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2018 GVSU FOOTBALL SEASON OPENER IS A BLACKOUT. FANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO WEAR BLACK

The Game: #10 Grand Valley State (0-0,0-0 GLIAC) vs. #13 Indianapolis  (0-0, 0-0  GLVC)
Date: Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Site: Lubbers Stadium (10.440) 
Radio: ESPN 96.1 FM - Steve Lloyd-Jones (play-by-play) and Tim Nott (color)
Web/TV: ESPN3 - Tom Cleary (play-by-play) and Bob Mitchell (color)

RADIO AFFILIATES
ESPN-FM 96.1 Grand Rapids**
WMUS-FM 107.9 Muskegon**
WDFN-AM 1130 Detroit
WHTC-AM 1450 Holland
WHTC-FM 99.7 Holland
WKMI-AM 1360 Kalamazoo
WIMS-AM 1420 Michigan City, Ind.**
WIMS-FM 95.1 Michigan City, Ind.**
WBRN-AM 1460 Big Rapids
WBRN-FM 107.7 Big Rapids
WBRN-FM 95.1 Reed City
WHFB-AM 1060 Benton Harbor**
WHFB-FM 102.5 Benton Harbor**
WFNT-AM 1470 Flint
WTVB-AM 1590 Coldwater
WTVB-FM 95.5 Coldwater

The Coaches
Grand Valley State • Matt Mitchell (Cornell College, 1977) • 77-23 (9th) 
Indianapolis • Bart Bartolomeo (Butler) • 83-31 (11th)

The Series
• Grand Valley State leads the all-time series with Indianapolis by an 20-3 margin, however, Indianapolis has won the last two meetings. UI claimed a 24-20 win a year ago and 34-33 in 2011. GVSU is 10-1 at home and 10-2 at Indianapolis versus the Greyhounds. 

• The game will mark the opening of the  48th season of football for the Lakers. The winningest FBS, FCS and Division II program in the country, Grand Valley State has a 391-142-3 (.732) all-time record.

• GVSU has won four NCAA Division II Football National Championships, made 19 playoff appearances, won 17 league titles, captured nine NCAA regional titles, made nine trips to the NCAA DII semifinals and six to the NCAA DII title game. 

• Grand Valley State is the only GLIAC team to win at least 12 games three times since 2013 and make two NCAA DII Playoff semifinal appearances.

• GVSU head football coach Matt Mitchell is second in all-time wins at GVSU with 77. Current Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is first with 118 career wins. 

• Grand Valley State is 29-18 all-time in season-openers and have won 15-of-the-last-17 since 2001.

• The Lakers are 32-11 in home openers at Lubbers Stadium, including a 17-1 mark since 2001. 

• The Lakers led the nation in pass defense, yielding 127.5 yards per game.

• GVSU led the nation in 4th down conversion defense (0.174) in 2017. 
• The Lakers ranked third nationally in scoring defense, yielding 13.0 ppg. 

• GVSU ranked sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense (94.0).

• Grand Valley State ranked sixth in turnovers lost (11) and eighth in passes had intercepted (8). 

• GVSU ranked sixth nationally in fumbles recovered (15) in 2017.

• The Lakers' sophomore wide receiver Brandon Wadley ranked seventh in kickoff returns, averaging 29.5 ypr in 2017. 

• Grand Valley State returns 48 letterwinners, including 17 starters for the 2018 campaign. All-america candidate Bart Williams enters his fourth season at the controls of the offense, having thrown for 9,854 yards and 105 touchdowns en route to leading GVSU to a 32-7 mark and two NCAA DII Playoff appearances. Senior wide receiver Nick Dodson enters his senior season having hauled in 106 catches for 1,558 yards and 22 touchdowns, while junior wideout Austin Paritee and sophomore Brandon Wadley both played key roles in the Laker passing game in 2017. 

• University of Pittsburgh transfer Chawntez Moss and redshirt freshmen, Jack Provencher and Aryuan Cain-Veasey, will open the season as the leading candidates to lead the Laker ground game. Moss rushed for 343 yards and three TDs on 84 carries for the Panthers. 

• Senior offensive tackles Ben Walling and Nick Fish are returning All-GLIAC performers, while Michigan transfer David Dawson and sophomore Tom Cwiok are expected to make significant impacts on the offensive line.
 
• Defensively, senior defensive end Dylan Carroll and junior defensive tackle Mike Pettis return after playing  key roles in 2017. Carroll tallied 43 stops and 5.0 tackles for loss (-24) , while Pettis notched 41 stops, 7.5 tackles for loss (-38) and 3.5 QB sacks (-31). In addition, senior Eastern Michigan transfers Chris Hendricks and Kwanii Figueroa, along with junior transfers Johnathon Williams and Kurrell Vaughn, will join sophomores Dennis Johnson and Wallace Hall in the middle of the Laker defensive line.  

• Senior linebackers Brendan McMahon and Tyree Horton will join, junior linebacker Isaiah Nkansah and sophomore outside linebacker Tyler Bradfield. Nkansa and Bradfild recorded 34 and 45 tackles, respectively. 

• Senior safety Jacob Studdard tallied 44 tackles and picked off a pass, while junior safety Jailyn Harden chipped in 43 tackles. Junior Grant Postma returns after redshirting a year ago, along with junior Thad Little. Junior CB's DaMario Johnson and Kalen Dunham both return.  

 Grand Valley State will again face the toughest schedule in Division II football, evidenced by the 2018 ledger having four teams that advanced to the 2017 NCAA DII Playoffs. GVSU will open the season at home versus 2017 GLVC Champion and playoff participant Indianapolis on Thursday, Aug. 30, followed by a road tilt at DII power Delta State the following week (Sept. 8). The Lakers will also host Ferris State (Oct. 13) and Ashland (Nov. 3) at Lubbers Stadium. Grand Valley State dropped three road games on the last play of the game by a total of eight points to three teams that advanced to the NCAA DII Playoffs and tallied a combined record of 33-5 in 2017.