OSHKOSH, Wis. — Coming off two straight wins at home, the Michigan Tech Huskies football team will be on the road again this weekend looking for their first win outside of Carey Stadium. The team knows it will be a tough battle as they take on the 13th ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans.
The Huskies enter Saturday’s game with a 2-1 record on the season after a 21-6 win over Hillsdale last weekend. Despite leading for most of the game, head coach Dan Mettlach wasn’t too happy with how the Huskies beat the Chargers.
“Of course it’s always nice to win.” He said: “At this level, it’s not easy, so I’m proud of the guys for that part. We did a lot of good things and obviously there’s some stuff that meshes well between the guys, which is good. At the same time, I think everyone in the locker room understands after the game, even after watching the game the next day and showing the guys yesterday, that that wasn’t Michigan Tech football.”
“So it’s good that our guys aren’t just obsessed with winning football games. The way we played in all situations, the bad penalties we took, it’s not like us. We need to get better in that area and the guys know it.”
Penalties are something Coach Mettlach has felt the pain of during his time with the Huskies, and while he wants his players to reach their limits but not go beyond them, this is something that there is still room for improvement.
“It starts at the top.” He said: “So, if there’s an issue of penalties, we have to make sure our players understand where the limit is, not taking easy penalties and so on. Penalties that you get during the game, holding and that kind of stuff, happen because you’re playing hard and you get caught in a bad position, but disciplinary penalties after the whistle or before the whistle are not allowed.”
“These just need to be fixed.”
Still, the Huskies found a way to achieve their ultimate goal: a win.
“At any point in the game, whether we’re ahead throughout the game or behind and trying to fight back, every player in that locker room knows that no matter what the situation is, we have a chance to win every game.” “It was a great feeling,” senior defensive back Hunter Buechel said after the win over the Chargers. “Our locker room culture is great. No matter what happens in the game, everyone is in high spirits. It’s a great feeling being around all my teammates.”
Mettlach appreciates the effort he gets from Buechel every game.
“I love everything about his game.” “I’ve thought that for a while,” Mettlach said. “I think he’s one of the best football players at his position in the entire league. He does it every week. He finally got that recognition last weekend, but he’s that kind of guy for us every weekend.”
“So when Hunter makes a sack off the edge or drops the ball or any of those plays, obviously it’s hard to game plan against him and everything else. He’s running our defense right now and obviously we expect him to do that.”
Buechel was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Chargers.
He was also a key contributor to the Huskies’ win, along with sophomore linebacker Chase Koch and third-year linebacker Porter Zieman, who filled in for the injured Mark Sippel.
“I thought Chase played well.” Mettlach said: “Porter did a good job too. The other guys filled the void in terms of communication while Shipps was out, which was obviously big for us, but it’s a whole team thing.”
“I told the guys on Friday before the game started, it’s not just the defensemen who have to step up. We all have to step up. Whether it’s the voice in the locker room or the production on the field, when you lose a player like Shipps, everybody has to step up.”
Titan Scout
The Huskies face a Division 3 school in Wisconsin-Oshkosh this weekend, but don’t be fooled: As Mettlach points out, the Titans are an outstanding football team and have already beaten two Top 25 teams, No. 9 Wheaton College and No. 21 Linfield College.
“They play in the best DIII league in the country.” “They’ve been steadily climbing the rankings here and have already won two ranked games this year while playing their schedule,” Mettlach said.
“I said the same thing last year when we played (Wisconsin) Platteville and I feel the same this weekend with Wisconsin not having DII football. It’s a DII league, so it may have DIII in the name, but no one in our locker room believes that among our staff or players. They all know each other. We have a lot of Wisconsin kids on our team, so they know how good the football is in that league and what Oshkosh is traditionally. We’re not going to be fooled into thinking they’re a lower level than us. They’re not at all. They’re going to work in our league and our players know that. So we’re going to play good football.”
The Titans were led by third-year quarterback Quentin Keene, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman quarterback Cole Warren, who completed 15 of 19 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver John Mathews has emerged as a top target with nine catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Justise Loveless performed well out of the backfield, rushing for 190 yards on 38 carries and two touchdowns.
Game Time
The Huskies and Titans will face off on Saturday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin at 1 p.m.