Northern Michigan University running back Nico Lukkarinen, top, gets lifted by a teammate in the end zone after scoring a touchdown against Alma on Sept. 21 in the Superior Dome in Marquette. Lukkarinen is a graduate of Negaunee High School. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — Fans can get in on the ground floor of a Northern Michigan University football resurgence if the Wildcats can pull that off this fall.

After back-to-back 0-11 seasons, NMU opens the third year under head coach Shane Richardson at home against Minnesota State-Moorhead at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, in the Superior Dome.

Northern plays six of its 11 games at home, three nonconference and three in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Their final game will also be at home on Saturday, Nov. 15, against conference foe Wayne State.

It seems fitting that a team playing indoors would get to play both its first and last games at home — there’s no worries about it being too hot when it’s still summer, nor too cold when winter isn’t far off.

“We have a schedule that is very competitive and unique as we go into this 2025 season,” Richardson said in an NMU Sports Information news release announcing the schedule. “Our road games are manageable as four of the five are in-state.

“There are some nonconference teams that are new to us and we also have the opportunity to double up with Davenport, (which) has been very competitive. There’s value to playing a team both home and away as it will give us an opportunity to see how we grow and improve throughout the season.

“We will take on an FCS opponent in St. Thomas and this will be exciting for our guys to compete against a higher-level program.”

That’s quite an ambitious undertaking for a struggling NCAA Division II school, since FCS stands for the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, the old “Division 1-AA,” or smaller schools in big-time college football.

The St. Thomas game is actually the Wildcats’ second home game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. All of NMU’s games other than its opener will be played on Saturdays.

Between the two home games is a nonconference contest at former GLIAC member Northwood on Sept. 6, and like every other road game right now, no starting time has been announced.

The first of the two games vs. Davenport follows the St. Thomas encounter at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, and is in the Superior Dome. This game, also Northern’s homecoming contest, is considered nonconference, as the early November matchup in Grand Rapids will count in the GLIAC.

NMU then gets a bye week the final Saturday of September before embarking on seven straight league games over seven consecutive weekends to end the season.

First there is a road trip to Saginaw Valley State on Oct. 4 after the Cardinals finished 4-3 in the GLIAC and 7-4 overall last season.

Then comes the first of two monumental challenge, a home game against conference runner-up Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. on Oct. 11. The Lakers were 6-1 in league and 11-2 overall last year after reaching the second round of the NCAA Division II national tournament last fall.

Following that is a game in Chicago against the GLIAC’s newest member, Roosevelt, on Oct. 18. These Lakers — don’t forget the league’s third Lakers squad at non-football-playing Lake Superior State — were only 1-6 and 1-9 last year.

Northern’s best chance at a win these past two seasons came in the dome against Roosevelt last fall before these Illinois Lakers won 16-10 in overtime.

After that is the annual Miner’s Cup matchup with Upper Peninsula rival Michigan Tech. That game will be at noon on Oct. 25 in the Superior Dome and is expected to be televised on TV6 or Fox-U.P.

Last year’s game was an NMU 39-9 loss — their 14th straight in the series — in Houghton as MTU finished at 4-3 and 7-4.

Coming down the stretch in November, the Wildcats hit the road for two weeks, including Nov. 1 at Ferris State. The Bulldogs not only won the conference at 7-0 last year, but finished at 14-1 after winning their third Division II national championship with an emphatic 49-14 win over Valdosta State of Georgia shown on national TV.

Next will be Nov. 8 for the rematch at Davenport, while the season ends at 1 p.m. on Nov. 15 at home against Wayne State.

Davenport was the third GLIAC member to finish at 4-3 in league and 7-4 overall, while WSU was a modest 2-5 and 2-9.

“We play in the best Division II conference in the country and it will be a great challenge to compete against all of these teams,” Richardson said. “We look forward to continually displaying our improvement as a program week to week.

“We will aim to focus on ourselves and go into each of these contests with an energy that is ready to compete at a high level.”

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the schedule. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.