The Anchor-Bone Classic rarely disappoints, and the 2026 edition gave us another classic for the vault.
Ferris State remains unbeaten and firmly atop the Division 2 football world, but Grand Valley State gave the Bulldogs their biggest scare of the season in a 41-34 battle at Lubbers Stadium.
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The result also left us with plenty of questions about both teams as the postseason picture begins to take shape.
From Ferris State's ability to respond when finally pushed to GVSU's place in the national picture, there was plenty to take away from Saturday's rivalry game.
Here are five takeaways from the 2026 Anchor-Bone Classic.
Ferris State Is Still The Team To Beat In D2
No surprise here, you have to beat the best to be the best, and Ferris State consistently wins against other contenders. In fact, they've won 37 straight games, going back to August 2024.
Harding, Kutztown, Minnesota State and the like will all have their chance to make a run in the D2 playoffs, but for now the road to the championship still goes through Big Rapids.
Wyatt Bower Took Over The 2026 Anchor-Bone Classic
After two early turnovers, Wyatt Bower put the team on his shoulders and battled back to take the lead. We wrote about our Harlon Hill watchlist this week, and one critique of Bower was how often he gets to finish the game on the bench after Ferris pads a huge lead. Well, he showed us.
Not only did Bower play the whole game, he pushed right up to the end, capping off 153 rushing yards and three touchdowns with a 53-yard fourth-quarter score. This is the kind of win voters are looking for in Harlon Hill candidates.
GVSU Is Better Than Its 5-2 Record Suggests
With NPI taking over this year, it's unclear what will happen with GVSU in terms of playoff contention, even if they were to win out. But hanging with the best team three years running, and landing within a score of the vaunted Bulldogs, is no easy ride. At the end of the season, the Michigan Tech loss will sting much more than the Ferris State one.
Ferris State Flipped The Turnover Battle
Two early fumble recoveries were massive for GVSU as they jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Ferris State had possessed the ball for all of three minutes by the time the Lakers were two touchdowns ahead. But just five minutes into the second quarter, the tables flipped as William Brown picked off an Andrew Schuster pass, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the GVSU 24. Ferris used that to tie it up at 17.
Then, with three minutes left until halftime, GVSU was pushing to take the lead, but a Paschal Anyanwu fumble stopped the Lakers cold. Ferris recovered and tacked on three more points and never looked back.
Ferris State's Remaining Schedule Is Suddenly More Interesting
With GVSU in the rearview mirror, Ferris State has two major hurdles left between it and an undefeated season. First, the Bulldogs take on Michigan Tech on October 24. The Huskies beat GVSU last week. A week later, they have dynamic running back Cephus Harris and Davenport. In a bit of GLIAC symmetry, the Panthers were the team that handed Michigan Tech its only loss of the season.
One thing leaning Ferris' way, besides being the most dominant team in the nation, is that they have both of those games at home in Big Rapids.
FloCollege D2 Football Rankings Week 6
- Ferris State (6-0) - Prev. 1
- Harding (6-0) - Prev. 2
- CSU Pueblo (6-0) - Prev. 3
- Kutztown (6-0) - Prev. 5
- Minnesota State (7-0) - Prev. 4
- Slippery Rock (6-0) - Prev. 7
- Western Colorado (6-0) - Prev. 8
- Northwood (6-0) - Prev. 9
- Henderson State (6-0) - Prev. 10
- Davenport (6-0) - Prev. 13
- Emporia State (6-0) - Prev. 18
- Northwest Missouri State (4-1) - Prev. 14
- Grand Valley State (5-1) - Prev. 6
- Findlay (5-1) - Prev. 12
- Michigan Tech (5-1) - Prev. 23
- Johnson C. Smith (5-1) - Prev. 19
- Carson-Newman (6-1) - Prev. 21
- Indiana (PA) (5-1) - Prev. 11
- UT Permian Basin (5-1) - Prev. 20
- Virginia Union (5-1) - Prev. 17
- North Greenville (5-1) - Prev. 15
- Valdosta State (4-1) - Prev. 22
- Benedict (5-1) - Prev. 24
- South Dakota Mines (5-1) - Prev. 25
- Mars Hill (5-1) - Prev. 16
Also Receiving Votes:
Wayne State (NE) (6-1), East Stroudsburg (5-1), Hillsdale (5-1), Augustana (SD) (5-2), Roosevelt (5-1), Central Washington (4-2), Shepherd (5-1), East Central (5-1), Virginia State (6-1), Edward Waters (5-1), West Liberty (5-1), West Alabama (5-1), Minnesota Duluth (5-2).
Previous Rankings:
How The FloCollege D2 Football Rankings Are Determined
The FloCollege Division 2 football rankings are driven by a mix of objective data and input from voters.
Ranking factors include:
- Voter Points
- Wins
- Margin of Victory
- Away Wins
- Strength of Schedule
D2 Football This Week On FloCollege
Saturday, Oct 17
- Northern Michigan vs Michigan Tech - 12:00 PM ET
- Post vs Franklin Pierce - 12:00 PM ET
- Tiffin vs Walsh - 12:00 PM ET
- Ashland vs Thomas More - 12:00 PM ET
- Kentucky Wesleyan vs Ohio Dominican - 12:00 PM ET
- Newberry vs Mars Hill - 1:00 PM ET
- Emory & Henry vs Carson-Newman - 1:00 PM ET
- Findlay vs Hillsdale - 1:00 PM ET
- Assumption vs Southern Connecticut - 1:00 PM ET
- American International vs Pace - 1:00 PM ET
- Davenport vs Roosevelt - 2:00 PM ET
- Northwood vs Lake Erie - 2:00 PM ET
- Wingate vs Lenoir-Rhyne - 2:00 PM ET
- UVA Wise vs Tusculum - 2:00 PM ET
- Ferris State vs Grand Valley State - 3:00 PM ET
- West Texas A&M vs Eastern New Mexico - 5:00 PM ET
- Saginaw Valley State vs Wayne State (MI) - 6:00 PM ET
- Western Oregon vs UT Permian Basin - 7:00 PM ET
- Central Washington vs Texas A&M-Kingsville - 8:00 PM ET
- Western New Mexico vs Sul Ross State - 8:00 PM ET
- Angelo State vs Midwestern State - 9:00 PM ET
How To Watch D2 Football In 2026
Hundreds of Division 2 football games will stream live on FloCollege and the FloSports app.
Game replays, highlights and breaking news will also be available on both platforms.
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