Going into Saturday’s contest at Saginaw Valley State, Michigan Tech Huskies football coach Dan Mettlach’s team had already had a good season, going 6-4 with a 3-3 record in GLIAC play. They had beaten Northern Michigan, which is a priority every year, Wayne State, and Roosevelt. They gave Davenport and Grand Valley State very good games in their conference losses. In fact, the only game the Huskies really struggled in was the one at Ferris State, where the Bulldogs won, 51-13.

Mettlach did not pull any punches after that game.

“Went exactly how it looked,” he said a couple of days later. “We got off to a slow start, and any time you do that against a team that’s that talented, you’re asking for trouble. Guys played hard right until the very end. Very proud of that part. Sideline energy was good the whole way.

“We just, we’re a step slow with reactions in the back end, in coverage, up front at times, in the box and so on. They’re just too good for that.”

Mettlach spoke about the fact that the Bulldogs did not pull any punches when facing the Huskies.

“I give them a lot of credit,” he said. “It wasn’t that our guys had big eyes or weren’t ready for the moment. They are good and they beat us. We’re man enough as a staff and as players to tip your cap when that happens and move on.”

The Huskies responded to that loss, which was actually their second straight loss, with a win over the Wildcats. Mettlach and his staff knew there was no further need for motivation for that game than the two straight losses, and the fact that they were facing Northern Michigan.

“Our guys don’t need any extra motivation when it’s Northern week,” he said. “That is a priority here at this university for going as long as I can remember being a part of it. What happened at Ferris, or what we didn’t do against Davenport, or what we did do well against (Wisconsin-)Oshkosh has zero to do with what this game is going to be about this weekend. Extra motivation is not necessary. At the same time, our guys do not take this weekend for granted at all. From 1955 to 2000, Tech never beat Northern. So, our guys understand the history, know what this rivalry is all about.

“We understand that we’ve had it for a while now with the (Miner’s) Cup being in our hands, and what the record is since 2000, but that means zero for this current team and what they currently have and anything from that standpoint. Our guys are going to have to come out and play, execute physicality, be fast. You know what their record is, what our record is, what happened last week for both of us means nothing when the ball’s kicked off.”

The Huskies responded with a 39-9 victory that weekend.

While they were not as effective offensively over the next two games, the Huskies still did a lot of good things, including holding Grand Valley to just 20 points. Had they been able to manage more than 100 yards of offense, they might have been able to upset the visiting Lakers.

But it was not meant to be.

The focus for the Huskies prior to Saturday became a belief that they still had something left to gain from a good game.

“I think our guys still believe and trust that we are playing for a ton right now, whether that be to get to seven wins, finish third in the league, however you want to look at it,” Mettlach said. “Our guys are not done yet, and this game is as important as any other one has been throughout the Fall. The shoulda, coulda, wouldas at the end of the year with what happened at Bemidji or Davenport, those are things that we’ll talk about down the road. But right now, we are 100% focused on getting prepped for Saginaw and going down there with the right mentality.”

Saturday, they trailed the Cardinals at halftime, 28-10. With hopes of a seventh win dwindling, the Huskies could have simply packed it in and played out the final snaps for a large group of seniors and fifth-year players, ending their careers with a six-win season.

Instead, for the final 15 minutes, the Huskies rallied. It started with a 3-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Alex Fries that capped an 80-yard drive with 10 plays.

Then, less than two minutes later, sophomore running back Jake Rueff punched one in from three yards out. Suddenly, the Huskies trailed 28-23.

Mettlach called on freshman kicker Avery Kucharski to attempt a 25-yard kick with 5:09 left in the contest, which the youngster hit, making it a two-point game.

The Huskies got the ball back again with a short field, and five plays later, Fries was crashing the end zone from seven yards out to give the Huskies the lead for good.

In the end, the Huskies went 7-4 in Mettlach’s second season as the head coach of his alma mater. The Huskies showed a lot of promise this season, from an overtime loss to then-No. 25 Bemidji State to open the season, to the big comeback to earn their seventh win. Mettlach has the Huskies believing they can be competitive every weekend, and that is a good thing.