GVFootball.com

This is BOTV week here at GVSU (and SVSU). The Battle of the Valleys is a competition between GVSU and rival SVSU. Each institution is trying to be the one that can raise more money for a charity previously chosen by each school. The catch? The fundraising can only take place during the course one the week which preceeds the annual GVSU/SVSU football game.

This year GVSU will be raising money for Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

Here is the 2007 BOTV TShirt that will be available at all of this weeks events.

Visit the BOTV site for a full Event Schedule

GO LAKERS!

Another Ferris Week has come and gone and the AnchorBone will stay here for another year. By the time the second quarter rolled around, GV had already jumped out to a 34-0 lead over the Bulldogs of Ferris State University on Saturday night. GVSU extended their winning streak to 36 with a final score of 34-7. Ferris’ only score coming in the late in the 3rd quarter.

The Lakers starting offense only played into the 2nd quarter and the starting defense came out of the game in the 3rd quarter. Iciek threw for 161 while Neasman backed him up adding 77 yards in the air. Berezik tallied his third 100 yard game with exactly 100 yards and Smolen added 83 yards to the Lakers rushing efforts. Leading recievers included Koster for 60 yards and Horn for 45 yards.

The Lakers will take the show on the road this weekend to SVSU as the final away game of the 2007 regular season. This will be the first time the Lakers have travelled to University Center, MI to play the Cardinals at home since 2004. The Cardinals enter the contest with a record of 6-2 with losses coming from Ashland in week 1 and Northwood in week 5.

GO LAKERS!!!

The Chuck Martin Show is broadcasted live from Main Street Pub every Thursday night during the season between 6 and 7 pm. People not in the Allendale area can tune in to 1340 AM every week to here Steve Lloyd Jones and Dick Nelson quiz Chuck Martin on last weeks game and this weeks opponent. Dick Nelson also includes a segment called “Going Deep with Dick Nelson” to recap the rivalry with the upcoming team.

Bold lines are Steve/Dick. Non-Bold lines are Chuck Martin.

Here are my rough notes from 10/25:

GVSU owns the D2 streak record - Ferris Week this week at GV

51-20 over Northwood. Offense on display. over 600 yards in 3 quarters ya no question we played quite well with not much to critique. one or two drives that we missed one thing but it was pretty much touchdown touchdown touchdown. we threw into the wind in the 2nd and 3rd like it was nothing at all.
2nd QB to have 2 games over 400 yards 2 games over 400 and only played 7 games. it would have been 3 at mercyhurst. the oline is doing great with blocking and WR are doing great at catching. he is just putting up ridiculous numbers. his QB rating is number than anes rating when he won the harlon hill. he is doing great but its a huge compliment to the whole offense
trent was in as a blocker but he ended up with possessions ya he is definitely making plays. i think he has a TD in every game. he started coming up last year. he has played more of role with eric/terry gone.
RB stats, nothing stands out but all 3 is impressive ya we are trying to rotate them a lot. when all 3 are playing as impressive, no reason for them to play tired. there is a kid on the bench that can do the same thing. garris had a tremendous game. he got a 43 yard TD play off a play that was basically done. there were a few missed tackles that killed the play but he turned it around along with some tackles by the WR. blake is kind of my new cullen. he drives me nuts. i pick up the stats sheet and i think “why am i yelling”
offense line never missed a beat without allen all of them have played tremendous but nick XXXX did great as a real starter. he has been rotating but stepped up great for allen. they make it easy to play QB in 2007.

