Football | 10/29/2015 9:18:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (4-4, 3-4 GLIAC) enters its third two-game home stand of the season on its second two-game winning streak of the campaign.  The Warriors will look to climb above .500 mark for the second time this year with a home field victory against the visiting Findlay Oilers (4-4 overall, 3-4 GLIAC).  After defeating Northern Michigan 34-31 at Adams Field on Oct. 17, WSU racked up 465 yards of total offense in last Saturday's 31-16 triumph at Walsh.

Take part in the annual tradition of "Trick-or-Treat with the Warriors." Costumed fans can Trick-or-Treat around the track during halftime. Treats will be passed out by Wayne State Warrior student-athletes! Other activities and events include a pumpkin carving contest, where fans can bring their decorated pumpkins to the game and enter the contest for a chance to win a $500 Barnes & Noble gift card! The runner-up wil receive a $250 gift card while third place wins a $100 gift card. Another annual event is the Bobbing for "Apples" contest. Five lucky students will be selected to "bob for apples" during the game for a chance to win an Apple Watch or Apple iPad mini! There will also be face-painting in the tailgate parking lot and a hot cider and donut vendor in the stadium. The game is presented by Meijer.

SCOUTING THE OILERS
Findlay has lost four of its last five games after starting the season with three consecutive victories (45-34 at Hillsdale, 35-34 at Tarleton State and 48-44 vs. Tiffin).  UF has allowed at least 34 points in every game this season.  Sophomore quarterback Rhys Gervais leads the GLIAC in passing yards per game (308.1) and is second in touchdown passes (23).  Senior running back Daiquone Ford has rushed for 702 yards and five touchdowns.  Junior Dylan Blunk is one of the GLIAC's top wideouts averaging 80.3 receiving yards per game with five touchdown catches.  Freshman punter Patrick Rusher is averaging 39.8 yards per attempt.  Junior defensive back Anthony Linnear is UF's top tackler with 66 tackles (34-32), while junior defensive end Brad Fenton has a team-best 5.5 tackles for loss.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State has won six of the last eight meetings over the past 10 seasons to pull within 12-9 in the all-time series.  Findlay won 10 of the first 13 meetings between 1923 and 2004.  The winning team has scored at least 43 points in each of the last three meetings.  WSU is 4-6 at home vs. the Oilers including a 43-42 overtime setback in the regular-season finale in 2011.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State claimed its second consecutive victory with a 31-16 triumph against Walsh University on Oct. 24 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.  It was WSU's first road win of the season.
 
WSU drove 51 yards in six plays on its first drive of the game with Deiontae Nicholas scoring on a five-yard carry.  Romello Brown had four carries for 29 yards on the drive, with Brandon Tinsley contributing a 17-yard reception from D.J. Zezula.
 
The Warriors increased their advantage to 14-0 on the first play of the second period as Brown scored on a one-yard plunge completing a 95-yard drive which took 14 plays and 6:25 off the clock.
 
The Cavaliers answered quickly on an 80-yard pass play from Reid Worstell to Jeremy Willison on the first play after the kickoff.
 
Wayne State responded with a 10-play drive that covered 71 yards with Paul Graham connecting on a 22-yard field goal.
 
Neither team scored in the third stanza as there were three turnovers (two by Walsh, one by WSU) and a missed 41-yard field goal by Graham.
 
Brown notched his second touchdown run of the game on the third play of the fourth quarter on a seven-yard run.
 
Walsh drove 47 yards, after a 45-yard kickoff return, with Michael Dudics converting a 22-yard field goal attempt.
 
The Warriors wasted no time in regaining the three touchdown margin as the Cavaliers committed a personal foul penalty on a fair catch of the kickoff putting the ball at midfield.  Two runs by Demetrius Stinson, the second covering the final 49 yards into the end zone.
 
Following a Walsh punt, Wayne State drove to the Cavalier 23 and with a one second difference between the play clock and game clock, Zezula mishandled the snap and O'Shea Heard returned it 77 yards for a touchdown after the clock expired.
 
