Ferris State Bulldogs football, 1990–1999

1990–1999 Ferris State Bulldogs football
1990–1999 Ferris State Bulldogs football
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (1990–1998), Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1999)
Head coach	Keith Otterbein (1986–1994); Jeff Pierce (1995–2011);
Home stadium	Top Taggart Field
	Seasons ← 1989 2000 →

The Ferris State Bulldogs football program, 1990–1999 represented Ferris State University during the 1990s in NCAA Division II college football as a member of the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) and, starting in 1999, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The team was led by head coaches Keith Otterbein (1986–1994) and Jeff Pierce (1995–2011). From 1992 to 1996, Ferris State won five consecutive MIFC championships and advanced each year to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Highlights included:

The 1992 team compiled a 10–3 record, finished in a four-way tie for the MIFC championship, and advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs, losing to New Haven in the second round.
The 1993 team compiled a 9–1–2, won the MIFC championship, and lost to Indiana (PA) in the Division II playoffs.
The 1994 team compiled an 11–1 record, won the MIFC championship, and lost to Indiana (PA) in the Division II quarterfinals.
The 1995 team compiled a 12–1, won the MIFC championship, and lost to national champion North Alabama in the Division II semifinals.
The 1996 team compiled a 10–2 record, won the MIFC championship, and lost to Clarion in a Division II quarterfinal playoff game.

ConferenceMidwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (1990–1998), Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1999)

Headcoach

Keith Otterbein (1986–1994)
Jeff Pierce (1995–2011)

HomestadiumTop Taggart Field

Quick facts 1990–1999, Conference ...

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The team played its home games at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Michigan.

Year	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	Conf. rank	Points scored	Points against	Delta
1990	Keith Otterbein	6–4–1	5–4–1	T4	245	203	+42
1991	Keith Otterbein	5–6	5–5	T4	174	218	-44
1992	Keith Otterbein	10–3	8–2	T1	308	165	+143
1993	Keith Otterbein	9–1–2	8–0–2	1	359	159	+200
1994	Keith Otterbein	11–1	10–0	1	365	218	+147
1995	Jeff Pierce	12–1	10–0	1	440	280	+160
1996	Jeff Pierce	10–2	9–1	1	334	209	+125
1997	Jeff Pierce	3–7	3–7	T7	222	243	-21
1998	Jeff Pierce	5–6	5–5	T6	355	346	+9
1999	Jeff Pierce	7–3	7–2	T1	473	262	+211
TOTAL		78–34–3	70–26–3

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	at Michigan Tech	Houghton, MI	W 30–19	3,201
September 8	at Ashland	Ashland, OH	L 20–22
September 15	Hillsdale	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 14–10
September 22	at Wayne State (MI)	Detroit, MI	L 17–29
September 29	No. 11 Northern Michigan	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	T 14–14
October 6	at Valparaiso	Brown Field Valparaiso, IN	W 38–13
October 13	at No. 3 Grand Valley State	Lubbers Stadium Allendale, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	L 12–42	5,866	^[2]
October 20	Butler	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 27–18
October 27	at Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN	W 29–15
November 3	Saginaw Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 14–21
November 10	Saint Joseph's (IN)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 30–0
Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	Michigan Tech*	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 13–33
September 14	Ashland	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 7–35
September 21	at Hillsdale	Hillsdale, MI	W 23–16
September 28	Wayne State (MI)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 24–27
October 5	at Northern Michigan	Superior Dome Marquette, MI	L 17–27
October 12	Valparaiso	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 28–9
October 19	Grand Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	L 6–28	1,950	^[3]
October 26	at Butler	Indianapolis, IN	W 7–6
November 2	Indianapolis	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 21–6
November 9	at Saginaw Valley State	Wickes Stadium University Center, MI	W 18–15
November 16	at Saint Joseph's (IN)	Rensselaer, IN	L 10–16
*Non-conference game

