Saginaw Valley State will visit Big Rapids, Michigan, to take on Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference powerhouse and two-time defending NCAA Division II national champion, Ferris State. 

Their Week 6 matchup will take place at the 6,200-seat Top Taggart Field, the home of the Ferris State football team since 1957.

SVSU (2-3) started the season with two nonconference wins, but the Cardinals have been grounded during a three-game skid that includes being outscored 111-31 over those three losses. 

Last Saturday, SVSU opened conference play against reigning Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Grand Valley State, and the Cardinals got shellacked, 55-14. 

Saginaw Valley State mustered just 142 yards of total offense in the loss, while giving up 411 yards to the Lakers. Somehow, SVSU held the ball for nearly a minute longer than GVSU, but only managed to score one offensive touchdown. The Cardinals’ other score came on a Micah Cretsinger interception.

Ferris State’s GLIAC opener went much better, as the top-ranked Bulldogs scored a school-record 78 points in a 78-3 homecoming win over Northern Michigan. The previous record was 75 points, scored against McKendree in 2014.

• Subscribe To FloFootball To Watch All The GLIAC Football Action In 2023
• Saginaw Valley State Football In 2023: What To Know About The Cardinals
• Ferris State Football In 2023: What To Know About The Bulldogs

The performance included 705 yards of total offense and helped Ferris State get to 3-1 on the year. The big win came after a 17-10 loss to Montana, now a top-15 FCS team, on Sept. 16. 

The upcoming meeting with SVSU may not be the biggest test for Ferris State, but it will be important to keep the momentum going ahead of a huge clash with Grand Valley State (the annual Anchor-Bone Classic) that could go a long way to determining this year’s GLIAC champion. 

Ferris State is ranked No. 1 in the latest D2Football.com Top 25 Poll, and GVSU is No. 4. SVSU is not ranked.

Saginaw Valley State and Ferris State have met 47 times since their first matchup in 1975, but the recent years haven’t been kind to SVSU.

Ferris State enters this year with an eight-game winning streak, including a 33-28 win last season. 

The Bulldogs lead the series 27-19-1. The last time the Cardinals won was a 31-28 road victory in 2013.

When Is Saginaw Valley State Vs. Ferris State?

The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals will take on the Ferris State Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. EST at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Michigan.

How To Watch The Saginaw Valley State Vs. Ferris State Football Game

Football action is streaming live on FloFootball and the FloSports app, including the Saginaw Valley State and Ferris State football game during Week 6. 

Replays and postgame highlights also will be available on both platforms. 

What To Know About Saginaw Valley State Football

Facing top-4 teams in back-to-back weeks definitely was going to be a challenge for Saginaw Valley State, and the Cardinals did not handle the first very well.

SVSU lost this year’s Battle of the Valleys to Grand Valley State last week, 55-14. 

The loss included a 94-yard kick return, a 57-yard punt return, a sack fumble and a pick-six—all avoidable mistakes that made the meeting with the No. 4 team in the D2Football.com Top 25 Poll seem like a true blowout.

This season, the Cardinals are averaging 307 yards per game, which includes a 142-yard effort against GVSU. They started the year with 496 yards against Winona State (406 on the ground), but the numbers continue to decline, especially from the rushers (406-230-81-77-34).

Redshirt freshman running back Terrance Brown has been the wheels of the SVSU operation, rushing 62 times for 350 yards—almost more than the next three guys combined—but he only had 20 yards last week against the Lakers. Despite averaging 70 yards per game, Brown has only found the end zone twice.

Through five games, no SVSU receiver has more than 185 yards, and only two have caught touchdown passes. 

Sophomore quarterback Mike O’Horo leads the team’s three QBs in attempts (49), completions (29) and yards (317).

Whether it’s offensively or defensively, the Cardinals will need to figure out a way to score more points against Ferris State, the No. 1 team in Division II football.

Through five games, SVSU has scored just 96 points, while Ferris State has put up 180 points in four games, including 78 last week in a conference win over Northern Michigan. 

What To Know About Ferris State Football

Ferris State is on a quest to become the first team since North Alabama in 1995 to win three consecutive Division II titles, and the Bulldogs likely also have their eyes on returning to the top of the GLIAC standings, a perch they fell from last year with a regular-season loss to eventual conference champion Grand Valley State. That ended Ferris State's run of GLIAC titles at three (2018, 2019, 2021).

It its three victories in 2023, Ferris State has scored 170 points. Overall, the Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents 180-78.

The Bulldogs are averaging 510 yards (289.8 rushing and 220.3 passing) and 45 points per game, while limiting their opponents to 238 yards and 15 points per contest.

Four quarterbacks have thrown passes for Ferris State this season, and all of them saw action last week against Northern Michigan. 

Senior Mylik Mitchell tops the charts—32-for-52 for 474 yards, three touchdowns and one interception—but sophomore QB Carson Gulker is the team’s leading rusher with 264 yards on 48 attempts. He has scored six times. 

Not to be outdone, sophomore quarterback Trinidad Chambliss earned GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors following the Bulldogs’ blowout of Northern Michigan. He rushed for a career-high 125 yards on five carries and scored twice in helping FSU to its record final total (78 points). 

Chambliss also completed 4-of-7 passes for another 30 yards. 

What’s The Weather Forecast?

The day game at Top Taggart Field on Saturday will see a high temperature of 50 degrees, as summer temps in the 80s will be long gone by game time. Into the evening Saturday, temperatures will dip into the high 30s.

There is a 64 percent chance of rain during the day, and winds are expected to be around 10-20 mph. 

Archived Footage On FloFootball

Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloFootball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

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