Aiming high: Lakers football opens 2026 season

With a core group of offensive and defensive starters returning, Grand Valley football is poised to contend for its third GLIAC title in five seasons and return to the NCAA Playoffs. 

The Lakers begin their 2026 season by traveling to West Virginia to face the University of Charleston at 6 p.m. on August 27. It’s the first meeting between the teams. 

Fans can listen to the game on WLAV (96.9 FM, wlav.com ), The Ticket (106.1 FM, 1340 AM, theticketmi.com ) or WLCS (98.3 FM, 983wlcs.com ).

The Lakers were picked to finish second in the GLIAC and are ranked as high as No. 6 in the national Division II preseason polls, setting the stage for another season of high expectations.

Senior receiver Kellen Reed, another member of the Elite 100 Watch List, said the Lakers are working to bring an extra dimension to their offense. 

“We’re just trying to get explosive on offense,” said Reed. “We took a lot of time over the summer getting the work in. We did a great job making sure we knew what we were going to be doing in fall camp.”

Defensively, senior linebacker Jimmy Downs — the third Laker named to the Elite 100 Watch List — leads a unit that ranked among the nation’s best in red zone defense, scoring defense and turnover margin last season. All-GLIAC linebacker Torian Watt joins Downs to anchor the heart of the Lakers’ defense.

Season tickets, single-game tickets — including for the Lakers’ home opener against West Texas A&M on September 3 — and parking passes are available through the GVSU Tickets website . 

For full coverage of GVSU football, including broadcast info, news, features, highlights, press conferences and more, follow @GVSUFootball on social media and on the GVSU Athletics website .