Wildcats looking for first road win against Wayne State
MARQUETTE — Everyone loves an underdog. Considered an afterthought in the offseason, now NMU head coach Chris Ostrowsky and the Wildcats are making a huge push in the second half of the season.
The Wildcats are have already surpassed their win total from last year and have built one of the more balanced teams in the GLIAC. Coach O told me that through all the negativity, his plan was to stay the course.
“In regards to the process, you’re looking at 3 1/2 years in and we felt like you have to kind of build these things, if you’re doing it the right way, and it takes time or you’re getting lucky. it’s one or the other,” Ostrowsky said.
This year’s squad has one similar trait to last year’s team in that almost every game is going down to the wire but this time around, the Wildcats are finding themselves on the winning side more often than not.
“I thought last year this could’ve easily been an 8–3 football team. I think our players stayed committed. I think our players believed the whole time. And I think even through the losing, although it wasn’t easy, the culture stayed strong. And in regards to the noise, the outside–the–locker room opinions, good or bad, you got to take that with a grain of salt a little bit and just keep working,” said Ostrowsky.
NMU went down to the wire against Wayne State last year, as Ryan LaBerge hit the game–winning field goal with 22 seconds left to give the Wildcats the 33–30 win. And this year, head coach Chris Ostowsky isn’t taking the Warriors lightly.
“Good football team. Physical football team. They play the game with tons of physicality. They can create chaos for you. And we’re going to have to go down there and do really good. Do the things that we do, play Wildcat football and I think we clearly have created an identity and we just have to make sure that we match that identity every week,” Ostrowsky said.
The Wildcats offense has been very successful this season, as it seems a different has been able to step up in each of their wins.
And Coach O says that’s the way he likes it.
“It’s clear there’s a lot of good football players on this team and I think our assistant coaches, our staff is doing a great job just coaching these guys and developing these guys. With that being said, we still have a long way to go in our progress in wanting to become a premier program. but progress has been good and it’s week 7 now, and we just want to go to Detroit and give it the best we can,” said Ostrowsky.
The Wildcats look to get their first road win of the season as they play the Warriors this Saturday with kickoff scheduled for noon.