Huskies football opens GLIAC schedule at Wayne State | News, Sports, Jobs

Michigan Tech linebacker Desmond Mullen (39) works with a teammate to bring down an Upper Iowa player during a game Saturday, Sept. 20, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Coming off a 21-14 loss to the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Saturday, Sept. 20, the Michigan Tech Huskies football team had time to do some soul searching last week. The time off was good for the players and the coaches, as they looked to reset before heading out this weekend to face Wayne State to open the GLIAC portion of their schedule.

“(There were) some long faces on Sunday into Monday after the game, and (we) had a chance to get everything corrected on film, and then had three good days of work in last week,” said Huskies coach Dan Mettlach. “(We were) focusing mainly on ourselves, and a little bit of Wayne talk last week, but it was good. Our guys flushed it, moved on. Excited to get on the bus and go down to Wayne this weekend.”

Mettlach pointed out again that the Huskies issues with the Upper Iowa started at the top and trickled down from there.

“We made some corrections off of the film, obviously, but a lot of it had to do with starting with the staff all the way down,” he said. “The way we’re approaching practice, the pace, the tempo, everything we’re doing, again, take full blame for it, but I don’t want to say took the foot off the gas at all, but (we) got a little bit comfortable with where were at after the start we had. (We) got away from some of the stuff that we take pride in with how we go about our practices or playing in the game. So, (we) put the focus back on how we take care of our stuff, execution and physicality, the tempo and everything that we practice with. It was a good three days last week.”

One key area of concern for Mettlach and his staff was the health of redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Bueno, who missed the entire week of practice prior to the Upper Iowa game.

“‘AB’ is good,” Mettlach said. “It was good for everybody. I feel like some of the bumps and bruises that we had, (we had) a week to get some guys healthy, get treatments, and the guys did an incredible job, not just on the days were practicing, but using the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get in the training room as well, and make sure that we’re healthy going into yesterday’s (Monday’s) practice.”

As the Huskies enter GLIAC play, they start with a traditionally tough place for Michigan Tech to have success, Wayne State. The Warriors, especially at home, tend to be a difficult opponent.

“They’re good, athletic, talented at all the spots, dangerous guys offensively, from the ‘Q’ (quarterback) to the skill spots, and the tailback is really good,” Mettlach said. “We have not played well there in the last couple trips that we’ve been down there, even in the game that we won, I think two trips ago, did not play well, for an entire half, three quarters, and ended up pulling it out at the end.

“You know they’re going to be excited. They’re at home looking to get their first win on Homecoming. We got to take the trip, so there’s a lot of things that you could look at that could be used as an excuse from our standpoint, but it’s another game for us.”

Mettlach is not concerned about whether the team understands what is at stake.

“The GLIAC schedule starts now,” he said. “Our guys know it needs to get ramped up from that standpoint. Anytime you’re going to win on the road in this league, you know you can’t show up at halftime. It’s got to be right from the opening kick. From a mental standpoint, we have to get off the bus like we did in the first two trips of the the Fall, rather than how we did two weeks ago at home.

“Our guys are well aware of what’s ahead of them and I’m confident that we’ll show up ready to go.”

While the Warriors are 0-4, Mettlach knows as well as anyone that the game will be a battle, just as every game in the GLIAC is.

“I’ve always said I thought our league is the best one in Division II football, so not that you should ever approach one game different than the other, but it does get ramped up for our league,” said Mettlach. “I don’t think you can ever, regardless of who you’re playing, what their records are, when you get into league play, everybody is capable of beating everybody. If you don’t show up, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

So, our guys know that we’ve got enough leadership in the locker room that’s played in the past that has played at Wayne, or the other teams that we’re seeing. The GLIAC schedule is different. Our guys know that. Like I said, you have to be ready to play every single week in the league.”

Scouting the Warriors

The Wayne State Warriors are 0-4 after falling to Quincy last weekend 31-14 at home.

They are led offensively by junior quarterback Champion Edwards. He is 53-of-90 for 569 yards on the season with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He is also third on the team in rushing with 33 carries for 118 yards.

Edwards’ top target has been redshirt senior wide receiver Justyz Tuggle. Tuggle has 15 catches for 149 yards. Redshirt freshman Drew Hickmott has also been good, making 13 catches for 185 yards and three touchdowns.

Redshirt sophomore XaVior Tyus leads the team on the ground with 28 rushes for 109 yards, 103 net.

Game time

The Huskies and Warriors are set for an opening kickoff of 1 p.m. Saturday at Tom Adams Field in Detroit.