Both Brown and Stinson gained over 100 yards in the contest with Brown rushing for 161 yards on 25 carries and Stinson contributing 108 yards on 18 attempts.  It was the first time since the 2013 finale that WSU had two players rush for over 100 yards in a game.  Desmond Martin (149) and Doug Griffin (112) accomplished the feat at Michigan Tech on Nov. 16, 2013.
 
Zezula was 9-of-18 for 152 yards with one interception.  He improved his season passing yardage total to 1,249 breaking the WSU true freshman mark of 1,233 set by Trent Pohl in 2006.

 Safety Ron Brant, playing 21 minutes from his hometown of Uniontown, Ohio, tied for game-high honors with 12 tackles (8-4), while linebacker Drew Dowding added two tackles for loss.  Both were making their first collegiate starts.

HICKS HAULING IT IN
Junior wide receiver Jamel Hicks led WSU with four receptions in the win at Walsh.  He had two receptions for 29 yards on WSU's second touchdown drive of the game.  Hicks has at least four catches in every game this year, but the Tiffin contest.  He leads all active Warriors with 52 career receptions for 738 yards and five touchdowns.

MANNY BEING MANNY
Sophomore wide receiver Manny Mendoza totaled a career-high seven receptions vs. Northern Michigan.  After recording one catch in all of 2014, Mendoza has at least one reception in every game played this season and leads the Warriors with four touchdown catches in 2015.

FRESHMAN RECORD SET BY ZEZULA
Quarterback D.J. Zezula broke the WSU record for touchdown passes by a true freshman signal caller when he completed his 10th scoring toss of the year to Manny Mendoza in the second quarter vs. Grand Valley State.  The previous record of nine was set by GLIAC Freshman of the Year Kevin Smith in 2008. 

BILLINGSLEA HEATING UP THE RETURN GAME
Redshirt freshman kick returner Jordan Billingslea had a 33-yard return in his lone attempt at Walsh to increase his season total to 422 kickoff return yards, which ranks 22nd in WSU history for a single-season.  His 24.82 return average, which also ranks fifth in the GLIAC, is 10th all-time at WSU for a single-season for those with at least 12 returns.

GO-TO TIGHT END
Junior tight end Trent Brodbeck had one reception at Walsh, which went for a first down.  He has at least one reception in 13 of the last 14 games dating back to last season.  He his second among active Warriors with 49 career receptions for 586 yards and three touchdowns in 32 games.

FINISHING STRONG
In the final eight quarters this season, D.J. Zezula is:
- 22-of-35 passing for 404 yards and five TD in 56:29 (team has scored 10 TDs with him at the helm; other five TD's were rushing).
- He has rushed 12 times for minus four yards and accounted for 400 yards of total offense.
- WSU has ran 119 plays for 686 yards and collected 37 first downs (18 rushing, 15 passing, 4 penalty) and Zezula has accounted for 16 of those first downs (15 passing, 1 rushing).

TRUE FRESHMAN SIGNAL CALLER
There have been 10 previous true freshman to see significant playing time at quarterback prior to D.J. Zezula.
1951 - Richard Lisabeth, 15-34, 370 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT, 112.0
1980 - Greg Goldstein, 31-85, 402 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 79.3
1986 - Mike Grennier, 18-52, 246 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, 65.3
1992 - Anthony Frederick, 10-17, 73 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 83.1
2001 - Randy Hutchison, 30-62, 362 yards, 4 TD, 6 INT, 99.4
2003 - Chad Blair, 18-34, 167 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 98.0
2004 - Nolan Martin, 68-177, 747 yards, 1 TD, 6 INT, 69.0
2006 - Zack George, 18-34, 320 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 141.7
2006 - Trent Pohl, 93-184, 1,233 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT, 112.5
2008 - Kevin Smith, 74-159, 805 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT, 100.2
2015 - D.J. Zezula, 91-155, 1,249 yards, 11 TD, 5 INT, 143.4

- Zezula set the record for most passing TD's by a true freshman QB.
- Has the most passing yards with 1,249 (Trent Pohl had 1,233 in 2006).
- Owns the highest passing efficiency rating at 143.4 (2nd is Zack George from 2006 at 141.7).

