The Saginaw Valley State University football team begins the 2025 season with the Annual Red Feather Game. This year's opponent is Northeastern State. The Fighting Cardinals and the Riverhawks are meeting for the first time in program history.

 

SVSU finished 2024 with a 7-4 record. The Fighting Cardinals fell in four tightly fought contests, losing the games by a combined 17 points (4.25 points per game margin). Saginaw Valley finished fifth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) standings with a 4-3 mark in league play.

 

This year's team features a list of key returners on both sides of the ball, in addition to some transfers that should make an impact this year. Sophomore quarterback Mason McKenzie (Caledonia, Mich.) is the centerpiece for the Cardinals' offense. The 2024 GLIAC Freshman of the Year looks to improve on his debut season, where he finished with a combined 2,716 yards and 20 touchdowns (2,054 yards and 14 touchdowns passing). He led the team in passing and rushing and compiled over 200 yards passing four times and rushed for 100 or more yards twice during the season.

 

Northeastern State finished 2-9 in 2024. The Riverhawks ended the season with a three-game skid. NSU is entering its second season as a conference independent after being a part of the MIAA since 2012.

 

Saginaw Valley State is celebrating 50 years of Fighting Cardinal Football this season. Thursday's home opener celebrates the very first varsity team from 1975. Members of the original team will be in attendance at the game and will be involved in the game's opening coin toss as well as honored at the beginning of halftime.

 

• The Fighting Cardinals were chosen third in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches poll after gaining one first-place vote and totalling 38 points.

• 2024 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Mason McKenzie will have two of his top three targets returning this season with two-time All-GLIAC players senior Eric Craft (Waterford, Mich.) and redshirt-junior Terrence Brown Jr. (Detroit, Mich.). Craft finished second on the team with 27 catches for 428 yards with two scores a year ago. Brown was a threat out of the backfield with 21 receptions, 337 yards, and a team-best four touchdown catches. Brown was the team leader in all-purpose yards with 1,049 and scoring with 66 points with his 11 total touchdowns (six rushing, four receiving, one punt return).

• SVSU returns two 2nd-Team All-GLIAC selections on offense with redshirt-junior running back Jaquan Howard (Chicago, Ill.) and senior offensive lineman Joe Botello (Lansing, Mich.).

• All-GLIAC redshirt-junior defensive lineman Adom LeDuc (Utica, Mich.) returns on defense for the Cardinals. LeDuc finished with 46 tackles, five sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble. He recorded five or more tackles four times, including recording six tackles in a game three times in 2024.

• Senior Timothy Alonzo Jr. (Maple Heights, Ohio) joins LeDuc on the defensive line. Alonzo appeared in nine games a season ago. Redshirt-sophomore linebacker James McDonald (Warren, Mich.) returns after nine games of experience in his debut for the Cardinals. Redshirt-sophomores DJ Voltz (Saginaw, Mich.) and Sean Hodges (Detroit, Mich.), along with redshirt-junior Christian Ellison (Flint, Mich.), return in the defensive backfield. Voltz played in all 11 games for the Cardinals, while Hodges saw action in 10 games and Ellison appeared in nine.

• Saginaw Valley State is 7-3 in its last 10 season-opening games. The Fighting Cardinals are currently on a seven-game streak in those contests, including a 4-1 record inside Harvey Randall Wickes Memorial Stadium.

• The 2025 schedule features seven home games and four road contests. SVSU draws three-straight at home (Northeastern State, Ganon, Northwood) to begin the season before making its only trip out of the state of Michigan in week four against New Haven in Connecticut. The Fighting Cardinals then open GLIAC play for a homecoming game against Northern Michigan before hosting Roosevelt the following week. Saginaw Valley then makes the first of two trips to Grand Rapids with a game at Grand Valley State for week seven before hosting Wayne State the next weekend. The second trip to Grand Rapids comes in week nine against Davenport. SVSU hosts Ferris State for the final home game of the season in week 10. It is the first time the Bulldogs have visited Saginaw Valley since the 2022 season. The season wraps with a trip to Houghton for a game against the Michigan Tech Huskies.