DETROIT -- A familiar Homecoming opponent will visit Midtown on Saturday as Wayne State football (2-1, 1-1 GLIAC) hosts Northwood (2-1, 1-1 GLIAC) at noon. After collecting their first road win since 2012 at Malone on Saturday, the Warriors will look to improve their 1-1 home record against the Timberwolves. WSU has posted a winning record at Tom Adams Field each of the previous six seasons including two 5-1 marks.
 

ON THE AIR
Russ McNamara (play-by-play), former WSU football defensive back Ryan Oshnock (color) and Jenn Goethel (sideline for home games only) will call the action this Saturday on WDTK The Patriot 1400 AM/92.7 FM Radio.  Fans can also check out the live simulcast on wdtkam.com.

THE SERIES
The Warriors have won the last three meetings against the Timberwolves and four of the last five to pull within 16-18 in the all-time series.  WSU has been victorious the last three times Northwood was the Homecoming opponent (1987, 1989 and 2013).

MILESTONE WATCH
- Desmond Martin needs 273 rushing yards to move into 10th place all-time (1,303).
- Desmond Martin needs two rushing touchdowns to tie Bruce Nichols (1977-79) & Elbert Richmond (1950-52) for 10th place.
- Michael Johnson needs 75 receiving yards to become the 16th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau.

QUICK HITS
- Desmond Martin became the first player in WSU history with back-to-back 200-yard rushing games after gaining exactly 200 yards in last Saturday's victory at Malone.  He had 235 rushing yards the game before.
- The Warriors will try to start 3-1 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons by earning a win on Saturday over Northwood.
- The last time WSU totaled at least 80 points in a two-game stretch was the first two playoff games in 2011 (48-38 win at St. Cloud State followed by a 38-26 triumph at Nebraska-Kearney). 

NORTHWOOD STORYLINES
A Homecoming win by the Warriors on Saturday would give WSU a 3-1 start for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.  Wayne State has been victorious in its last nine Homecoming contests, including last year's 31-17 triumph over the Timberwolves.  This will be Northwood's sixth time as WSU's Homecoming opponent with the Warriors claiming a 4-1 mark in the previous five meetings.

MALONE RECAP
After a sluggish start, Wayne State rattled off 36 consecutive points to record a 39-15 road victory at Malone University last Saturday.

The Warriors drove 61 yards on the game's opening drive with Desmond Martin gaining 54 yards on two carries leading to a 21-yard field goal by Paul Graham.  After the WSU defense forced a three-and-out, a third down pass from Carl Roscoe bounced off the shoulder pads of a wide receiver into the hands of Pioneer defensive back Daniel Tepe, who returned it 29 yards to the Warrior eight.  Two plays later Malone had a 6-3 advantage after the two-point conversion rush failed. For the third consecutive drive, the Warriors had a turnover (a fumble by Doug Griffin) but the defense re-grouped with Anthony DeDamos forcing a fumble inside the five, with Ryan Hankins making the recovery.

The first period didn't end any better for WSU as a snap in shotgun formation went over Roscoe's head with the ball ending up out of the back of the end zone.  The safety pushed Malone's lead to 8-3.  The Pioneers went 48 yards in three plays following the free kick with Brandyn Eckhart completing a four-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Beers.

The Warrior offense responded on its first drive of the second stanza with a 62-yard drive on nine plays with Martin scoring on a seven-yard scamper.  He had six carries for 49 yards on the scoring drive which pulled the Wayne State within 15-10.

Neither team was able to score the rest of the half before intermission.  WSU held a 246-138 edge in total offense during the first 30 minutes but four turnovers plus a safety contributed to the Warrior five point deficit.  Martin gained 144 yards on 17 attempts prior to halftime.

 Wayne State's defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, with the Warrior offense putting together a nine-play, 64-yard drive to regain the lead at 18-15.  On a third-and-six, Roscoe completed a 29-yard scoring toss to Michael Johnson, who had three catches for 51 yards on the drive.  Griffin scored on a two-point conversion rush.

The WSU defense bent but didn't break stopping the Pioneers on a fourth-and-four from the WSU 35.  Later in the third quarter, Wayne State's defense forced another three-and-out and the Warrior offense responded with 41-yard scoring drive that took seven plays and concluded on a three-yard touchdown jaunt by Martin.  On the second play of Malone's ensuing drive, Wayne State forced a fumble that was recovered at the Pioneer three.  Martin took the handoff on the next play and scored his third touchdown of the game increasing the Warrior advantage to 32-15.