1992 Ferris State Bulldogs football
MIFC co-champion
NCAA Division II quarterfinal, L 13–35 at New Haven
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Record	10–3 (8–2 MIFC)
Head coach	Keith Otterbein (7th season)
Home stadium	Top Taggart Field
Seasons ← 1991 1993 →

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 5	vs. Northwood	Auburn, MI	W 33–10
September 12	at Ashland	Ashland, OH	L 7–15
September 19	Hillsdale	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 14–36
September 26	at Wayne State (MI)	Detroit, MI	W 21–3
October 3	Northern Michigan	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 23–12
October 10	at Valparaiso	Valparaiso, IN	W 33–3
October 17	at Grand Valley State	Lubbers Stadium Allendale, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	W 23–0
October 24	Butler	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 35–7
October 31	at Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN	W 54–13
November 7	Saginaw Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 10–9
November 14	Saint Joseph's	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 23–7
November 21	Edinboro	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II first round)	W 19–15
November 28	at New Haven	New Haven, CT (NCAA Division II quarterfinal)	L 13–35

Ferris State Bulldogs football, 1990–1999

Decade overview

1990

Schedule

1991

Schedule

1992

Schedule

1993

Schedule

1994

Schedule

1995

Schedule

1996

Schedule

1997

Schedule

1998

Schedule

1999

Schedule

References

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Timelines

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Fact Checks

v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Grand Valley State $^	9	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. T–20 Ashland	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	1
Hillsdale	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Ferris State	5	–	4	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Butler	5	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Northern Michigan	5	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Saginaw Valley State	5	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Indianapolis	3	–	6	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Wayne State (MI)	3	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	3	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Valparaiso	1	–	9	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Butler $^	9	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Ashland	8	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Grand Valley State ^	8	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	5	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Ferris State	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Hillsdale	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	4	–	6	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	4	–	6	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Northern Michigan	3	–	6	–	1	3	–	6	–	1
Indianapolis	2	–	8	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Valparaiso	1	–	8	–	1	1	–	8	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Hillsdale +	8	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Ferris State +^	8	–	2	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Butler +	8	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Grand Valley State +	8	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Ashland	7	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	6	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	3	–	7	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Valparaiso	3	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Indianapolis	1	–	8	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	–	8	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Northern Michigan	1	–	9	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

1993 Ferris State Bulldogs football
MIFC champion
NCAA Division II first round, L 21–28 at IUP
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Record	9–1–2 (8–0–2 MIFC)
Head coach	Keith Otterbein (8th season)
Home stadium	Top Taggart Field
Seasons ← 1992 1994 →

v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Ferris State $^	8	–	0	–	2	9	–	1	–	2
No. 15 Ashland	8	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Grand Valley State	6	–	2	–	2	6	–	3	–	2
Hillsdale	6	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Northern Michigan	5	–	4	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Wayne State (MI)	5	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
St. Francis (IL)	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	4	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwood	2	–	7	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	–	8	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Indianapolis	1	–	9	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 4	at Edinboro*	Edinboro, PA	W 23–9
September 11	Ashland	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 20–6
September 18	at Hillsdale	Hillsdale, MI	T 13–13
September 25	Wayne State (MI)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 36–6
October 2	at Northern Michigan	Marquette, MI	W 47–0
October 9	Saint Francis (IL)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 26–18
October 16	Grand Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	T 17–17
October 23	at Northwood	Midland, MI	W 47–0
October 30	Indianapolis	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 40–26
November 6	at Saginaw Valley State	Wickes Stadium University Center, MI	W 34–23
November 13	at Saint Joseph's (IN)	Rensselaer, IN	W 35–13
November 20	at IUP*	Indiana, PA (NCAA Division II first round)	L 21–28
*Non-conference game