Budwieser Hot Seat
51-20 win, set record, you have not been winning but crushing. do you worry that credit is not given where due? don’t really care. all the records from the past do not have playoffs so I think its a lot harder to set the record with the playoffs. 7 of the 8 rounds in this streak have been the best teams in the country. ES doesn’t matter really.
Adjusting to the woodbone and then going back to spread? ya its been an adjustment. this offense is more like findlay and normal spread but then start motioning guys in the option. This has been an offensive year this year and every game it seems like the stats are averaging 31ish points and our defense stops them. NU was averaging 27 and they were 11th in scoring.
Bye week for NU, throw anything new out? Nothing much was different. tried harder to get at the AA block and they put their best blocker to get him cut. AA has just wrecked their option since 2004 basically on his own. They did a better job this year.
Berezik is listed with Lesniak 908 as Fresh Roach 736 True fresh Jimmy has XXX? hurting because of rotate? ya it really hurts all three but we talked about that last week. the guys we have are unselfish but they are about winning games as a team. jimmy needs to continue to be unselfish which he is. if anyone has a reason to be selfish it’s preston because he is a SR.
best game by safeties? cain/mcguckin? ya they made a ton of tackles. both made a lot of open field tackles against skilled players

*talked to Martin during the break* 15 yards of last weeks penalties were truly Cain’s fault. The rest was the refs.
*I didn’t see the end of the face mask but Chuck said the NU player was sitting on Cain punching him.*

Matt Yoches - Defensive Line/Strength and Conditioning Coach
Gaydosh chasing him done we are doing great. Ryan being one of them. We had to adjust quite a bit without jones/mcfadden.
Few positions that replace Mike/Derrick  we have done good with Skuta and Gaydosh. Skuta got used to it last year so he is doing tremendous this year. We were unsure of his athleticism but it has worked perfectly. Danny is coming up but still has a ways to go.
Strength coach, adjustment? not huge change but excited to take on. I’ve been doing it behind the scenes with Mitchell for years. I definitely wanted to get into it and I had a great mentor. I haven’t changed much from the program that he started. He has great knowledge in this area. If I keep thinking, “what matt mitchell would do” then I will be fine.
He had a different idea ya definitely. when I was a player we just played around. there is more rhyme and reason now and it depends on the type of player. we are trying to build a bit more athleticism. the olympic lifts requires you to move multiple joints at the same time.
your dad was a coach, long desire? absolutely. I have always wanted to follow. *soon to be a dad as well*

Going Deep with Dick Nelson

This was the start of the streak 3 years ago.
It’s been a great rivalry but one side. 22-12-1. We’ve kicked their butts so many times they can hardly sit. The press box used to wiggle (my wife wouldnt even go).
In 2001, The SID said Dick you will love it. Its great but… its sealed. 1.8 million dollars. I hope that when GV builds a new one they allow crowd noise.
1998 - Wildest game ever. You would swear there was no one on defense. 56-53 in OT.
1984 - Worst game ever - 13-11. People ask all the time “How can you stay excited at 50-0?” Easy. I remember that game. The next day - the whole coaching staff was fired.
But, since then we have had winning seasons so maybe it was a blessing.

Spoiled as GV fans since 2000 but the 90’s Ferris was the big dogs. Well 4 years in the 90’s and I think we tied one of those years. They really don’t really the whole story when they say a decade of Ferris football.

Ferris Preview - Host Bulldogs at 7 on Saturday

4-4 this year. lost shootout to ashland strange team if you are big at compatitive scores. beat hillsdale (2 losses), almost beat ashland (37-35), but turn around and lost to games where they should have won. they had more expectations after coming off last year. you can gaurantee the cold team isn’t coming on Saturday.
if they could end GV’s winning streak, its their game of the year their QB has twice as many carries as anyone on their offense. he has proven durable. big physical kid. we really need to stop him. they are averaging 31 a game and he is some of the reason. the run stop is going to be the most important.
bigger QB’s of the year actually bigger at any level in the country. 240. very athletic for his size. noted for his feet but can throw as well.
also played WR as well he was a weapon last year and they wanted to get him in. he plays basketball as well.
defense starts up front. best down 4 in the league. visser - kid from coopersville is great player. he has 65 tackles so far this season. great overall. one of the best players in our league. The kid *missed his name* next to him already has NFL scouts. last year our D did good and O was iffy. we were sacked 4 times and that doesn’t happen.
neasman running with the ball. freshman. iciek is sophomore. quel going elsewhere? ya he is a great QB and you dont want to move a good guy somewhere else. he could definitely do it but he is pretty much a QB at heart. he is just starting to hit his stride.
like dock? ya jeff couldnt have moved but still a quality backup for lots of players
are the bulldogs going to be more excited for lakers or opposite? wow, you hit me after thursdays and with how we play I am surprised I come here week after week. If you watched a thursday practice, you would be surprised we win anything. You know they will be excited but you know the opposite is true as well. If we match there intensity then we should do fine.

