The Calvin University football team will travel to Alma College on Saturday for a conference contest at 1 p.m. at Bahlke Field. Saturday's contest will mark the third meeting between the two schools with Alma winning the two prior meetings. Ranked 14th nationally in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and 20th by D3football.com, Calvin enters the game at 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the MIAA while Alma comes in at 3-6 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA. The Scots are the defending MIAA champions.

Calvin is under the direction of head coach Trent Figg who guides his 111-member roster in year three this fall. 

Tickets - Tickets to Saturday's game can be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing at: Calvin-Alma Football Tickets.

How to Watch/Listen:  Saturday's game can be followed by Live stream, live audio and live stats.

The Calvin live stream stream broadcast can be found online at: Calvin-Alma Live Stream Broadcast.  In addition, Saturday's game will air on Grand Rapids radio Station 96.1 FM The Game iHeart Radio at: 96.1 The Game iHeart Radio. An audio stream will also be available through Michigan Sports Radio (Michigansportsradio.com).

Live statistics of the game will be produced at: Calvin/Alma Live Stats.

The Lead-Up – Calvin is in season three under head coach Trent Figg. The Knights are coming off a 7-3 campaign in 2025 after producing a 2-8 record in year one (2024). Calvin finished fourth in the 2025 MIAA standings with a 4-3 conference record and was picked to finish fourth in the 2026 MIAA preseason coaches' poll. Calvin returns 72 letterwinners including 10 starters on offense and eight starters on defense from its 2025 campaign. Calvin is off to a 9-0 (6-0 MIAA) start for its best start in its early program history. Calvin has clinched a share of the MIAA regular season title and the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA III Playoffs. The Knights defeated rival Hope 38-24 last Saturday. They take on the Scots of Alma at Bahlke Field Saturday. Calvin needs a win for an outright title. A loss would create a co-title as the winner of the Hope/Trine game Saturday will finish 6-1.

National Rankings – Calvin is ranked 14^th in the AFCA D3 Coaches Poll and 15^th in the D3football.com Top 25 poll. In addition, Calvin is ranked #7 in the latest Division III National Power Index ratings (NPI).

A Look at the Series – Saturday's contest marks the third meeting between the two teams with Alma winning both prior meetings in lopsided fashion, winning the 2024 matchup 73-13 at Grand Rapids Christian High School with Hope winning the return meeting last fall in Alma 55-6.

A Look at Last Year – Alma defeated Calvin 55-6. Alma piled up 699 yards of offense and led 38-0 at halftime. The Scots rushed for 253 yards. Alma quarterback Carter St. John was 16 of 21 passing for 320 yards and five touchdowns with three of the touchdown passes going to wide receiver Zach Poff. TJ Seiler had four catches for 119 yards and a touchdown with Miles Haggart catching four balls for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Calvin quarterback Thomas Vaccaro was 22 of 33 passing for 168 yards and one interception. Leighton Kolk had four carries for 33 yards while Jude Klunder caught five balls for 70 yards. Caden Kolanowski had nine tackles for Calvin. Emilio Riley and Zayne Moore had six tackles each for Alma. Ethan Patrick had an interception for the Scots.  

Inside Calvin Football / MIAA Football Pulse -  Beginning October 13, join Calvin head football coach Trent Figg  for this year's  edition of Inside Calvin Football,  on 96.1 The Game and Michigan Sports Radio.  The show is live from Big E's Sports Grille on East Beltline and begins at 7pm.  Fans are welcome to attend to meet players, coaches and other Calvin fans. Starting on September 24, WXSP-TV and WOOD-TV+ bring The MIAA Football Pulse – a 30-minute television program providing fans with up-to-date coverage, expert insights, highlights, and exclusive interviews from across the MIAA. The MIAA Football Pulse episode airs Thursday, September 24 at 7:30pm on WXSP-TV and on demand at WOOD-TV+.   It's powered by People Driven Technology, Van Wyk Risk Solutions and Culver's.

Radio/TV -Catch the Knights all season long ,home and away, on 96.1FM The Game and Michigan Sports Radio.   Home games are televised live on WXSP-TV.

The Calvin Coach-Head coach Trent Figg was hired on January 6, 2023. He has a career won-loss record of 18-11 heading into Saturday. Figg is a native of Chillicothe, Missouri, located an hour-and-a-half from Kansas City. He is a 2008 graduate of William Jewell College where he was a four-year member of the football program as a special teams ace and defensive back. He later earned his master's degree from Northwest Missouri State in 2013. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at (then NAIA) William Jewell and later had stints as the special teams coordinator and defensive coordinator at D2 Southern Arkansas, defensive coordinator at William Jewell and special teams coordinator at Missouri State. He later spent two years (2019-21) at the University of Hawaii, serving as chief of staff of the football program and later associate head coach. In 2022, he served as the lead offensive analyst for the University of Oregon football program under head coach Dan Lanning. Figg and Lanning are former teammates and roommates at William Jewell College and stood up for each other at their respective weddings.