Later freshman Ron Brant, playing less than 30 minutes from his hometown, returned the Malone punt 34 yards setting up the WSU offense in the red zone.  Freshman Romello Brown, making his collegiate debut, totaled 18 yards on two rushing attempts to score his first collegiate touchdown to complete the scoring.

Wayne State racked up 424 yards of total offense compared to Malone's 230 yards.  The Warriors gained 280 yards on the ground and 144 through the air, while the WSU defense limited the Pioneers to 138 rushing yards and 92 passing.
   
 Martin led all rushers with 200 yards on 29 attempts with three rushing touchdowns with Malone's Justin Davis totaling a team-best 51 yards on 18 carries.

Roscoe passed for 143 yards on 8-of-18 with one touchdown.  Sean Guinane, in his season debut, connected on his only pass attempt to freshman Manny Mendoza, for his first career reception.   Two Malone signal callers, plus a half-back option combined to go 6-of-20 through the air for 92 yards.  Johnson had game-high totals of six receptions for 79 yards.
    
WSU junior safety Zak Bielecki had a game-best 10 tackles, including one for loss.  The Warrior defense totaled four sacks – one each by Nores Fradi and Jake Carrizales, along with half-sacks by Ashawn Butler, Justice Akuezue, Alex Medenbach and Dustin Carlin.

SCOUTING NORTHWOOD   
After opening the season with a 23-13 road win at Northern Michigan, the Timberwolves dropped a 27-7 decision at home to Ferris State, before rebounding for a 32-27 non-conference victory over McKendree on Sept. 20. Junior running back Jared Briguglio has rushed for a team-high 326 yards and three scores, while sophomore quarterback Mitch Robinson has completed 20-of-37 passes for 228 yards.  He has two interceptions and no touchdowns this season.  Junior Devonta Elzy leads NU with eight receptions for a team-best 130 yards.  Senior Bryan Thomas has the lone receiving touchdown for the Timberwolves.

Junior place-kicker Keegan Haggarty, the reigning GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week is 5-of-6 on field goals this season and has scored 20 points.  Both Briguglio and Thomas have kickoff returns over 50 yards already this year, and are ranked 1-2 in the GLIAC this week with kickoff return averages of 30.5 and 27.6, respectively.  Briguglio ranks fifth in the GLIAC in all-purpose yards per game at 153.0.  Junior punter Mark Morris, is also the back-up quarterback, and averages over 34 yards per punt.

Sophomore linebacker Michael Fisher leads Northwood with 31 tackles (12-19) including two for loss, along with a pass break-up.  Junior linebacker Mike Keith has 25 stops (9-16), while junior defensive back Ayrn Curtis has five pass break-ups and an interception.

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 this week as Carson-Newman improved to No. 19 in the poll, while Findlay moved into the top 5 at No. 25.  Currently Wayne State is receiving four votes in the AFCA poll. Other GLIAC teams to receive votes in this week's AFCA poll were Ohio Dominican (9th), Ferris State (14th), Findlay (25th), and Michigan Tech (28th).

ON THE HEADSET
Paul Winters is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Warriors.  He has a 58-57 record at Wayne State and has 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).

Pat Riepma returned to the Northwood coaching sidelines this year after six seasons strictly in administration.  He has a career record of 92-69-2 in his 16th season leading the Timberwolves.

COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
During the Michigan Tech game on Sept. 4th, nine Warriors made their collegiate debuts:  Ron Brant, Jake Carrizales, Dustin Carlin, DeAndre Grady, Paul Graham, James Howard, Blake Mazur, Tommy Richardson and Andy Zimmerman. Another three Warriors made their WSU debuts in the MTU contest:  Rabeah Beydoun, Ashawn Butler, and Garrett Wiska. Making their collegiate debut during the Carson-Newman game were:  Jamel Hicks, Manny Mendoza and Alex Ziedas.

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).

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 (Sean Baligian for Northwood contest), 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 at noon on Sunday's, 8 pm on Wednesday's and 9 am on Thursday's.  The postgame report from each contest 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 (Russ McNamara for Northwood contest) and former WSU running back Josh Renel (Ryan Oshnock for Northwood contest) 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.