Chuck you have a chance to break a new record you were listening at the press conference as well. you play 3 years to break the record and they talk the whole time. We break it and now we are always breaking the record and people stop talking about it.
But you can set GLIAC right? 29? Or is that not next week? No that’s 27.
So that’s until next year? No, we need the next 3 games. At least by my count.

Big game. always good. let’s keep it so they can’t sit down ya there is always more pressure for this game. all the laker alum and lots of stories between this game. you make a lot more people happy if you win this one.

I just finished a couple hours worth of work on the site.

• fixed the navigation at the top that was broken in IE
• uploaded Indianapolis photos
• put the 2007 schedule online
• added the “Powered by iServ” logo

One problem that I did notice is that the upload script is distorting horizontal images. For example, Lauren is a bit squished.

I am working on a fix for this and I will re-upload all of the horizontal photos. Good thing I shoot more vertical than horizontal eh?

Thank you for being patient with the new site. We will get there eventually!

The Lakers of Grand Valley State University are now the holder of the Division 2 Consecutive Win Record at 35 games. The previous record was held by Hillsdale College from 1954-1957 with 34 wins. Yesterday the Lakers came out of a contest with the Timberwolves of Northwood victorious with a score of 51-20.

This matchup has normally been a battle in recent years but Northwood’s schedule has normally been a bit better than the .500 (3-3) that they had put on the board previously this year. This year the game started out closer than the final score would reveal but the second half was basically the Lakers show. The Lakers put 641 offense yards in the books with an average of 10 yards per play. GO LAKERS!

Next week: the Bulldogs of Ferris State University make the short down US 131 to play in Lubbers Stadium Saturday Octy 27th, 2007 at 7PM. Get your tickets early as this will be another packed house.

The Chuck Martin Show is broadcasted live from Main Street Pub every Thursday night during the season between 6 and 7 pm. People not in the Allendale area can tune in to 1340 AM every week to here Steve Lloyd Jones and Dick Nelson quiz Chuck Martin on last weeks game and this weeks opponent. Dick Nelson also includes a segment called “Going Deep with Dick Nelson” to recap the rivalry with the upcoming team.

Bold lines are Steve/Dick. Non-Bold lines are Chuck Martin.

Here are my rough notes from 10/18:

One more win and they will have the D2 winning streak record at 35
GV tromped Indy last weekend for the homecoming game for game 34

Probably the best team, best performance? Its hard to say with 3 turnovers in first half but besides that we played well. We put them in some bad spots. Our offense did very good with 28 points 200 yards and 3 turnovers in the first half. That is the second time this year that we had a hard time holding onto the ball. Indy is definitely a good team and our kids were excited to play them.
Anytime you have a young team in critical positions, if they hit adversity how do they handle it? We have enough senior leadership to bring us through. It has been since the begining of summer camp. We just turn around and look forward for the next play. our program has always had that attitude. If you dont let it snowball then it will be fine and won’t happen. Cullen scrambled and made tons of plays. When we get flushed and Brad gets out of the pocket, he is not a great athlete. If you look at tapes, we have just as many scramble plays but Cullen would scramble and run. Brad scrambles and still finds receivers. Cullen was like a LB playing QB - brad isn’t big, fast or physical.

