NMU football at Hillsdale on Saturday

Courtesy of NMU Athletics

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University football team travels to Hillsdale, Mich. to take on the Hillsdale Chargers on Saturday, Sept. 29. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. from Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium in the 38th meeting between the two schools.

NMU is 1-3 overall and 0-3 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The lone win was against UW-La Crosse in week two. The three losses have been to Findlay, Ohio Dominican and No. 17 Ashland. NMU is averaging 295.8 yards per game on 108.8 rushing and 187 passing. The ‘Cats are 18-for-58 on third down (31 percent) and 5-for-9 on fourth down. In the redzone, NMU is 8-for-13 with six being touchdowns.

Hillsdale enters Saturday’s game 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the GLIAC. The Chargers are ranked No. 13 in the D2football.com Top 25 Poll. The lone Hillsdale loss was to then No. 11-ranked California (Pa.). The three conference victories are over Ohio Dominican, Malone and Notre Dame College. Last week, the Chargers picked up the program’s 600th win with a 63-14 win over NDC.

Hillsdale was selected third in the GLIAC North in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Chargers finished 8-3 overall and 8-2 in the GLIAC in 2011, but just missed the NCAA Playoffs. Joe Glendening, the GLIAC Player of the Year, a first-team All-American and Harlon Hill trophy semifinalist in 2011, returned and Coach Otterbein was the 2011 GLIAC Coach of the Year.

Hillsdale leads the all-time series 22-14-1. The two teams first met in 1958 when the Chargers defeated the Wildcats 9-7 in Hillsdale. NMU is 4-15 in games played at Hillsdale and 10-7-1 in games played in Marquette. The ‘Cats have lost three straight to the Chargers.

Hillsdale defeated NMU 28-17 in front of 6,000 fans at the Superior Dome on Oct. 17, 2009. NMU registered 370 yards of total offense on the day (176 rushing and 194 passing). Hillsdale had a little over 400 yards for the game in total offense with 408 (132 rushing and 276 passing).

The NMU football team was defeated by No. 17-ranked Ashland 42-13 on Homecoming at the Superior Dome last Saturday (Sept. 22). The Wildcats scored a 77-yard touchdown on their first play from scrimmage but didn’t score again until the final play of the game. Ashland scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters and totaled 453 yards of offense on 258 through the air and 195 on the ground. The Eagles were 15-for-18 on third down and 5-for-5 in the redzone. Northern had 238 yards of total offense on 74 rushing and 164 passing. The ‘Cats were 6-for-14 on third down and 1-for-2 in the redzone. NMU had six punts for an average of 37 yards.

100.3 FM “The Point” carries all NMU football games. Online streaming can be found at: http://wnmufm.org/nmu-sports-stream