No. 1 Ferris State routs Huskies, 38-10
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HOUGHTON -- No. 1 Ferris State took control right away and throttled Michigan Tech 38-10 on Saturday to stay unbeaten.
The loss ended a three-game win streak for the Huskies (4-3), who fell into an early deficit and never recovered.
The Bulldogs (7-0) got off to the fastest offensive start possible. After returning the opening kickoff to the Huskies 49, quarterback Jared Bernhardt threw a 49 yard pass to wide receiver Tyrese Hunter-Thompson just 19 seconds into the game.
The Bulldogs never slowed, putting up 471 yards of offense including 303 passing yards.
"I just felt like early on in the game we didn't tackle as well," Michigan Tech head coach Steve Olson said. "It's hard to simulate in practice some of the speed that they have. I think that affected us a little bit with some of our leverage and some of our tackling early on in the game. Offensively, we just go to continue to find ways to move the ball and be a little better. I thought our effort was good."
It set the tone for the game, despite a blizzard of Bulldogs penalty flags. They had 14 penalties for 138 yards, with six penalties all in one drive.
Ferris State also had 18 first downs. The Bulldogs were 7 of 14 on third downs and scored on all four of their red zone trips.
Xavier Wade had a day for the Bulldogs, catching six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns. His first score, in the second quarter, came on a third-and-2. Wade ran a slant, bobbling the ball a couple times before making the catch and then took off for the end zone.
Quarterback Jared Bernhardt completed 17 of 21 passes for 289 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Running back Tyler Minor rushed 11 times for 81 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs.
The Huskies, meanwhile, had 209 yards of offense and 14 first downs. They were 5 of 13 on third downs and 1 of 3 on red zone scoring.
Quarterback Will Ark was 15 of 32 for 145 yards and a touchdown. Darius Willis caught the 31-yard TD pass with 2:28 remaining in the second quarter.
Jared Smith had 26 rushing yards on nine carries for Tech. William Marano had 25 yards on 13 carries.
Defensive back Braxton Blackwell flew all over the field for Tech, leading with 13 tackles. Linebackers John Paramski and Marvin Wright had 12 tackles each.
Michigan Tech visits No. 8 Grand Valley State on Saturday.
"There are some things that never change. You have to come out, have a good week of practice, and you got to clean up what you need to do," Olson said. "It's the second time playing them, so you got to take a look at what it is that you did well the first time you play them, what it is that you might want to do differently. And then there are personnel differences that have changed over the course of the time of the first game and the second game, and how does that affect us. So those are some of the things that we'll be looking at in our game plan."
The Huskies visit Northwood on Nov. 6 and host Saginaw Valley State Nov. 13 for the regular season finale.