Special Thursday Night Showdown To Kickoff The 2016 Ferris State Football Campaign

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The two-time defending Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Champion Ferris State University football squad will open its 2016 slate with a special Thursday night season-opening showdown against the Ohio Dominican Panthers this fall.

The contest, which was originally slated to be played on Saturday, Sept. 3, has been moved up two days and will now take place on Thursday, Sept. 1, at FSU's Top Taggart Field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) under the lights in Big Rapids.

The special Thursday night matchup will take place in conjunction with FSU's annual Founders Day celebration and also coincides with the university's annual Bulldog Beginnings event that takes place at the beginning of the school year. FSU is a preseason top 20 team in the country for the third consecutive year and has won 25-straight regular season contests.

"This Thursday night game will serve as a tremendous kickoff for the 2016-17 athletics season and the Labor Day weekend," said FSU Associate Athletics Director Jon Coles. "Our fan support and crowds have grown the past few seasons with the success of our team and we're expecting this game to be a big draw as it will be one of the marquee matchups in the GLIAC. Moving this game to a Thursday night will help attract a great student crowd to support our team.

"We're excited to partner with Bulldog Beginnings and our campus Greek community to make this a fun evening and appreciate all of their support," he added.

Ferris State's annual Founders Day celebration and ice cream social will precede the contest. In addition, FSU Athletics and Bulldog Beginnings will partner to help promote the evening.

"We are incredibly excited to be able to give our students an opportunity to attend a Ferris football game during the first week of class," said Nick Campau, Interim Dean of Student Life at FSU. "By hosting this game on Thursday, more students will able to attend prior to departure for the Labor Day weekend. 

"The Bulldog Beginnings is also thrilled to have a home football game following our Founders Day activities," he added. "Bulldog Beginnings is a series of welcome events on campus that promote engagement and Bulldog pride each year. An athletic event is a great marriage of engagement and school pride so this will be a tremendous night."

Ohio Dominican captured back-to-back GLIAC South Division championships in 2013 and 2014 before finishing second in the division last fall. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back league titles the past two seasons under two-time reigning GLIAC Coach of the Year Tony Annese.

"Our team is thrilled to open the season under the lights on a Thursday night in front of what should be an outstanding crowd," Annese said. "Ohio Dominican will present a big challenge to open the year, but we're expecting a highly-competitive game that will have huge early season implications on the conference race."

Ferris State has not opened the season at home on the first weekend of the season since 2011 when FSU beat Hillsdale 20-17 in a Friday night tilt at Top Taggart Field. The Bulldogs played their first game on their home field a year ago against Northwood, but it came following a bye week to open the campaign.

Overall, this fall will see the Bulldogs play a full 11-game conference schedule, which includes six home games in Big Rapids.

"It's exciting to have an opportunity to take on a full schedule this year and having six home games is outstanding," Annese said. "The support we've received from the Bulldog Nation continues to grow and we're looking forward to putting an entertaining and exciting product on the field again for the fans this fall."

In addition to the date change for the home opener, the Bulldogs have also unveiled official starting times for all 2016 contests. The second home game on Sept. 24 will serve as FSU's annual Homecoming matchup and kickoff at 3:30 p.m. (ET) as the Bulldogs entertain the Ashland Eagles, who are a preseason top 10 team in the country.

The final four home games will all kickoff at 1 p.m. (ET) with the Bulldogs' impressive home slate including matchups against Northern Michigan (Oct. 15), Lake Erie (Oct. 22), Wayne State (Oct. 29) and Saginaw Valley State (Nov. 12). The last four home dates will be part of busy days in FSU Athletics with other on-campus events taking place, including hockey and/or volleyball.

FSU will also play road matchups this fall against Michigan Tech (Sept. 10), Northwood (Sept. 17), Findlay (Oct. 1), Grand Valley State (Oct. 8) and Hillsdale (Nov. 5) as part of its 108th varsity campaign.

"It's a challenging schedule, but one in which our team will be prepared to play," Annese said. "Being the two-time defending champion puts a target on our backs, which will make every game extremely competitive."

Ferris State is coming off another historic campaign as the Bulldogs recorded a second-straight unbeaten regular-season en route to claiming a second consecutive GLIAC Championship in 2015. The Bulldogs also claimed the school's first NCAA Playoff win in 19 years and stretched their current regular-season win streak to 25-straight games.

Last fall, the Bulldog football squad finished 2015 with an 11-1 overall record for the second-straight year. Under Head Coach Tony Annese's direction, the Bulldogs also led the country with four Academic All-Americans and quarterback Jason Vander Laan claimed his second consecutive Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's top NCAA Division II player. FSU was ranked among the nation's top 10 teams all season, including the school's highest ever national rankings at #1 in the D2Football.com poll along with #2 in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.

Since his arrival at Ferris State, Annese has turned the Bulldogs into a national power on the Division II level. The veteran coach has posted a 37-9 overall mark in four seasons at the FSU helm and has been the mastermind behind a Bulldog turnaround leading to 22 wins in the program's past 24 games overall. FSU has posted the GLIAC's best league record over the past four seasons (34-6) and the squad owns the top overall four-year record of all 21 collegiate programs in Michigan (37-9).

Overall, Annese has won 83% of his games as a head coach on the collegiate and prep levels and owns 262 wins to date, which is the most of any current GLIAC member head coach at all levels. Ferris State will return upwards of 50 letterwinners for the 2016 campaign.

The complete 2016 Ferris State Football Schedule can be found at this link:
http://www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com/sports/fball/2016-17/schedule