Big challenge for No. 5 UW-La Crosse, as it heads to DII’s second-ranked team, Grand Valley State
On the road against the second-ranked team in Division II, the fifth-ranked UW-La Crosse football team has its toughest test — if not tougher — since losing 55-42 in last year’s playoffs to top-ranked North Central.
The Eagles take their second long road trip in three weeks, as they head to Division II’s No. 2 team, Grand Valley State — a game featured live Saturday on WKTY.
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Pregame Saturday at 5:45 p.m., kickoff at 6 p.m.
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This is the second DII opponent in as many weeks, though Grand Valley (2-0) will obviously be a much tougher opponent than when UW-L handed Northern Michigan its 14th-consecutive loss last week, 35-21.
UW-L coach Matt Janus views the trip as a unique opportunity.
“I don’t know there’s been a matchup of cross division teams that have been rated this high,” Janus said. “I just think that’s such a cool atmosphere to be in for college football in general.”
Last season, the Eagles (3-0) reached the DIII quarterfinals for the first time since 1996, losing to No. 1 North Central, which eventually lost by a point in the DIII National Championship — which would have been its second title in a row. Meanwhile, Grand Valley State lost in the DII quarterfinals the past two seasons.
The Eagles last faced Grand Valley State in 2021, losing 45-21, though it was a seven-point game midway through the fourth quarter.
Janus is predicting the crowd to be incredibly noisy, so they are getting the quarterbacks prepared simulating that crowd noise in practice.
“We’ll have to do a great job with communication, especially on the offensive side of the ball,” Janus said. “I hope we’re not hurting the hearing of our quarterbacks because we’ve got a speaker behind them the entire time throughout practice.”
Beyond hinting at the less than PG commentary from fans, Janus added he expects intimidation tactics from the GVS players, as well — noting that surviving the first quarter will be key to the Eagles’ success.
“They’re going to try to overwhelm us in warmups by talking crap to us,” Janus said. “We’ll be jawing back and forth. They’ll be blitzing the heck out of us and trying to take deep shots on us.
“We know the salvo is coming. The biggest thing is keeping our heads and our cool, and focus on one series at a time.”