Second-Ranked Ferris State Claims League Crown With Dominating Senior Day Victory

Postgame Highlights 
Postgame Press Conference 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The nationally second-ranked Ferris State University Bulldogs sent their senior class off in style on Saturday (Nov. 3) as FSU rolled past visiting Davenport 41-17 in the regular-season home finale at Top Taggart Field to clinch the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Regular Season Championship.

Ferris State improved to 10-0 on the year and finished league regular-season play unbeaten for the third time in five years with an 8-0 record.

On a day in which the Bulldogs honored 16 seniors prior to their final home game in the regular-season, the Bulldogs had a dominating first half of action, building a 34-3 halftime lead while cruising to the triumph.

Ferris State jumped in front first with 7:19 left in the first period when junior quarterback Jayru Campbell hooked up with redshirt freshman wideout Sy Barnett on a 43-yard scoring strike to finish a four-play, 57-yard jaunt.

The lead grew to 13-0 less than three minutes later when Campbell found paydirt himself on a 46-yard carry, capping a short 52-yard drive that needed only two plays.

Davenport registered its only first-half points with 30 seconds left in the first when Chris Ahmed converted a 30-yard field goal to cut the margin to 13-3 after the opening frame.

The Bulldogs, though, scored three times in the second quarter to push the advantage. Campbell opened the second with a four-yard scoring run with 10:15 left in the half, giving FSU a 20-3 edge following a short field.

Later, with 2:59 remaining in the half, senior tailback Robert Thomas found the endzone on a one-yard burst to finish a seven-play, 61-yard march that put the Bulldogs in front by a 27-3 count.

After a defensive stop, the Bulldogs got the ball back late in the half and moved 54 yards in eight plays, needing only 1:21 on the clock, to increase the lead to 34-3 on a 14-yard TD toss from Campbell to senior wideout Keyondre Craig.

The Bulldogs again increased their edge in the third period when sophomore back Marvin Campbell reached the endzone from six-yards away to finish an eight-play, 74-yard drive that was FSU's longest of the day. That gave FSU a 41-3 advantage.

The Panthers scored twice from that point forward to account for the final margin with backup QB Blake Daniels finding wideout Keion Powers on a 68-yard scoring strike to trim the lead to 41-10 at the end of three periods.

The final DU score came in the final minute with 36 seconds left on Daniels' 15-yard TD toss to Gourney Sloan.

Overall, the Bulldogs registered 395 yards of total offense with 251 on the ground and 144 in the air. Jayru Campbell ran for a game-high 145 yards rushing on 20 attempts and scored twice while completing 10-of-17 passes for 142 yards and two scores.

Barnett hauled in three catches for 77 yards with Jevon Shaw making four catches for 26 yards on the FSU side.

Defensively, the Bulldogs limited Davenport to 319 yards of total offense, including only 75 yards on the ground. Daniels completed seven-of-22 passes for 165 yards and two scores. Powers made three grabs for 77 yards and Nate Couturier had five catches for 75 yards.

The Bulldog defense was paced by safety Omari McCauley, who had a team-high seven tackles and a pass breakup. Overall, the Bulldogs had five tackles for loss to go with two sacks and 10 pass breakups in the game.

The Panthers were making their first-ever trip to Big Rapids and Saturday's game marked the return of Bulldog alum and former assistant coach Sparky McEwen along with several members of his coaching staff who were formerly involved in the FSU program. DU fell to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the GLIAC.

Ferris State won its first league title since back-to-back unbeaten regular-seasons in 2014 and 2015.

The Bulldogs will try to cap another perfect regular-season as they travel to Missouri to face William Jewell in non-league action on Saturday, Nov. 10, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. (ET) in Liberty, Mo.