Houghton, Mich. – The ghost of Phil Milbrath will be a lasting reminder of a disastrous Halloween weekend for the Grand Valley State University football team.

Milbrath, a senior running back, overwhelmed GVSU with 293 yards rushing and two touchdowns as Michigan Technological University knocked off the No. 1 Lakers 20-17 in one of the biggest upsets in Huskies history.

Michigan Tech, which had not defeated GVSU since 1984, dominated all areas of the game en route to handing the Lakers their first regular-season loss since Oct. 10, 2009.

“It was a complete team loss,” said GVSU head coach Matt Mitchell after his team fell to 8-1 (7-1 GLIAC). “It’s hard for me to sit here after the game and lay the blame of that loss on any particular one unit. I think it was a complete loss by all three phases.”

The Huskies took the lead just 13 seconds into the game and never trailed, although the Lakers scored the game’s final two touchdowns to keep the game close until the closing minutes.

GVSU put up only 285 yards of total offense – 183 yards less than the team’s season average and eight yards less than Milbrath’s rushing total – and turned the ball over twice on interceptions. Michigan Tech’s defense sacked senior quarterback Kyle McMahon five times.

“It’s hard not to argue that they didn’t whip us up front a little bit,” Mitchell said. “We got whipped. We got whipped up front, we got whipped overall.”

Michigan Tech had 368 yards of total offense against a GVSU defense that struggled to tackle the elusive Milbrath. The Huskies ran the ball 50 times and averaged 6.3 yards per carry.

“The defense clearly didn’t play as well as we are capable of,” said senior linebacker Justin Victor, who led the Lakers will 11 tackles. “We knew Milbrath was a good back. We knew we needed to get him down. And, obviously, we were having trouble with that.”

McMahon completed 18-of-29 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and the two interceptions. Junior wide receiver Jovonne Augustus had 131 yards receiving and two touchdowns on five catches. The Lakers rushed for a team total of only 16 yards.

Sloppy play hurt the Lakers throughout the contest.

After GVSU received the ball to start the game, Michigan Tech linebacker Michael Rittenour intercepted a tipped pass on the first play from scrimmage. Milbrath scampered 14 yards on the next play for a touchdown.

“You can’t turn the ball over and expect to win, which is on me,” said McMahon. “I threw the two picks. Starting off the first play of the game, obviously you can’t throw a ball high to a receiver with all of the defensive pursuit coming at him.”

The Lakers responded on a 27-yard field goal from redshirt freshman kicker Ryan Stokes with 10:05 left in the opening quarter, but GVSU would not score again until late in the third period.

Milbrath’s one-yard run and two Tyler Cattelino field goals pushed Michigan’s Tech lead to 20-3 before McMahon hit junior wide receiver Jovonne Augustus with two long touchdown passes to bring GVSU within striking distance.

Trailing 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, McMahon was sacked on fourth down and a Michigan Tech first down allowed the Huskies to seal the game with a kneel down.

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SCORING SUMMARY

MTU 7 3 10 0 – 20
GVSU 3 0 7 7 – 17

Michigan Technological University 20, Grand Valley State University 17

First Quarter
14:47 MTU – Phil Milbrath 14 yd run (Tyler Cattelino kick)
10:05 GVSU – Ryan Stokes 27 yd field goal
Second Quarter
12:30 MTU – Cattelino 23 yd field goal
Third Quarter
10:51 MTU – Milbrath 1 yd run (Cattelino kick)
7:10 MTU – Cattelino 26 yd field goal
5:47 GVSU – Jovonne Augustus 45 yd pass from Kyle McMahon (Stokes kick)
Fourth Quarter
4:06 GVSU – Augustus 29 yd pass from McMahon (Stokes kick)