CARSON-NEWMAN STORYLINES
Wayne State will be playing Carson-Newman in its lone non-conference game of the season. This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the squads. Carson-Newman currently leads the overall series 3-0. The last time these two met was in Jefferson City, Tenn. where the Eagles won 55-28 on Sept. 4, 2013.
WARRIORS NAME CAPTAINS FOR 2014 SEASON
Wayne State University head football coach Paul Winters, who is in his 11th season at the helm of the Warriors, announced his 2014 captains during a special "Captains Presentation" prior to the scrimmage on August 23rd.
The 2014 WSU captains will be senior center Thom Box (Milan, Mich.), senior cornerback Gerren DuHart (Toledo, Ohio / Central Catholic), senior linebacker Nores Fradi (Dearborn Hts., Mich. / Dearborn), senior running back Desmond Martin (Redford, Mich. / Thurston) and senior left tackle Ben Walker (Oxford, Mich. / Lake Orion). Box will be in his second year as a captain while the other four are first-year captains.
Prior to the announcement of the 2014 captains, nine previous WSU captains spoke about their time in Detroit: Jeff Bero (1985-88), Dale Dwojakowski (1989-92), Michael Hall (2002-05), Huston Julian (1997-2000), Steve Lee (1988-91), Josh Renel (2008-11), Donald Urban (1962-64), Ed Viverette (2010-13) and Leo Wells (2002-05).
MICHIGAN TECH RECAP
The Wayne State University football team allowed a 25-yard field goal on the game's final play to Michigan Tech's Garrett Mead, his fourth field goal of the contest, to fall 18-17 to the Huskies in the season opener for both teams.
After Mead connected on a 23-yard field goal to conclude the game's first drive, the Warriors responded with a three-play, 69 yard drive culminating in a 63-yard touchdown pass from junior Carl Roscoe to senior wide receiver Michael Johnson on a third-and-four play.
Following an MTU punt, WSU went 78 yards with redshirt freshman Paul Graham converting a 24-yard field goal try for his first collegiate three pointer. The big play of the drive was a 58-yard reception by senior running back Desmond Martin. Wayne State led 10-3 after the opening stanza.
A three-and-out for WSU led to another Mead field goal, this time from 29 yards to cut the Warrior lead to 10-6 with 7:14 left before intermission.
Neither team was able to score the rest of the first half. WSU led 170-153 in total offense through 30 minutes despite the Huskies holding a 21:27 to 8:33 edge in time of possession.
Wayne State garnered a pair of first downs to start the second half but the drive ended with a punt. Michigan Tech drove 83 yards in the nine plays with Mead connecting from 21 yards out on a fourth-and-goal.
A Warrior drive that carried over into the fourth quarter concluded with another touchdown toss from Roscoe to Johnson, this one from seven yards on a third-and-goal. Graham's PAT increased WSU's lead to 17-9 with 11:02 left.
Wayne State's defense held on downs, before a bad exchange led to a lost fumble near midfield.
MTU capitalized with a four-play, 47-yard scoring drive with Huskie quarterback Tyler Scarlett completing a 16-yard screen pass for a touchdown to running back Charlie Leffingwell. Leffingwell's two-point conversion run came up just short on a nice tackle by Wayne State's Valorian Cunningham maintaining WSU's two-point edge at 17-15 with 5:36 left.
The Warriors had an eight-play drive which used up 3:36 on the clock, but the Huskies had exactly two minutes left and one timeout. Scarlett engineered a 14-play drive covering 69 yards leading to Mead's 25-yard field goal attempt on the game's final play.
Martin led all rushers with 90 yards along with a game-best 155 all-purpose yards. Leffingwell gained a team-best 85 rushing yards for MTU.
Roscoe set a career-high with 239 passing yards on 12-of-16 with two touchdown passes. Scarlett was 26-of-45 for 235 yards with one touchdown pass.