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won its last eight games, including twice this year (Sept. 19 vs. Malone and Oct. 24 at Walsh), when rushing for over 200 yards.  WSU rushed for 313 yards against the Cavaliers, the most since the Warriors gained 349 yards at Lake Erie on Nov. 8, 2014.  During the past four seasons, Wayne State is 18-4 when rushing when rushing for 200 yards including a 9-1 mark on the road.  Under coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 37-13 under those parameters, including a 21-6 mark at home.

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAY'S
The weekly Winters on Wednesday's radio show is in its fourth season with head coach Paul Winters joining host Rod Beard and co-host Nicole Stoll. The Winters on Wednesday's radio show airs every Wednesday from 7-8 PM on 1400 AM / 92.7 FM and is simulcast on WDTKAM.com.  A new feature this year is that the broadcast will occur live at Tony V's Tavern in downtown Detroit. Fans are encouraged to attend and participate in the exciting event leading up to each game this season.

100 GLIAC WINS
Wayne State earned its 100th GLIAC with a victory against Malone on Sept. 19. WSU was a part of the GLIAC from 1975 until 1989, and currently since 1999.

JUCO CAPTAINS
The last three Junior College players to be a captain at WSU prior to Ashawn Butler this season were Daunte Akra in 2010 after playing two years at Grand Rapids CC, Andrew Bates in 2008 after also playing two seasons at GRCC and Craig Duppong in 2003 after playing two years at Joliet JC.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Prior to a scrimmage on August 22, head coach Paul Winters selected his captains for the 2015 season. The 2015 WSU captains are senior quarterback Carl Roscoe, senior safety Zak Bielecki, senior tight end Ethan Walsh and senior defensive end Ashawn Butler. All four are first-year captains. Prior to the announcement of the 2015 captains, nine previous WSU captains spoke about their time in Detroit:  Leit Jones (1967-69), Tom Sheppard (1967-70), Enrico Odorico (1961-63), Ed Skowneski (1972-75), Tom Hurley (1972-75), Dale Dwojakowski (1989-92), Grant Fodor (2003-06), Leo Wells (2002-05), Frank Lietke (2004-07) and Steve Lee (1988-91).

2015 SIGNING CLASS
The 30 NLI signees for 2015 marks the second largest class in Paul Winters 12 years at WSU.  The only larger signing class was in 2012 (31).

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters became the second-longest tenured football coach in program history this fall with 12 seasons.  He was tied with the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes at 11 seasons (1918-28).  Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis holds the WSU record with 14 seasons (1932-45).

STAFF CONTINUITY
The football coaching staff entered the 2015 season with several names that have been with the program for a number of years. Along with Winters entering his 12th season, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Scott Kazmierski is in his 12th season with the Green & Gold. Linebackers coach Keith McKenzie is in his eighth season, offensive line coach Scott Wooster is in his seventh season, defensive coordinator and secondary coach Brad Wilson is in his fourth season and quarterbacks coach Jeff Reardon is in his third season with the Warriors. E.J. Henderson returns to the program after serving three years previously (2004-06).

MODEL OF SUCCESS
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in six of the last seven years (2008-14) combining for a 50-31 mark in that span.  Prior to Coach Winters arrival in 2004, the Tartars/Warriors had 10 consecutive losing seasons on the field and only one winning season on the field in 19 years.

WARRIORS ON TELEVISION
Both of Wayne State's remaining home games will be broadcast on Comcast Xfinity Channel 900.  The broadcast team of Joe Abramson, Rod Beard and Kevin Brechmacher will have the call from Tom Adams Field.  Every contest will be shown live plus each 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. Former Warrior Ryan Oshnock will serve as the color analyst for three contests including the final two games.