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KICK OFF
The 51st season of Cardinal football continues with a second consecutive home game to begin the season. This week, the Cardinals host Texas A&M-Kingsville. This is the fourth meeting between the two programs.

Last Time Out...      
SVSU got the Michael Engle era off to a 1-0 start after a 48-24 win over McKendree during the Red Feather Classic on August 27. The Cardinals' offense exploded for 557 yards of total offense in the dominant win.

Connor Wolf had a great debut for SVSU, completing 74% of his passes (14-19) for 308 yards and three touchdowns. 

Matt Vaughn also had a memorable performance in his debut as a tight end. Vaughn caught four passes for 102 yards and two touchdown receptions and earned the Meijer Player of the Game honor for the first time in his career.

Devin Miles and Obie Sanni led the Saginaw Valley ground game in their Cardinal debuts. Miles led the ground attack with 113 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Sanni had 13 rushes for 87 yards and two scores of his own. Both backs averaged over six yards per carry on the evening.

1ST-AND-10
•Saginaw Valley State football enters a new era with first-year head coach Michael Engle. Engle became the eighth coach of SVSU Football when he was hired in January. Engle spent four years at UIndy before he joined the Cardinals.

• The Cardinals were chosen fifth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll. SVSU finished with 28 points, three points behind fourth-place Davenport.

• Defensive Lineman Adom LeDuc (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Utica Stevenson HS) was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List. LeDuc was named to the first-team defense, earning a spot among the 11 best defensive players in all of Division II college football. 

• The Cardinals named wide receiver Braden Hill, offensive lineman Kaiden Bell, defensive lineman Adom LeDuc, and linebacker James McDonald.

• Kicker Teagen Lenderink was selected the GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Game for his performance last week. Lenderink was active in the Cardinals' 48-24 season-opening win over McKendree on Thursday inside Wickes Memorial Stadium. The junior kicker averaged 64.1 yards per kick and totaled 513 yards with five touchbacks on kickoffs. He tallied six points on the night as well, going 6-for-7 in extra-point attempts.

• The Cardinal offense was lethal in the season opener with 557 total offensive yards in the 48-24 win over McKendree. SVSU averaged 8.6 yards per play, including an impressive 5.4 yards per rush and 16.2 yards per reception. Saginaw Valley State scored on five of its six trips into the red zone and finished 6-of-11 on 3rd downs.

• The defense shut down the Bearcat running game, holding them to just 58 yards on the ground (2.6-yard avg.).

• Six receivers caught a pass in game one, with JT Webber and Matt Vaughn leading the way with four each. Webber finished with a team-high 107 yards receiving. Vaughn also surpassed the 100-yard mark with 102, while scoring two touchdowns in his first game as a tight end.

• Six players carried the ball for SVSU as well. Devin Miles (18-113-2) and Obie Sanni (13-87-2) were the leaders, with Jaquan Howard contributing as well with five rushes for 42 yards.

• Despite not returning a starter, the Cardinal offensive line contributed to 249 team rushing yards and gave up just one sack.

THE SERIES
This is the fourth meeting between the Cardinals and Texas A&M-Kingsville, the second straight matchup at Wickes Memorial Stadium. 

SVSU holds a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, with wins in the two most recent matchups. The Cardinals had a close, 13-9 win at home in 2021 to move ahead 2-1 in the meetings. SVSU returned from Kingsville, Texas in 2019 with a 35-14 win. The first meeting took place in 1980 when the Javelinas won 52-0 at home.

ABOUT THE JAVELINAS
Texas A&M-Kingsville dropped its season-opening game to No. 8 Northwest Missouri State, 48-3, on Saturday night. The Javalinas surrendered 24 points in the first half, propelling the Bearcats to victory. 

Quarterback Mills Dawson completed 12-32 passes for 99 yards and was picked off twice in the losing effort. Texas A&M-Kingsville was also held to just 80 yards rushing on the night, with Edward Chumley leading the way with 43 yards on the ground. Nate Barnett had a team-high four catches for 26 yards.

Julian Payne led the defensive effort with 10 tackles. Travis Bielefeld recorded two tackles for loss and a sack. Jacari Howard also recorded a sack for the Javalinas. Kadarious Coleman had the lone interception.

The Lone Star
The Cardinals will play a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) for just the fourth time in program history. Texas A&M-Kingsville is the lone LSC member to play the Cardinals.