1994 Ferris State Bulldogs football
MIFC champion
NCAA Division II quarterfinal, L 17–21 at IUP
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Record	11–1 (10–0 MIFC)
Head coach	Keith Otterbein (9th season)
Home stadium	Top Taggart Field
Seasons ← 1993 1995 →

v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Ferris State $^	10	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 18 Grand Valley State ^	8	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Hillsdale	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Ashland	6	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	6	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	6	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Northern Michigan	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Michigan Tech	3	–	7	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	3	–	7	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Indianapolis	2	–	7	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Northwood	2	–	7	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
St. Francis (IL)	1	–	9	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 10	at Ashland	Ashland, OH	W 16–14
September 17	Indianapolis	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 44–7
September 24	Hillsdale	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 14–10
October 1	at Grand Valley State	Lubbers Stadium Allendale, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	W 27–21
October 8	Northern Michigan	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 41–21
October 15	at Wayne State (MI)	Detroit, MI	W 34–14
October 22	Northwood	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 52–16
October 29	at Michigan Tech	Houghton, MI	W 30–19
November 5	Saint Joseph's (IN)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 17–7
November 12	at Saginaw Valley State	University Center, MI	W 30–28
November 19	West Chester	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II first round)	W 43–40
November 26	IUP	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II quarterfinal)	L 17–21

1995 Ferris State Bulldogs football
MIFC champion
NCAA Division II semifinal, L 7–45 at North Alabama
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Record	12–1 (10–0 MIFC)
Head coach	Jeff Pierce (1st season)
Seasons ← 1994 1996 →

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v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Ferris State $^	10	–	0	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
Grand Valley State	8	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Northern Michigan	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Saginaw Valley State	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Hillsdale	7	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Michigan Tech	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
St. Francis (IL)	5	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Indianapolis	3	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	3	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Ashland	2	–	8	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Northwood	2	–	8	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	–	9	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Ashland	No. 9	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 20–13		^[5]
September 16	at Indianapolis	No. 4	Indianapolis, IN	W 50–0
September 23	at Hillsdale	No. 4	Hillsdale, MI	W 17–10
September 30	No. 12 Grand Valley State	No. 5	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	W 30–21		^[6]
October 7	at Northern Michigan	No. 5	Marquette, MI	W 41–27		^[7]
October 14	Wayne State (MI)	No. 4	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 39–30
October 21	at Northwood	No. 4	Midland, MI	W 56–14
October 28	Michigan Tech	No. 3	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 38–17		^[8]
November 4	at Saint Joseph's (IN)	No. 3	Rensselaer, IN	W 43–26		^[9]
November 11	Saginaw Valley State	No. 3	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 46–42		^[10]
November 18	No. 14 Millersville*	No. 3	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II first round)	W 36–26		^[11]
November 25	No. 5 New Haven*	No. 3	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II quarterfinal)	W 17–9		^[12]
December 2	at No. 1 North Alabama*	No. 3	Florence, AL (NCAA Division II semifinal)	L 7–45	7,866	^[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

1996 Ferris State Bulldogs football
MIFC champion
NCAA Division II quarterfinal, L 21–23 vs. Clarion
Conference	Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
Record	10–2 (9–1 MIFC)
Head coach	Jeff Pierce (2nd season)
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
August 29	at Ashland	Ashland, OH	W 26–0
September 7	Indianapolis	Big Rapids, MI	W 30–19
September 14	Hillsdale	Big Rapids, MI	W 20–7
September 21	at Grand Valley State	Allendale, MI	L 17–36
September 28	Northern Michigan	Big Rapids, MI	W 38–33
October 5	at Wayne State (MI)	Detroit, MI	W 26–7
October 12	Northwood	Big Rapids, MI	W 40–24
October 19	at Michigan Tech	Houghton, MI	W 31–6
November 2	at Saginaw Valley State	University Center, MI	W 26–17
November 9	at St. Francis (IL)	Joliet, IL	W 35–14
November 23	IUP*	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II first round)	W 24–23
November 30	Clarion*	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (NCAA Division II quarterfinal)	L 21–23
*Non-conference game