Situation with GV. it seems like a milestone approaches every week stop stop. I want to clear this up. GV holds consecutive GLIAC games at 29. We hope to break our own record.
Hilldale record - I dont think anyone can argue with you on this Dick because no one has been here long enough. But I know they didn’t have the 4 round playoffs so I think ours is worth more.
Chuck Martin has never won GLIAC coach of the year. One of the biggest oversights in my opinion. I am not really worried about that one.
He is worried about national coach of the year Dick Ya the dinner for that is a bit bigger.

Budweiser Hot Seat
What was the scheme for the O? We really didn’t do anything special. We just did our basic run plays. Their DLine definitely had a chip on their shoulder after the 200 yards in the first half.
Berezik is averaging 10 yards per carry. 200 yards away from freshman record 1977. Is he going to carry more? Yes probably a bit more. Smolen has 7 and Garris is averaging 5. Garris normally does more of the short yardage work because we trust his knowledge a bit with 3rd and short. We just keep spreading it around. Once jimmy understands our routes, Jimmy will be catching as well. 4 out of 5 routes he is currently running wrong.
4th true freshman We knew he was good. We didn’t know his good. If you block it up good then he has quite a chance for a big run. Astin was more of a guy between the tackles. Jimmy can add that long run.
Success of jimmy - Gaydosh, Stevens, and Carr. Does it make ya think maybe more FR should play? We leave it open and don’t make that choice until they get here. We are going to be hurting next year without those 3.
Versatility in the offense. go to receiver? Yes but it depends on route. There is no fowler. Some routes Horn, some Garris/Smolen, some Edwards, some Trent. We are only asking the guys to what they do well.
Koster seems to fill in more yes he is definitely doing some more and he has some red zone abilities that we need.

Discussion about part of the streak success, lots of different guys willing to work in different positions Lots of ppl have asked this same thing. There have been upsets. We have great kids that are very talented. I was sitting around last night looking at stats. We have #1 o and #1 d for scoring. individual stats - We have no one. Nothing in top 5 for rushing or top 25 tackles, etc. Its hard to find kids that will play and split time but yet not complain about not getting the ball more. With the numbers they are putting up, you can’t make all league or american. Its really a credit to our assistant coaches who work with these coaches day in and day out. They all really want the ball more but they aren’t going to complain about it. We really are trying to give all of them more time with the ball.
It should be more like minutes vs tackles Our kids just don’t worry about that kind of thing. They look at it but they say they don’t know.

I am still a D guy at heart. thinking about defending our offense - i would have no clue what to do. we had 4 guys in there at one point and no one was playing their primary position.

How do you keep it going? Do you look for guys that are unselfish? It’s something we have worked on for years but really what keeps it going are the senior leaders. If the seniors are doing it then the freshmen learn that and do it themselves. You will hear it in practice, “Hey its not about you. It’s about us.” That is just how we do it at Grand Valley.

Going Deep with Dick - Northwood
Huge week for GV. 35 years ago that Harkamen was hired. First win in Gv’s history. One of the biggest accomplishments. Beat NMU after they were national champions.
this is a big record. 50 years old. I was a batboy for the cubs when this record was set.

If you want to see a great football game and the possibility to see history, then definitely make the trip to midland.

Northwood Preview
Always played tough. Bye week last week. 3-3 this year. They are usually 5-1 or 6-0. Still dangerous? Yes they definitely are. They are 1st or 2nd in rush offense in the country. The kid from rockford has taken over QB. They have added the dimension of throwing the football. They have a very talented WR that we will need to watch. They lost some big players on D. Kyle (Hudsonville) is a senior this year and we are very happy about that. They still have great big play potential but they have always given up lost of good plays. We are hoping they still make some mistakes.
Adding the passing game, puts pressure on CB Carr and Brechin are quite talented so we trust them. But they have the 6′2″ WR that is going to be tough. Last year, our D really won the game with 7 turnovers and scoring twice. We are hoping for a repeat performance like that this year.
3 RBs? They use the FB as another RB and that’s hard to watch for. Stopping the QB is next. You basically have to use all 9 guys to stop their run. It is pure assignment football.

