Today’s game for the football team at Northern Michigan University may be its most pressure-packed of the season.

That’s because the Wildcats should have their best chance — or at least one of their two best chances — of earning a win this season when they travel to Chicago to take on Roosevelt at 2 o’clock EDT this afternoon.

The Lakers — one of three league schools with that nickname, joining Lake Superior State and Grand Valley State — are 1-4 this season and 0-2 in games in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Northern still has a home game against winless Wayne State (0-6) to conclude the season on Nov. 15.

Northern Michigan University’s Jahi Wood, right, scores a touchdown with mascot Wildcat Willy raising his paws in celebration during the first quarter against Minnesota State-Moorhead at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Roosevelt got its lone win against Quincy in its season opener on Sept. 6, 23-21. Quincy, another Illinois school, is a team NMU has played three times, all in the last 11 years, winning in 2014 and 2015 and losing 45-27 in 2023.

Later this season, Roosevelt also lost to Southwest Baptist 40-34, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 38-21, national defending champion Ferris State 66-0 and Saginaw Valley State 55-10.

The Wildcats (0-6, 0-2 GLIAC) also lost big to SVSU, 47-25, two weeks ago, while Northern has played UW-Oshkosh 26 times over more than a century, most recently winning 13-10 in Marquette in 2022.

NMU has yet to play Ferris this fall.

Maybe the best comparison of today’s combatants was when the Wildcats and Lakers met in Marquette in 2024, Roosevelt’s first year in the GLIAC and first year in NCAA Division II.

Northern lost a heartbreaking 16-10 decision in overtime at the Superior Dome, forcing OT when quarterback Aidan Hoard ran in for a 1-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and current placekicker Michael Karlen made the extra-point kick.

The Wildcats dodged one bullet in regulation — Roosevelt missed a 49-yard field goal as the fourth quarter ended — but couldn’t miss a second one when they fumbled the ball away on their first possession of extra time and the Lakers turned around and converted on their first chance.

That proved to be Roosevelt’s only win of last season.

Northern is making a lot more noise this season toward getting that first win for third-year head coach Shane Richardson, keeping every game close at least through the first half and several well into the fourth quarter.

Like last week’s 35-7 loss to national No. 8 Grand Valley State at the Superior Dome, when the teams were deadlocked 7-7 at halftime before these Lakers put on a second-half flourish.

Today’s game can be watched online on FLO College and will be available on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point.

Fans can also follow @NMU_Football and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the football schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics and a preview.

“The greatest thing about our team is the resilience factor, in the way that we just come every day ready to do more, ready to learn, while still having a great attitude,” Richardson said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing today’s game. “Our team is extremely resilient with how we’ve been able to handle week after week, not getting the result that we want.”

The Wildcats’ celebration last Saturday of the 50th anniversary of their 1975 national championship might’ve been muted a bit, but Northern began the game with a 162-145 edge in total yards in the first half, including a huge 87-19 advantage in rushing.

By the end, though, turnovers cost NMU again, as they made five to just one for GVSU.

Menominee High School graduate Trevor Theuerkauf made his first start at quarterback and completed 8 of 12 passes for 88 yards but two interceptions. Ewen-Trout Creek grad Austin Gordon also did mop-up work under center, completing 2 of 7 for 14 yards and one pickoff.

Murphy Monreal forced the one turnover by Northern’s defense in the middle of the first quarter that ended a Grand Valley threat inside the NMU 10-yard line.

Noah Dobert got the Wildcats’ tying TD with 30 seconds left in the first half on a 1-yard scoring run that was set up by fellow running back Jahi Wood making a 44-yard pass reception to inside the Lakers’ 10.

Scouting today’s game, NMU SI expects to Northern to continue to lean on its ground game, which is ranked third in the GLIAC at 213.5 yards per game. And Roosevelt has the leakiest run defense in the GLIAC, giving up 257.4 yards on the ground per game.

And maybe Theuerkauf can make some inroads through the air, since Roosevelt is also last in league passing defense at 269.2 yards a contest.

NMU’s defensive numbers, by comparison, allow just 117.7 yards rushing, fourth best in the league, and 237.0 yards passing, fifth.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats are by far the worst passing team in the league at just 101.8 yards a pop, while Roosevelt is No. 1 there at 241.2 yards per game. The Lakers are second to last, however, rushing offensively at 95.4 yards a contest.

Scoring-wise, NMU is just ahead of Roosevelt in offense, 18.3 to 17.6 points per game, while the Wildcats are sixth in scoring defense at 34.0 points per game and the Lakers are dead last at 44.0 each time out.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.