v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 12 Ashland +^	9	–	1	9	–	2
Grand Valley State +	9	–	1	9	–	1
Saginaw Valley State	8	–	2	9	–	2
Indianapolis	7	–	3	8	–	3
Northern Michigan	6	–	4	7	–	4
Hillsdale	4	–	6	4	–	7
Ferris State	3	–	7	3	–	7
Northwood	3	–	7	3	–	7
Wayne State (MI)	3	–	7	3	–	8
Michigan Tech	2	–	8	2	–	8
St. Francis (IL)	1	–	9	1	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 28	Ashland	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 7–26
September 6	at Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN	L 21–32
September 13	at Hillsdale	Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium Hillsdale, MI	W 35–21
September 20	Grand Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	L 18–21	6,619
September 27	at Northern Michigan	Marquette, MI	L 21–23
October 4	Wayne State (MI)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 26–30
October 11	at Northwood	Hantz Stadium Midland, MI	W 31–17
October 18	Michigan Tech	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 24–34
November 1	Saginaw Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 24–23		^[14]
November 8	St. Francis (IL)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 15–16

v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Grand Valley State $^	9	–	1	9	–	3
Saginaw Valley State	8	–	2	9	–	2
Indianapolis	8	–	2	8	–	2
Ashland	7	–	3	7	–	3
Northwood	7	–	3	7	–	3
Findlay	5	–	5	5	–	5
Mercyhurst	5	–	5	5	–	5
Ferris State	5	–	5	5	–	6
Northern Michigan	4	–	5	5	–	5
Michigan Tech	4	–	6	4	–	6
Hillsdale	3	–	7	3	–	8
Westminster (PA)	2	–	7	3	–	7
Wayne State (MI)	2	–	8	2	–	9
St. Francis (IL)	0	–	10	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
September 5	at Winona State*	Winona, MN	L 10–17
September 12	Saginaw Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	L 20–34	^[15]
September 19	at Findlay	Findlay, OH	L 7–24
September 26	at Northwood	Midland, MI	L 21–35
October 3	Northern Michigan	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 29–19
October 10	Wayne State (MI)	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 37–13
October 17	at Ashland	Ashland, OH	L 37–59
October 24	at Michigan Tech	Houghton, MI	W 67–46
October 31	Hillsdale	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI	W 24–21
November 7	at St. Francis (IL)	Joliet, IL	W 50–22
November 14	Grand Valley State	Top Taggart Field Big Rapids, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	L 53–56
*Non-conference game

1999 Ferris State Bulldogs football
GLIAC co-champion
Conference	Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Record	7–3 (7–2 GLIAC)
Head coach	Jeff Pierce (5th season)
Seasons ← 1998 2000 →

v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Northwood +	7	–	2	8	–	2
Ferris State +	7	–	2	7	–	3
Ashland	7	–	3	7	–	3
Hillsdale	6	–	3	8	–	3
Northern Michigan	6	–	3	6	–	4
Michigan Tech	6	–	4	6	–	4
Indianapolis	5	–	4	7	–	4
Grand Valley State	5	–	4	5	–	5
Mercyhurst	4	–	5	5	–	5
Saginaw Valley State	4	–	5	4	–	6
Westminster (PA)	2	–	8	3	–	8
Findlay	2	–	8	2	–	8
Wayne State (MI)	0	–	10	0	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	at North Dakota State*	Fargodome Fargo, ND	L 35–55		^[16]
September 11	at Saginaw Valley State	Wickes Stadium University Center, MI	W 56–14
September 18	Findlay	Big Rapids, MI	W 56–14
September 25	Northwood	Big Rapids, MI	W 46–36
October 2	at Northern Michigan	Marquette, MI	W 45–27
October 9	at Wayne State (MI)	Detroit, MI	W 62–20
October 16	Ashland	Big Rapids, MI	L 22–26
October 23	Michigan Tech	Big Rapids, MI	W 66–7
October 30	at Hillsdale	Hillsdale, MI	L 37–40
November 13	at Grand Valley State	Lubbers Stadium Allendale, MI (Anchor–Bone Classic)	W 48–23	5,277
*Non-conference game