Grand Valley State will open its 48th season of football Thursday (Aug. 30) night when the #5 Lakers host #13 Indianapolis. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Lubbers Stadium. The winningest FBS, FCS and Division II program in the country, Grand Valley State has a 391-142-3 (.732) all-time record. GVSU has won four NCAA Division II Football National Championships, made 19 playoff appearances, won 17 league titles, captured nine NCAA regional titles, made nine trips to the NCAA DII semifinals and six to the NCAA DII title game. The Lakers are 36-15 all-time in the postseason, including a mark of 35-9 since 2001. Grand Valley State is the only GLIAC team to win at least 12 games three times since 2013 and make two NCAA DII Playoff semifinal appearances.

Ninth-year head football coach Matt Mitchell is second in all-time wins at GVSU with 77. Current Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is the all-time leader with 118 career wins. 

Grand Valley State is 32-11 in home openers at Lubbers Stadium, including a 17-1 mark since 2001, while sporting a 29-18 all-time in season-openers and have won 15-of-the-last-17 since 2001. The Lakers own a 20-3 advantage in the all-time series with Indianapolis, however, the Greyhounds have won each of the last two meetings by a total of five points.

Grand Valley State returns 48 letterwinners, including 17 starters for the 2018 campaign. All-america candidate Bart Williams enters his fourth season at the controls of the offense, having thrown for 9,854 yards and 105 touchdowns en route to leading GVSU to a 32-7 mark and two NCAA DII Playoff appearances. Senior wide receiver Nick Dodson enters his senior season having hauled in 106 catches for 1,558 yards and 22 touchdowns, while junior wideout Austin Paritee and sophomore Brandon Wadley both played key roles in the Laker passing game in 2017. University of Pittsburgh transfer Chawntez Moss and redshirt freshmen, Jack Provencher and Aryuan Cain-Veasey, will open the season as the leading candidates to lead the Laker ground game. Moss rushed for 343 yards and three TDs on 84 carries for the Panthers. Senior offensive tackles Ben Walling and Nick Fish are returning All-GLIAC performers, while Michigan transfer David Dawson and sophomore Tom Cwiok are expected to make significant impacts on the offensive line.
 
Defensively, senior defensive end Dylan Carroll and junior defensive tackle Mike Pettis return after playing  key roles in 2017. Carroll tallied 43 stops and 5.0 tackles for loss (-24) , while Pettis notched 41 stops, 7.5 tackles for loss (-38) and 3.5 QB sacks (-31). In addition, senior Eastern Michigan transfers Chris Hendricks and Kwanii Figueroa, along with junior transfers Johnathon Williams and Kurrell Vaughn, will join sophomores Dennis Johnson and Wallace Hall in the middle of the Laker defensive line.  Senior linebackers Brendan McMahon and Tyree Horton will join, junior linebacker Isaiah Nkansah and sophomore outside linebacker Tyler Bradfield return after recording 34 and 45 tackles, respectively. Senior safety Jacob Studdard tallied 44 tackles and picked off a pass, while junior safety Jailyn Harden chipped in 43 tackles. Junior Grant Postma returns after redshirting a year ago, along with junior Thad Little. 
 
Grand Valley State will again face the toughest schedule in Division II football, evidenced by the 2018 ledger having four teams that advanced to the 2017 NCAA DII Playoffs. GVSU will open the season at home versus 2017 GLVC Champion and playoff participant Indianapolis on Thursday, Aug. 30, followed by a road tilt at DII power Delta State the following week (Sept. 8). The Lakers will also host Ferris State (Oct. 13) and Ashland (Nov. 3) at Lubbers Stadium. Grand Valley State dropped three road games on the last play of the game by a total of eight points to three teams that advanced to the NCAA DII Playoffs and tallied a combined record of 33-5 in 2017.