This past weekend was chock-full of Michigan college football with Ferris State’s blowout win over Grand Valley State University, and a nail-biting matchup between the Michigan State Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines. College Gameday did not disappoint.
The weekend of football started at 3:00 pm with the #3 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs walking into Lubbers Stadium to face the #1 team in the nation, the Grand Valley State University Lakers. The Lakers were favored in this matchup, as their rushing offense has been the best in the country, but with their starting quarterback out due to injury early in the game, it only marked the beginning of the brutal day for Grand Valley. FSU jumped out to a 13-0 lead by the half, completely dominating the line of scrimmage as the team rushed for just under 250 yards total. GVSu’s second stringer Ike Undengwu, a junior qb, attempted to keep his team in the game but the Ferris State defense was too much, completely stopping both the passing and rushing attack of GVSU and holding the team to just 7 points. Ferris turned up their offense in the second half, scoring 3 more touchdowns and icing the game 34-7, propelling the Bulldogs up to the #1 spot in the D2 rankings.
Another bitter rivalry was put on show in the unranked Big 10 matchup between Michigan and Michigan State. The game got heated quickly, with chirpy exchanges from the receivers and defensive backs on both sides. Michigan State led strongly as they marched down the field into Michigan’s own 10, where they were stuffed and battered, attempting to settle with a chip-shot field-goal, but the kicker Jonathan Kim missed wide right, keeping the game tied. Michigan fumbled around the entire first quarter, accomplishing nothing. MSU struck first with a Nate Carter 2-yard run in the winding seconds of the first quarter, putting them up 7-0. Michigan got their head on straight and performed a methodical 10-play drive at the end of the second quarter, scoring with a touchdown pass to Colston Loveland. With a botched 2-point attempt, Michigan was down 7-6 with 30 seconds left before half. Michigan defensive end Josiah Stewart makes an astounding play by strip-sacking Aidan Chiles, allowing for Michigan to recover and kick a field goal just before half to put them up 9-7. Michigan received the second half kick and began an expert 75 yard drive that culminated in Alex Orji rushing in for the touchdown to put Michigan up 16-7. MSU was held to a field goal on their next drive thanks to a defensive stand by Michigan, leading to a 16-10 game heading into the fourth. Michigan, with the chance to take the lead after a series of punts between the teams, looked to strike. As the offense wasn’t clicking, the team decided to lean into trickers and had running back Donovan Edwards heave a ball 25 yards down the field to Colston Loveland for the touchdown. Loveland also was found again for the 2-point conversion, putting Michigan up 24-10 with about 13 minutes left in the fourth. MSU still had life as they eventually scored with a connection between Aidan Chiles and Nick Marsh for a 20-yard touchdown. Michigan floundered and punted the ball back to MSU with only a few minutes left. MSU drove all the way down to the Michigan 16, where on 4th and 5, Chiles looked to complete for the first down, but threw a bad ball and ended their chances of winning. Michigan Kneeled and the game was won by the Wolverines 24-17, concluding college gameday with a bang.