My Memories of Northwood - I still remember when they were here for the first night game ever. It was my third game at GV. I still take out the tape and show out defense this. This is what happens when you are not prepared for the options and play sloppy assignments.

We have heard about players reading keys They are all keying in on a player and you need to read the key to figure out which option they are playing. Reading is definitely important for defending Northwood. It starts with the ends and then works inward.

Midland with kickoff at noon. 96.1 MAX FM

Any conversation with record to the players No. Not even after the game. Everyone knows and we aren’t afraid or have no superstitions. We want to break it but we are just excited to play northwood. If we sit around talking about records, then someone else is sitting around preparing for the game. They pride themselves on making big plays and we want to stop that.
This is potential a season saver for northwood Definitely, they are not where they want to be. It could be quite the spring board for them to get a win.

As they come off the bye week to host GV. kickoff at noon in midland. pre-game show at 11:30.

D2 Game Day is a weekly radio show that is syndicated across more than 30 radio stations nation wide as well as streamed online. Tom Van Hoy is the host of the 30 minute show and takes listeners through all the happenings around the nation in the realm of D2 football. Tune in each week at http://www.d2sportsnetwork.com/. The show is posted to the website every Friday morning.

Big games from last weekned (10/13)

UNO over UND at the Alerus, Delta over Valdosta after trailing, Catawba over CN after trailing, GV over Indy for 34 straight wins, West Texas A&M over Western New Mexico in front of 23K fans.

*NOTE: He said that Hillsdales record was from 84-87. He means 54-57.*

Regional Ranking Updates

California over Lock Haven +3 National -1 NE Region
Grand Valley: Unanimous #1 in Coaches Poll but #2 in the NW region.

Interview with California (Pa) Head Coach John Luckhardt

TVH: 7-0. 3-0 on league play.
JL: Good start. Veterans handled challenges. Opened with 3 teams in 18 days. Won all three and gave them a really good start.
TVH: Talked about a good team with success in recent years. How much does that experience mean to your team this year?
JL: Critical. All levels out when leadership can show commitment to incoming players.
TVH: How difficult is it to build depth from a scholarship standpoint?
JL: Critical part of our advantages. Scholarships limited to 25. Lots of teams in our league are lower than 25 but our administration gave us 25. Hopefully moving to 36 soon with the addition of Gannon, Mercyhurst and CW Post.
TVH: How much of a disadvantage is the 25 in the playoffs?
JL: Its more of a depth thing. Bloomsburg in the semis last year had a player (Jahari Evans) that made it to the Saints. They obviously have some talent. The problem is that the backup doesn’t have the same talent. The longer into the playoffs you play, the more talent you need behind the starters. Their TB went down, 3rd went in and rushed 170ish yards. The 36 at least lets you be competitive in depth.
TVH: From recruiting, like to redshirt?
JL: Took best freshman and redshirted them. We have 14/15 seniors and 5 are graduate students. We do have 3 true freshman playing but for the most part we redshirt. We get an extra spring/year in the weight room. If you don’t do that then you are probably at a disadvantage.
TVH: PSAC?
JL: 14 schools (16 next year) split East and West. Last year, East had advantage but West looks better this year. Very physical league. GLIAC, other leagues, etc are much strong top to bottom but competition here is tough here and coaching is top notch (many old D1 coaches).
TVH: Defensively playing great
JL: We are kicking pretty good as well but ya we are pretty good on defense. We had 10 returning starters. Very athletic but not perfect. If you play good defense, you should be pretty good overall.
TVH: Turnovers +10
JL: Ya that definitely helps. We don’t leave the ball laying around often. We move the ball.
TVH: Offensively
JL: A bit more conservative because the defense handles it. Throwing it a bit less than in years past. We may have to change that as we play this season.
TVH: Poll differences. Approach?
JL: Pay attention week to week but don’t really matter until November. The next three weeks are going to be big. “Polls will take care of themselves if you do what you are capable of doing.”