Johnson led all receivers with 107 yards and two scores, while MTU's Andrew Clark hauled in a game-high eight passes for a team-best 65 yards.
Wayne State junior safety Zak Bielecki totaled a game-high 16 tackles including one for loss and a pass break-up. Senior linebacker Nores Fradi had three tackles for loss among his nine solo stops.
SCOUTING CARSON-NEWMAN
Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks is in his 35th season. The Eagles offense is a lot slimmer than in years past, after losing key running backs and wide receivers from a year ago. Quarterback De'Andre Thomas has scored more rushing touchdowns than another other signal caller in Carson-Newman history. Last year Thomas completed eight of 10 passes against Wayne State to register a 357 QB efficiency rating. The leaders of the offensive line are Robby Ignagni and Derek Evans.
The Eagles defensive line is a tale of two positions. Defensive end appears to be fairly stout, while defensive tackle has two brand new starters. Pre-season All-American, 2012 SAC Defensive Freshman of the Year and two-time all-conference selection Javaris Neal will be on one end while AFCA Good Works team nominee William Alderman will be on the other.
Defensive backs is arguable the deepest section for Carson-Newman. Led by preseason All-American Eien Jacob at one corner and preseason First Team All-SAC-selection Dante Thomas at the other.
IN THE POLLS
Wayne State was predicted to finish sixth out of eight teams in the 2014 GLIAC Preseason Coaches North Division Poll.
Two of Wayne State's 2014 opponents are ranked inside the top 25 as Carson-Newman moved up to No. 13 in the poll, while Grand Valley State dropped to No. 18.
Other GLIAC teams to receive votes in this weeks AFCA poll were Ohio Dominican (10th), Ferris State (24th), Findlay, Michigan Tech, Saginaw Valley State, and Ashland.
ON THE HEADSET
Paul Winters is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Warriors. He has a 56-57 record at Wayne State and equaled the second-place mark of 11 coaching seasons with the legendary David Holmes (1918-28) this fall. Joseph Gembis holds the WSU mark with 14 seasons (1932-45).
Ken Sparks is in his 35th season as the head coach at Carson-Newman. He is the winningest active coach in the country with a record of 318-86-2.
COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
During the Michigan Tech game on Sept. 4th, eight Warriors made their collegiate debuts: Ron Brant, Jake Carrizales, Dustin Carlin, DeAndre Grady, Paul Graham, James Howard, Tommy Richardson and Andy Zimmerman.
Another three Warriors made their WSU debuts: Rabeah Beydoun, Ashawn Butler, and Garrett Wiska.
NIGHT GAME
Wayne State's second home game of the 2014 campaign this Saturday will also be the third collegiate home night game in Adams Field history. The Warriors' 6 p.m. contest against Carson-Newman will be played under the lights at Tom Adams Field. The lights were added to the football stadium in August of 2012.
ALL SIX HOME GAMES TELEVISED
All six of Wayne State's home games will be broadcast on Comcast Xfinity Channel 900. The broadcast team of Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will have the call from Tom Adams Field. Every league contest will be shown live plus on a tape-delayed basis, while the Carson-Newman match-up will be shown only a tape-delayed basis. Every game will also be available On-Demand.
WDTK AND WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
All Wayne State football games can be heard on WDTK Radio (1400 AM/92.7 FM). Fans can listen to the games online at wdtkam.com or watch the home games via Warrior All-Access for a $5.95 per game fee. Sean Baligian and former WSU running back Josh Renel will call the action from the broadcast booth, while Jenn Goethel will handle the sideline reporting for each home contest.
WINTERS ON WEDNESDAY'S
The weekly Winters on Wednesday's radio show began its third season on Sept. 3 with head coach Paul Winters joining host Rod Beard, and co-host Ashley Raymond in the studio. The Winters on Wednesday's radio show airs every Wednesday from 7-8 pm on Newstalk 1400 AM (and 92.7 FM) and is simulcast on wdtkam.com.