A Look at the Alma Head Coach–  Alma is under the direction of Jason Couch who is in his ninth year as head coach of the Scots. Couch is a 1997 Alma College graduate. He was a four-year letterwinner on the football team, starting for three years at center, earning First Team All-MIAA and Honorable Mention All-America honors as a senior in 1996. He is 56-31 as Alma's head coach heading into Saturday. He led Alma to MIAA titles in 2022, 2023 and 2025 with its 2022 team going 11-1 and reaching the second round of the NCAA III playoffs while its 2023 team finished 13-1 overall and reached the third round of the NCAA III playoffs. Alma is coming off an 8-3 campaign last fall that saw the Scots reach the first round of the NCAA III Playoffs. Couch has been named AFCA Division III Regional Coach of the Year twice (2022 & 2023). Prior to Alma, Couch served as co-head coach at Romeo High School for 15 seasons as well as offensive coordinator. He led Romeo High School to the MHSAA Division I state title in 2015.

More on Alma– The Alma offense is centered around quarterbacks Jason Boge and Tyler Herzog who have split signal caller duties this fall. A sophomore Boge is completing 58.5 percent (79 of 135) of his passes and has thrown for 944 yards and nine touchdowns. A junior, Herzog is completing 68.47 percent (76 of 111) of his passes for 758 yards and six touchdowns. Herzog has also rushed for 240 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore receiver TJ Seiler is the top receiving target with 45 receptions for 484 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Ethan Hull has 17 catches for 385 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Senior running back Braylon McDonald leads the ground game with 270 rushing yards. The Alma defense is led by two-time All-MIAA linebacker Jett King. A senior, King has 83 tackles including 2.5 for loss. Senior Keegan Bey has 29 tackles and a team-leading 4.5 sacks. Senior defensive back Andrew Bradley has 37 tackles and a team-leading three interceptions.  

Tough Schedule – Four of Alma's six losses have come against Top 70 NPI Teams (Baldwin-Wallace – NPI #4), (Hope – NPI #26), (Trine – NPI #47) & (UW-Eau Claire – NPI #63).

Game Nine Rewind – Calvin is coming off a 38-24 rivalry win over Hope this past Saturday. The victory clinched a share of the MIAA regular season title and the MIAA's automatic playoff berth. Calvin has head-to-head tiebreaker edges over both Trine and Hope with the two schools a game behind Calvin heading into this weekend. In its win over Hope, Calvin used as pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes from quarterback Thomas Vaccaro to wide receiver Luke Michmerhuizen to break away for the win. Michmerhuizen caught six balls for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Hayden Slegers churned out a career-high 107 yards on the ground while Vaccaro was 21 of 29 passing for 357 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown. Junior linebacker Carson Schnurstein had 16 tackles including two sacks. Amari Powell and Kaden McCullough had nine tackles apiece. Nolan Bloomquist and Caiden Bolduc both had sacks. Sal Ruffino connected on all five PATs and hit a 41-yard field goal on his only field goal try of the game.

The Thomas Vaccaro File – Calvin senior quarterback Thomas Vaccaro is second in the NCAA III statistics in passing touchdowns (40) trailing just Saint John's quarterback Trey Feeney who has 42. He leads the nation in total points responsible for (280). He is second nationally in passing yardage (2,899), second in passing efficiency (201.2), third in passing yards per-game (322.1) and fourth in pass completion percentage (.727). He leads Calvin in passing yards (2,899) and is second in rushing yards (425).

More Calvin in the NCAA III Statistics  – After nine games, Calvin has the fourth-ranked overall offense in Division III, averaging 533.3 yards a game. In addition, Calvin has the 2nd-ranked passing offense, averaging 345.4 passing yards per game. Calvin has the 9^th-ranked scoring offense at 46.8 points a game. Hunter Hogan is ranked 10th in total touchdowns (16) and total points (98), 8th in receiving touchdowns (13) and 14^th in receiving yards (897).

