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#24 Grand Valley State opened its 45th year of football with a 36-28 win over Southwest Baptist Thursday (Sept. 3) night at Lubbers Stadium before a crowd of 11,124. GVSU improved to 28-17 in season-opening games and 15-6 when opening the season at home. GVSU will hit the road for a GLIAC tilt at nationally-ranked Ohio Dominican next Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Kickoff is set for 12:30 pm and all the action can be heard live on the Grand Valley Sports Network. 

GVSU took the opening kickoff and drove 79 yards in six plays as sophomore QB  Bart Williams hit sophomore WR Brandon Bean with a 41-yard TD pass. Junior PK Joel Schipper booted the first of four PATs for to give the Lakers a 7-0. A Laker penalty on third down kept a Bearcat drive alive that they eventually scored on to tie the game at 7-7. GVSU scored 22 second quarter points to take a 29-7 lead. Redshirt freshman running back Marty Carter scored his first career TD on a 1-yard run and sophomore LB Collin Schlosser recorded a safety when he tackled the SBU QB in the endzone. Sophomore WR Urston Smith hauled in a 31-yard TD pass from Williams with 5:08 left in the second quarter and WR Matt Williams capped a 2-play, 52-yard drive with a 21-yard TD reception. 

The Laker defense forced a punt on the Bearcats first possession of the second half and following a 23-yard punt return by Matt Williams, B. Williams hit M. Williams with a 16-yard TD pass and Schipper's PAT upped the Laker lead to 36-7. SBU scored the final 21 points for the final margin. 

B. Williams completed 23-of-36 for 300 yards and four TDs in his first career start. M. Williams hauled in seven catches for 104 yards and two TDs, while senior Kirk Spencer caught five passes for 28 yards. Bean caught four passes for 88 yards and one TD and U. Smith pulled down three catches for 47 yards. Carter rushed for 76 yards on 10 carries.

Defensively, senior DE Matt Judon tallied nine tackles, 4.5 QB sacks (-21) and 4.5 TFL (-21). His 4.5 QB sacks ranks second all-time at GVSU for QB sacks in a game. Junior DL DeOndre Hogan also recorded nine tackles with 3.0 TFL. LB David Talley chipped in eight stops and freshman CB Devin McKissic added seven solo stops. Sophomore Garrett Pougnet notched five tackles and picked off a pass and junior LB Joe Moran also picked off a pass to seal the win. Redshirt freshman punter Collin Cribley averad 42.7 yards per punt in his first collegiate game.