) at Top Taggart Field this season but were 3-3 on the road.
The early playoff exit marks an end to a three year streak of national championship berths. The three loss season also signifies first season with three losses since 2016.
For head coach Tony Annese, this season wasn’t a failure despite the new territory they find themselves in.
“Really proud, it was obviously three tough losses in the season which hasn’t happened in a quite long time here,” Annese said. “It’s a fickle game, obviously winning is hard and so I was proud of our guys. We still had a great year, I really truthfully think you know this team is good enough to win the national championship.”
This team still had a lot of success this year on both sides of the ball this season. The offense was electric and scored 442 points with an average of 40.2 points per game, 5,038 yards of total offense with an average of 458 yards per game, 240.9 yards through the air, and 217.1 yards on the ground.
The Bulldog defense was tough as they were able to force 16 interceptions for 149 yards and recovered seven fumbles with three touchdowns for the defense. They also had 698 tackles on the season and 16 sacks only allowing 282.2 yards per game and 17.9 points per game to keep that offense on the field.
This season marks the ninth consecutive year the Bulldogs have made the DII playoffs. Annese believes that the program’s achievements and success reflects back on the people who have helped build it.
“It shows that our program is really strong,” Annese said. “Being the team out of 161 teams that have been in the playoffs the most consecutive times it’s really something to say about our staff and our players.”
Bulldog football will look different next year due to inevitable roster turnover through either transfers or graduation. Senior quarterback Mylik Mitchell, whose final year as a Bulldog came to a close with the loss, hasn’t lost any love for his teammates and is excited to see what the future holds for the program.
“I love my guys, like coach is saying I’m not disappointed in nobody, I love them,” Mitchell said. “I can’t wait to come back and watch the young guys play. I know they’ve been hungry and so I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”
The Bulldogs did not have the season they hoped for but now they enter the offseason. There will be a lot of questions for the Bulldogs to answer between now and the kickoff of the 2024-25 season. However, if the past three seasons are any indication of what is to come, the Bulldogs may not stay down for long.