Michigan Tech's Porter Zeeman, bottom right, gets hold of the ripping shirttail of Northern Michigan University quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf, bottom left, for the tackle as the Wildcats’ Ian Engstrom, top right, jumps over Zeeman trying not to get tripped up during their GLIAC game played at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 25. Engstrom is a Negaunee High School graduate, Theuerkauf a Menominee grad. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The football team at Northern Michigan University returns to the playing field without its leader nor one of its offensive position coaches when the Wildcats travel to Grand Rapids for a noon game on Saturday against Davenport.

Head coach Shane Richardson and offensive line coach Joe Gatz were both placed on administrative leave, the university announced Tuesday morning, with no reason given for the move nor when their status might change.

In Richardson’s place, William “Billy” Lindquist will be the acting head coach. Lindquist is associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Saturday’s foe might sound familiar to fans and will certainly be known to the Wildcats, since the teams played each other in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game on Sept. 20 at the Superior Dome as the Panthers emerged victorious 35-16 at NMU’s homecoming.

This time around, the game will be played at Davenport’s field and is considered a nonconference game. The teams played each other twice a year for several seasons around five to 10 years ago when Northern doubled up on several opponents, likely due to the smaller number of teams at that time in the GLIAC.

Currently, the league has eight teams playing football.

NMU hasn’t been able to build on its victory of two weeks ago, when the Wildcats traveled to suburban Chicago and defeated Roosevelt 42-21 to snap a 28-game losing streak dating back to the start of Richardson’s tenure in the 2023 season.

Since then, Northern has lost at home to Michigan Tech 56-17 for its 15th straight setback in the Miner’s Cup rivalry series and fell 70-35 at national No. 1 Ferris State last weekend.

However, the Wildcats scored the most points against Ferris of any of its opponents this season. Even the 70 allowed wasn’t that far above the Bulldogs’ average of scoring nearly 54 points per game as they try to defend their NCAA Division II national championship.

With NMU sporting 1-8 overall and 1-5 GLIAC records — good enough to be ahead of Roosevelt and Nov. 15 opponent Wayne State — Davenport enters this contest at 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference. The Panthers are coming off a 31-17 home victory over Saginaw Valley State last Saturday, handing the Cardinals their first GLIAC loss.

Fans can follow @NMU_Football and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game. The game will be broadcast by Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, while a look at the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and checking under the football schedule will show links to live video, live audio, live statistics and a preview.

In last week’s game at Ferris, the Wildcats rolled up 355 yards offense, leading twice in the first quarter before the Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points leading up to halftime for a 35-21 lead.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf, a Menominee graduate, completed 8 of 16 passes for 131 yards, one interception but also two touchdowns, one each to Sebastian Boyea and Jake Heemstra. That doesn’t even count the 42 yards and two TDs Theuerkauf added as a rusher.

Running back Noah Dobert rolled up 117 yards on the ground to go with a pass catch for four yards, reaching 1,000 yards rushing this season, the first Wildcat to do that since 2018.

Dobert’s ground numbers are also No. 1 in the GLIAC by almost 150 yards and No. 8 in the nation.

Northern’s other TD was scored by Marquette grad Tucker Welch, who finished with 40 yards rushing in 11 carries. Former Sentinel Austin Ridl also had two rushes for 14 yards.

Davenport has solid scoring stats, averaging 33.3 points per game while only giving up an average 20.4, each top four in the league.

What might play into the Wildcats’ hands is that Davenport’s forte on defense is passing. The Panthers are No. 1 in the GLIAC, even ahead of nationally ranked Ferris and Grand Valley State, as they only give up 153.6 yards per game through the air.

Their rushing defense is much more pedestrian, allowing 164.9 yards a contest to rank sixth in the conference.

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.