MIAA and D3football.com Honor Roll – Carson Schnurstein was named MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on November 9 and to the D3football.com Team of the Week on November 10. Kaden McCullough was named MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on November 2 while junior punter Logan Nap was named MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week the same day. Thomas Vaccaro was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week on November 9, marking his third citation of the season. He was also named to the D3football.com Team of the Week October 20, marking the second time this year he has received the award. Peter Markvluwer was named MIAA Defensive Player of the Week on October 5 and then landed a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week on October 6. Hunter Hogan was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 14 for the second time in his career on Sept. 14 while senior free safety Caden Kolanowski was named MIAA Defensive Player of the Week for the first time the same afternoon. On Sept.15, Kolanowski earned national honors, landing a spot on the D3football.com National Team of the Week.

Record Breakers – Thomas Vaccaro broke a Calvin single-game record for touchdown passes (8) in the win over Kalamazoo October 17. He also established a new Calvin single-game record for total yards (413) in the win over Hope November. He now has the Calvin single-season record for touchdown passes (40) with games still left on the schedule. Hunter Hogan established a new Calvin record for the longest rushing touchdown with his 69-yard first quarter burst on Sept. 5 at Otterbein. On September 19 at Franklin, Hogan set another single-game record, this time for most receptions in a game with 13 which he matched again at Trine October 31. His 13 touchdown receptions are a new Calvin single-season record. He also established a new single-game record for receiving yards (183). Paul Hubbard set a Calvin record for the longest kick return with a 45-yard return in the Sept. 5 game at Otterbein.

Snarling Schnurstein – Calvin is led by preseason All-American linebacker Carson Schnurstein who was picked as a D3football.com All-America Second Team choice last month. Schnurstein was named to the 2025 All-MIAA First Team and to the D3football.com All-Region IV Second Team last fall. He amassed a Calvin single-season record 115 tackles last fall, 52 solo and 63 assisted. He was amongst the NCAA Division III leaders in tackles throughout the 2025 campaign. He tallied 14.5 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks. He was also credited with three interceptions, three forced fumbles, four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.

More Conference Accolades – Schnurstein was one of four Calvin players to receive All-MIAA honors last year with all four returning. The remaining trio include junior running back/slot receiver Hunter Hogan, junior offensive lineman Brayden Steinbacher and senior defensive lineman C.J. Sheets. Hogan, Steinbacher and Sheets were all named to the 2025 All-MIAA Second Team.

Hogan's a Hero – Calvin junior Hunter Hogan is coming off a big sophomore campaign. He atoned for a team-leading 1,454 all-purpose yards in 2025. He rushed for 868 yards on 155 carries with eight rushing touchdowns including a long of 65 yards. He added 451 receiving yards by way off 39 receptions with two receiving touchdowns. He was also credited with 135 yards of kick return yardage. He had back-to-back 200-yard games on the ground in September, rushing for 215 yards on 34 carries in a 34-7 win over Concordia (Wisc.) and came back with 233 rushing yards on 41 carries in a 43-40 overtime win over Heidelberg the following week. Hogan has played in 26 career games at Calvin and scored 28 touchdowns (11 rushing, 17 receiving) across those contests.

1,000 Yards Times Two – Hogan became the first player in Calvin history to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark in both rushing and receiving in the Sept. 12 win over St. Norbert. He now has 1,143 yards on the ground and 1,818 yards receiving in his three-year Calvin career. In addition, he has 31 career touchdowns in 28 career games.

Family Tree – Calvin's leading returning receiver is junior Luke Michmerhuizen who snagged 57 catches for 618 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025 including a walk-off overtime touchdown grab to defeat Heidelberg 43-40. He is Calvin's career leader in receptions (148), receiving yards (2,051) and receiving touchdowns (23). The 6-7 Michmerhuizen is the second member of his immediate family to be a Calvin varsity athlete as his older sister Nicole was a multiple All-American for the Calvin women's track and field team including a national champion in the 10,000 meter run in 2013. His father Mark Michmerhuizen is an associate professor in the Calvin engineering department. Sister Nicole was a chemical engineering and biochemistry student at Calvin, an Academic All-American and later a PhD recipient from the University of Michigan in the field of pharmacology. Luke is also an engineering student at Calvin.

MIAA Preseason Poll – Calvin was picked to finish fourth out of eight teams in the 2065 MIAA preseason poll with champion Hope selected as the MIAA's pre-season favorite with defending champion Alma picked  second. 2026 MIAA Preseason Poll: 1. Hope, 2. Alma, 3. Adrian, 4. Calvin, 5. Trine, 6. Albion, 7. Kalamazoo, 8. Olivet.

A Look at Calvin – Calvin features a 111-man roster this fall which includes 35 freshmen and 19 sophomores, 49 juniors, six seniors and two grad students as part of its 111-man roster. 13 players feature from other states including Illinois (4), Texas (2), California (1), Louisiana (1), Tennessee (1), North Carolina (1), Florida (1), New Mexico (1) and New York (1) with the remaining 103 coming from Michigan.