Interview with Lynn Meredith (former D2 HC, Athletic Director, and Football Analyst)

TVH: GV at 34 straight wins which breaks record set *several* years ago by Hillsdale.
LM: Great accomplishment at any level. All stars need to be aligned right.
TVH: One of the keys to success is getting their once.
LM: Recruiting style is important. Yes school and academics are important but not always the whole decision. Feeling on campus is definitely important in most cases. Relationship with coaches/players also definitely matter in recruiting. Leadership that is no indimitated is important.
TVH: Continuing to win is hard. Almost back yourself into a corner.
LM: As a good coach, you almost want that as a motivation type pressure. If you are able to get players that love that motivation, then you are all set.
TVH: 12K+ at GV/Indy. 23K+ for Wagon Wheel game. Nice to see D2 getting that size crowds
LM: Movement in the recent years to promote what a great division this is. ESPNU, CSTV, Fan sites, blogs, our show, etc. We try to bring a national perspective since D2 is normally region based. Competition is also up.
TVH: 3 teams where visiting team won. UNO at UND. Delta at Valdosta. Catabwa at Carson-Newman. Shows the caliber of those visiting teams.
LM: Very hostile environment. Those are very big victories which will propel each of those teams even more than before.
TVH: West Texas A&M and Western New Mexico - Long road trips are difficult.
LM: Absolutely. D2 coaches/players are moving on to D1 and NFL level and getting somewhere. I think it’s great. It really takes a lot to be in D2. When I coached at Panhandle, we took turns painting the field. You really have to want to go in and play. This dedication shows in their professional lives.

I am proud to unveil the new and improved GVFootball.com! Finally…

As many of you know, this new design has been a long time in the coming. I am very sorry for the lack of updates this year thus far. I really wanted to get this new design up rather than putting new content into the old site. But from now forward, we will be back up to par. Or maybe pushing it a little bit.

Many parts of the site right now still say coming soon and I will be filling those in within the next few days. There are also lots more features and changes that will take place in the near future. Photo comments, blog design, forum design, the first contest of the 2007 season, etc.

Stay tuned and thanks for your patience!

While the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds came to Allendale tonight with very high hopes but the Lakers pulled off a win despite some very sloppy play along with some bad calls throughout the game. Just over 12,000 fans watched the Lakers play to a final score of 41-17 during the 2007 Homecoming game. There were lots of alumni back in town for the event but not only was this game special for alumni but also for the record books.

Tonight, the Grand Valley State Lakers tied the record for the most consecutive wins with their win over Indianapolis. This record stands from 1954-57 when the Chargers of Hillsdale College set the record. The Lakers last loss was to the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota in the playoffs during the 2004 season. With a win next week, they could take over as the sole holder of this record.

Next Week: The Lakers travel to Midland, MI to take on the Timberwolves of Northwood University. Game time is set for 12 PM at Hantz Stadium and the weather currently looks like a slight chance of rain with highs in the lower to mid 60’s. If you can not make it to the game in Midland, the game will be broadcasts on 96.1 FM WVTI.

The Lakers of GV have now returned home (hopefully in shorter time than I) with another victory under their belts. The victory came to the Lakers of Grand Valley first quarter of the game yesterday over the Lakers of Mercyhurst. Not much else to say about this. Everyone on the Mercyhurst side from administrators to players and cheerleaders were amazed at the game. They evidently expected to score a few more points.

With both Mercyhurst and Gannon leaving the conference next year for the PSAC, this should be the last time that we play Mercyhurst and especially at their field. If they immediately become a PSAC powerhouse next year, we could see them at Lubbers in the Semis.

Next up? University of Indianapolis at Lubbers Stadium for the Homecoming game on October 13th, 2007 at 7 pm. This should be one of the biggest attendances of the year for Lubbers Stadium so get your tickets early!