2010 Record: 3-6 Overall, 3-5 GLIAC

2009 Record: 9-3 Overall, 8-2 GLIAC, Lost in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA tournament to Nebraska-Kearney

Last game: L 41-27 to Wayne State (Mich.)

Players to watch: SVSU: sophomore Ronnie Lark RB, senior Andrew Beaver WR, senior Wayne Sanders LB, redshirt freshman Ryan Busch DT NMU: senior DJ Oke CB, senior John Blessing LB, senior Dustin Brancheau WR, senior Jason DuMont LG

Key matchup: NMU’s offense vs. the clock. For the Wildcats to win this game, they need to stick to their own strengths as SVSU has imploded multiple times this year, whether by lack of discipline with turnovers or lack of defensive poise in the final quarter. The strength in this game will be the rushing attack and with that comes longer scoring drives. The Wildcats have to start off strong like they did against Tiffin and manage the clock well, because if they don’t, they will not have the power to effectively run a balanced two minute drill.

Key stat: The Cards are 0-4 when they turnover the ball three or more times in a game. That shouldn’t be too hard for NMU to reach as SVSU is -4 in the turnover ratio. SVSU is also 1-4 when allowing 20 points or more this season.

Prediction: On paper, Northern should be the clear favorite, but SVSU is the team that just never got it together after their predicted second place finish to start the season in both the GLIAC coaches poll and D2football.com rankings. NMU will have the support of the Dome, and the hearts of the seniors, and those intangibles will be the difference in a nailbiter.

NMU 21, SVSU 18