Ferris State Football Crimson & Gold Spring Game Saturday At Top Taggart Field

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University football fans will have an opportunity to watch the back-to-back NCAA Division II National Quarterfinalists in action as they prepare for the 2018 gridiron campaign when the Bulldogs hold their annual Crimson & Gold Spring Game this Saturday, April 14, at Top Taggart Field.

The annual spring contest will begin at 12 p.m. (ET) and "Bulldog Nation" is invited and encouraged to attend.

Saturday's game will once again also coincide with the "The Big Event". Students and members of the FSU community will take part in the 11th annual "Big Event", an annual community-wide cleanup and service effort in Big Rapids on Saturday morning. The important civic initiative which ranks as the state's largest student-led community service event.

The annual Crimson & Gold Spring Game will also be broadcasted live on the Bulldog Sports Network and local flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM with Rob Bentley and Sandy Gholston on the call starting with pregame coverage at 11:30 a.m. It will be streamed online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

The Crimson & Gold Spring Game will wrap up FSU's official spring practice drills under head coach Tony Annese. The Bulldogs opened the spring workouts on March 16 and the slate includes a total of 15 workouts per NCAA regulations.

Saturday's contest will provide fans with an opportunity to watch the Bulldogs for the first time since last fall's second consecutive run to the national quarterfinals in a game-like situation under Coach Annese and his staff. The spring game will feature a modified scoring and timing format with official rosters to be announced later this week.

The Bulldogs will begin their 110th season of varsity competition this coming fall with their sights set on making a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Along with reaching the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals in 2017 for the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs also made their fourth-straight trip to the D2 Playoffs and posted an 11-2 record, marking the first time in school history in which FSU has won 11 games or more in four-straight seasons. Last summer, Hero Sports picked FSU as Michigan's Best College Football program regardless of division.

Over the last four seasons at Ferris State, the Bulldogs have compiled a 45-7 overall record and made four consecutive NCAA Playoff appearances, claimed two conference championships, posted two unbeaten regular-seasons, twice made the national quarterfinals, captured a regional title and reached the national semifinals. Ferris State has also accumulated two Harlon Hill National Player of the Year trophies, twice had a student-athlete tabbed as the nation's National Scholar-Athlete of the Year and won six postseason games.

In the six seasons under Annese, the Bulldogs have become a national power on the Division II level. FSU has posted a 60-14 overall mark in the last six years and the Bulldogs have also posted the best winning percentage of all 21 collegiate programs in the state of Michigan along with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) since his arrival. Twice he's been tabbed as the Super Region Coach of the Year at Ferris State.

Overall, Annese has won 83% of his games as a head coach on the collegiate and prep levels and owns 285 wins to date, which is the most of any current GLIAC member head coach at all levels.

Ferris State will return nearly 50 letterwinners for the 2018 campaign.