Michigan Tech opens its 104th football season at Kearly Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5, hosting Midwestern State at noon in Houghton.
Both teams enter at 1-0. The Huskies survived a 31-29 road thriller at Bemidji State on Aug. 27, while the Mustangs beat Missouri Southern 30-23 in their opener.
"I loved the way our guys battled and found a way to make one more play at the end," head coach Dan Mettlach told WZMQ after the Aug. 27 win at Bemidji State. "… We obviously have some things to clean up at the end of the game with three straight penalties there and protecting a two-score lead."
Quarterback Elliott Larner drove that opener, going 14-for-22 for 153 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 64 yards and two more scores. Wide receiver Nic Nora hauled in four catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, then threw a 36-yard trick-play touchdown pass to Abram Larner. Running back Jake Rueff added 78 yards on the ground at 4.6 per carry.
Tech built a 31-14 lead before Bemidji State scored 15 straight in the fourth quarter. The Beavers scored with 41 seconds left to pull within two, but their two-point conversion pass sailed over the receiver. Tech recovered the onside kick.
Defensively, linebacker Chase Koch posted 11 tackles against Bemidji State. Koch earned 2025 D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Second Team honors after leading the Huskies with 105 tackles last season. Joey Donohue added an interception and a sack.
The Huskies return four 2025 All-GLIAC First Team selections: senior left tackle Brandon DeVries, Nora, defensive tackle Pierce Miller and Koch. DeVries, a two-time team captain with 32 career games, was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List this season.
Mettlach, the 2025 GLIAC Coach of the Year, begins his fourth season with a 20-13 record. The Huskies were picked third in the GLIAC preseason coaches poll, behind Ferris State and Grand Valley State.
Midwestern State's offense leaned on the pass in its opener. Quarterback Kaden Brown completed 32 of 38 throws for 390 yards and two touchdowns against Missouri Southern. Dominic Cox caught 10 balls for 81 yards. Third-year head coach Rich Renner's squad went 3-8 last season and was picked eighth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll.
The last meeting between these teams came Sept. 17, 2022, at Memorial Stadium. Midwestern State won 28-21, scoring on a 52-yard interception return with 12 seconds left to cap a 21-point fourth quarter after trailing 21-7.
Tech has won five straight home openers at Kearly and holds a 63-36-4 all-time record in home-opening games, according to Michigan Tech athletics.
Fans can listen on Mix 93.5 FM WKMJ with play-by-play announcer Josh Ylitalo, or stream online at mix93.fm and Pasty.com. The game will also stream on FloCollege.
After the home opener, Tech travels to Emporia State in Kansas on Sept. 12 before hosting Upper Iowa for Homecoming on Sept. 19. GLIAC play opens at Roosevelt on Oct. 3.
