Last Saturday, the Grand Valley State football team dominated Hillsdale in a 46-14 win. GVSU owned every facet of the game, and the Lakers had their name scrawled all over the rushing portion from start to finish.

No. 24 GVSU (4-1, 3-1 GLIAC) rushed for 316 yards, and held the Chargers to 53 yards on the ground. Hillsdale came in ranked sixth in the GLIAC, rushing for nearly 175 yards per game.

Led by a season-best game from defensive end Alton Voss, the Lakers bowled over the Chargers rushing attack, limiting leading rusher Bennett Lewis to 24 yards on 14 carries.

It was a defining night for the GVSU defense, which, outside of an allowed touchdown on third-and-17 and a lack of turnovers, was as good as head coach Matt Mitchell could have asked for.

“It’s a pretty convincing victory for us at home. Defense played outstanding for the majority of the game,” said GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell. “We did a great job fitting up the run, we had guys in the right spots, guys who, when it was time to make a play made a play. (We) really didn’t give up a whole lot of big chunk yardage at all.”

If the Lakers can build off the performance against Hillsdale, this Saturday’s game against Wayne State (2-3, 1-3 GLIAC) won’t be pretty for the Warriors.

WSU ranks ninth in the GLIAC in rushing yards per game (158.6) and dead last in passing yards per game (152). The Warriors’ two leading rushers – Romello Brown and Demetrius Stinson – are both physical backs, a common trait among Warrior football players in years past.

Thanks to the Ferris State game in which GVSU surrendered 633 yards of total offense, the Lakers’ defensive statistics are skewed by an outlier. Among GLIAC squads, the GVSU defense doesn’t stand out in yards or points per game allowed, but the Lakers have forced 15 turnovers – best in the league by a large margin.

Part of the reason for WSU’s passing yardage futility is in its attempts. Warrior freshman quarterback D.J. Zezula has thrown just 88 passes – compared to GVSU’s Bart Williams, who has thrown the rock 147 times.

Much like Hillsdale, the Warriors will look the keep the ball on the ground. Zezula, who was forced into action after senior quarterback Carl Roscoe was injured in the first game of the season, is unlikely to take many big shots down the field.

WSU’s defense will be stronger than what the Lakers saw against Hillsdale last week. The Warriors are first in the conference in passing yards allowed per game (182) and sixth in rushing yards allowed (141.8).

“They’re very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball,” Mitchell said. “They pressure a lot more than maybe we’ve seen here the past couple weeks and that’ll present a challenge for our offense and quarterback.”

Williams has thrown five turnovers this season, mostly when under pressure and forced to make quick decisions. He has shown improvement in the past couple games in taking care of the ball, but, as always, holding on to the ball will be key in a tough away tilt.

His three main receivers – Matt Williams, Brandon Bean and Jamie Potts – have emerged as one of the best receiving corps in the conference and offer Bart Williams a number of options on each play.

““I think Bart has a lot of confidence in his all receivers this year and I know that as a receiving group we take pride in making plays for him,” Potts said. “The style of offense we’ve been running this year, it’s a little easier to distribute the ball around the field.”

After seeing improvement in the rushing attack against Hillsdale, the Lakers could again try to push the ball on the ground. GVSU got a breakout game from speedster Martayveous Carter, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown, and has enjoyed consistent production from Kirk Spencer from a number of locations on the field.

Although the game is WSU’s homecoming, the Lakers expect to see a strong sea of blue in the crowd.

“We have a lot of kids on our roster that are from the east side of the state and I know a lot of those guys look forward to heading back to that side of the state,” Mitchell said. “Usually we get a lot of crowd support at Wayne (State).”

GVSU and WSU will square off at Tom Adams Field in Detroit on 6 p.m. on Saturday.