Week 5 Preview | Oilers Welcome #1 Ferris State to Donnell
The Game
Findlay is extremely familiar with its' opponent this week as the top-ranked Ferris State Bulldogs are coming to town. The two teams have played nine times since 2010 but have not played in Donnell Stadium since 2017 as the last three matchups have been played in Big Rapids, Michigan. On Saturday, Oct. 1, the defending national champion and current #1 team in Division II will kickoff against the Oilers at noon in Donnell Stadium.
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Head Coach Allen
Head Coach Kory Allen is in his first year at the helm of the Findlay football program and, as an assistant, has helped lead the Oilers to multiple NCAA D2 Playoff appearances and a Great Midwest Championship. Allen has spent 16 years on staff in various other roles including offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and recruiting coordinator.
In Week 3 against Southwest Baptist, Coach Allen picked up his first victory as a head coach, defeating the Bearcats 52-35 in Donnell Stadium.
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Kory Allen Interview ahead of Ferris State (Tim Montgomery)
2022 Findlay Football Coaching Staff
Findlay Oilers (1-3, 0-2 G-MAC)
Through four games, not many would have guessed that the Oilers would be sitting at 1-3 after the team came off a G-MAC Championship and NCAA Playoff appearance last season. However, with a front-loaded schedule, the Oilers have a series of games that should get the team back to its' winning ways. The back end of the more daunting portion of the schedule is this week with the welcoming of #1 Ferris State to Donnell Stadium this Saturday. The Bulldogs have the longest winning streak in all of college football at 17 games and have not lost to the Oilers since 2011. However, of all the teams Ferris State takes on, Findlay frequently gives them the some of the toughest competition. In 2019, when the Bulldogs were ranked #2 in the country, the Oilers were a two-point conversion away from victory on the road, losing 24-23. Again, in 2015 and 2016, while the games ended in losses, those games were decided by a total of six points. In the last ten meetings between the two schools, Findlay is averaging 25 points per game.
Coming off a big time performance last week, one of the points of interest for Ferris State will certainly be Findlay running back Garret Clark. Last week he rushed for 252 yards against North Greenville and this year is the G-MAC leader with 438 rushing yards. At 6.3 yards per carry, his impact will be key to picking up first downs and moving the ball against a stingy Ferris State defense.
At quarterback, Jeremy Hunt is still finding his rhythm with the offense, but has shown flashes of a high ceiling through four games. He has completed 60 passes for 782 yards this season, eight of which have gone for touchdowns. His favorite target has been Findlay's do-everything wide receiver, Tanner Schroeder. Through four games, Schroeder has 18 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown. The McComb, Ohio native also serves as the team's holder on field goals, is the top punt returner, and also serves as the team's punter where he ranks second in the Great Midwest at 39.9 yards per punt and leads the league with four punts of more than 50 yards this season including a punt of 65 yards, the longest in the G-MAC this season.
Tight end Mike Rigerman has been a force, as well, and ranks second on the team in receiving yards. He has ten receptions for 170 yards and three scores this year. His best game came against Southwest Baptist where he had 105 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory.
Defensively, junior Grey Brancifort is the leading tackler in the conference with 40 stops thus far. Senior Marqis Stokes has 30 tackles while senior Jeremiah Jackson has 28. Jackson also has an interception and a fumble recovery to his credit this season. Linebacker Kyle Nunn has been all over the field this season, making 20 tackles and leading the team with three tackles-for-loss.
About the Opponent - #1 Ferris State (3-0, 0-0 GLIAC)
The defending national champion Bulldogs come into Saturday's game ranked atop all of Division II, and rightfully so. FSU has won 17 consecutive games, the longest active win streak in all of NCAA college football. December 14, 2020 was the last loss on the football field for the Bulldogs, a loss that came in the D2 National Championship that year. Since 2014, FSU has a record of 89-9 (.910).
It is difficult to pinpoint the Bulldogs' standout players as so many have contributed to the team's success. Quarterback Mylik Mitchell is listed as the team's starter but is one of four quarterbacks who have seen action thus far. The leading passer is actually Evan Cummins who is 24-for-45 for 364 yards and three scores while Jesse Rivera and Carson Gulker both have two games played and eight passing attempts. Gulker, in fact, is the team's leading rusher with 29 carries for 134 yards despite being listed fourth on the Bulldogs' QB depth chart. Last week against Waldorf, Gulker had 51 yards on ten carries, five of which went for touchdowns. He currently leads the country with nine rushing touchdowns this season.
The running-back tandem of Zamir Knighten and James Coby will do the bulk of the work out of the backfield but have only combined for 24 carries, 99 yards, and zero touchdowns. Their role in the offense is reduced thanks to the quarterback friendly system at Ferris State that allows athletic QBs to make most of the plays. That system has produced a myriad of GLIAC Player of the Year winners and multiple Harlon Hill finalists including Jared Bernhardt last season and Jayru Campbell in 2018, that year's Harlon Hill recipeint.
At wide receiver, first team all-GLIAC performer Xavier Wade, second team all-GLIAC performer Tyrese Hunt-Thompson, and honorable mention all-GLIAC wide out CJ Jefferson are the headliners. Hunt-Thompson is the leading receiver with ten receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown while Xavier Wade has five catches for 169 yards and two scores.
On defense, the wrecking ball is defensive end Caleb Murphy. Last year's GLIAC Defensive Lineman of the Year has 26 tackles through three games to lead the team. He currently has 12.5 tackles-for-loss, which ranks second in the country, and 7.5 sacks. He also has two forced fumbles this season. For his career, Murphy leads all of Division II and ranks second in the NCAA (all divisions) in tackles-for-loss per game at 2.0 and leads all of college football at 1.3 sacks per game for his career. He is the unquestioned leader of a defense that is averaging 11 tackles-for-loss per game, fourth in the country, and has five sacks per game, second in the country.
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