The Calvin Offense by the Numbers – (50 total) - Quarterbacks (5), Running Backs (8), Wide Receivers (13), Tight Ends (5), Offensive Lineman (19). (Calvin also has 5 kicker/punters)

The Calvin Defense by the Numbers – (57 total)-  Defensive Linemen (21), Linebackers (11), Defensive Backs (24).  

Double Duty – The Calvin roster features a pair of two-sport Calvin varsity athletes in sophomores Paul Hubbard (DB) and Gavin Currie (WR). Both are also members of the Calvin men's track and field team and helped the Knights capture 2026 MIAA Indoor and Outdoor titles. Currie was a hurdler and scored in the 60 meter hurdles (fifth place) at the MIAA Indoor Meet. Hubbard competed in the long jump at the MIAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and placed second in the event with a leap of 22-3 ½ to earn a spot on the All-MIAA Second Team for outdoor track and field.  

OK-Red Flavor – The Calvin football team has a strong representation from the Ottawa-Kent (OK) Red Conference as 17 players hail from the West Michigan based conference. The individuals include players from Caledonia (Reed Vogeler), Hudsonville (Cooper Roberts), Rockford (Seth Anderson, Drake Irwin, Mike Liggett, McCoy Baxter, Gavin Currie), Jenison (Zaiden Chirco, Rowan Stewart, Trevor Martens), East Kentwood (ShaMar White, Breylon Cox, Gabe Wolf), Grand Haven (Logan Minier) and Grandville (Aven Kaat and Keegan Kroll).  

Oh Brother – The roster features a set of brothers out of Grand Rapids Northview High School in sophomore offensive lineman Andre Johnson and freshman defensive lineman Keandre Johnson.  

Cousin Connection – Junior quarterback/punter Drake Irwin and junior wide receiver Jude Klunder are first cousins.  

Portage Power Plant – The Calvin defense features three Portage Central High School graduates that will all see significant time this weekend including senior linebacker Carson Schurstein and freshmen defensive backs Gavin Grueter and Nolan Bloomquist.  

Classroom Distinction – The 2025 Calvin football team features 13 individuals that were named to the 2025-26 MIAA Academic Honor Roll for maintaining a 3.50 grade point average or above for the entire academic year while earning a varsity letter. Those 13 individuals include: Paul Bouma, Drake Irwin, Brady Jacobs, Brok Jones, Caden Kolanowski, Leighton Kolk, Luke Michmerhuizen, Nathan Mikesell, Micah Pobursky, Tanner Steffens, Brayden Steinbacher, Thomas Vaccaro and Reed Vogeler.  

Transfer Portal – Calvin has 10 players that have transferred over from other collegiate football programs. Those nine individuals are senior C.J. Sheets (Davenport University), senior Sam Gallo (Concordia, Mich.), junior Aiden O'Brien (Hope College), junior M'khi Guy (Wayne State University), senior Dominique Williams (Olivet), sophomore Logan Ginter (Fort Lewis College), senior Thomas Vaccaro (Samford University), junior Tyler Porte (Central Michigan University), junior Carter Bylsma (Dordt University) and sophomore Brock Sperling (Western Illinois University).

Traveling from Out-of-State – Calvin features 15 players from outside Michigan. Those players include senior C.J. Sheets (Longwood, Fla.), junior Hayden Slegers (Ontario, Ca.), freshman David Dirksen (Davis, Ca.), freshman Kaeson Pressley (Los Angeles, Ca.), senior Thomas Vaccaro (Franklin, Tenn.), freshman Noah Escobedo (Oak Lawn, Ill.), sophomore Christian Flutman (Orland Park, Ill.), freshman Joseph Gray (Chicago, Ill.), sophomore Edward Van Dellen (Evergreen Park, Ill.), junior Max Lenters (Palos Heights, Ill.), sophomore Brock Sperling (Palos Heights, Ill.), freshman Rike Niyongabo (Dillon, S.C.), sophomore Logan Ginter (Evergreen, Colo.), freshman Brayden Cartier (Chandler, Ariz.) and junior Jaden Lewis (Spring, Tx.).  

High Schools Represented – The high schools with the most represented players are: Hudsonville Unity Christian (7), Rockford (6), Holland Christian (4) and Chicago Christian (4).

A Look Ahead – Calvin will turn its eyes to the NCAA III Playoff announcement Sunday at 5 p.m. (ET) at NCAA.com. The Knights have already clinched a spot in in the NCAA III Playoff field.