Football | 10/8/2015 8:00:00 AM

DETROIT -- After back-to-back setbacks on the road to fall to 2-3 overall, the Wayne State University football team will look to end a 26-game losing losing streak against 24th-ranked Grand Valley State (4-1, 3-1 GLIAC) this Saturday at 6 PM in the first-ever night Homecoming Game in Tom Adams Field history. WSU's last win over the Lakers occurred on Nov. 10, 1984, by a 30-3 score in Allendale. The Tartars last win in Detroit over GVSU came on Oct. 1, 1983, by a 22-10 margin.

During halftime the Wayne State University Homecoming court will be recognized on the field! Join the Wayne State University Alumni Association to honor the achievements of outstanding alumni who exemplify the Wayne State spirit of achievement, excellence and service. The WSU Alumni house will be hosting their annual awards program and pancake tailgate prior to the game (tickets are required). Other activities include: Tailgating, face painting and photo booth. In addition, there will be a Wayne State Glow Sticks for the first 1,000 fans through the gate and a Warrior Zone Mini Warrior Megaphone to the first 500 students to enter the game!

Fans traveling to campus should be aware of construction in the area. More information regarding closures can be found here.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
No. 24 Grand Valley State is off to a 4-1 start overall (3-1 in the GLIAC).  After a season-opening 36-28 victory over Southwest Baptist, the Lakers won at Ohio Dominican by a 27-24 score.  Following a 61-24 setback at home to Ferris State, GVSU rebounded for wins over Lake Erie (65-23) and Hillsdale (46-14).  Grand Valley State leads the GLIAC in yards per rush (5.7) and red zone percentage (94%) for league contests.  Sophomore quarterback Bart Williams has completed 57 percent (83-of-147) of his passes for 1,140 yards and 13 touchdowns with six interceptions.  Sophomore wideout Brandon Bean leads the squad in receiving yards (447), while junior wide receiver Matt Williams has a team-best five touchdown catches.  The duo is tied for the team lead with 20 receptions each.  Senior running back Kirk Spencer has rushed for 390 yards and six touchdowns.  Sophomore defensive back Garrett Poughnet has a team-high 38 tackles and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.  Defensive lineman Matt Judon is among the GLIAC leaders with 7.0 tackles for loss.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The teams split the first 10 games (1975-84) at five wins apiece, but Grand Valley State has won the last 26 meetings starting in 1985.  There were four years (1998-1999-2010-2011) the teams did not face each other.  Wayne State is 3-14 at Adams Field against the Lakers.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State suffered its second consecutive road loss falling 31-7 at Tiffin last Saturday. After the Warriors drove 42 yards on the first drive of the game, the Dragons responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive culminating in a 23-yard field goal by Tomislav Derezic.  The drive was aided by an offsides penalty on WSU on a third-and-two. 

Following WSU's second punt of the game, Tiffin quarterback Antonio Pipkin tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Charles Holland to finish off a five-play, 37-yard drive. Wayne State answered with a 53-yard kickoff return by redshirt freshman Jordan Billingslea.  Five consecutive runs by sophomore Romello Brown was capped off by a two-yard TD run to pull the Warriors within 10-7.

The Dragons regained a 10-point advantage as Pipkin scored on a six-yard scamper concluding an 11-play, 88-yard drive.  Two penalties on third down plays resulted in first downs for Tiffin. 
Senior kicker Majd Khytaz missed a 40-yard field goal attempt on the ensuing drive which went 52 yards in 11 plays.  Sophomore Demetrius Stinson had a 23-yard carry, while freshman signal caller D.J. Zezula had previously scrambled for 13 yards on a third-and-13. 

The third quarter consisted of two punts by each team and a combined 125 yards of offense (WSU-59, TU-66). A Tiffin drive that carried over into the fourth period ended on a 16-yard scoring toss from Pipkin to Tony Shead. After an exchange of punts, the Dragons completed the scoring on a 46-yard jaunt by Pipkin.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
WSU has won its last seven games including Sept. 19 vs. Malone when rushing for over 200 yards. During the past four seasons, the Warriors are 17-4 when accomplishing the feat including an 8-1 mark on the road. The only loss in that span came at Michigan Tech in 2013 (28-21). Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 36-13 under those parameters including a 21-6 mark at home.

HOT STREAK FOR HICKS
Junior wide receiver Jamel Hicks had a team-high two receptions at Tiffin. He has four TD catches in the last seven contests dating back to last season.  He leads WSU with 23 receptions for 262 yards and is tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches.

QUITE A DEBUT, PART TWO
Redshirt freshman Jordan Billingslea, in just his second game returning kickoffs, totaled 147 kickoff return yards on four attempts for a 36.75 average at Tiffin last Saturday.  The 147 yards is the ninth-highest single-game mark in WSU history.  After a 19-yard return on his first attempt, Billingslea had a 53-yard return setting up WSU's lone TD drive (37 yards).  He had a 55-yard return on his third attempt, along with a 20-yard return on his fourth attempt.  For the season, Billingslea has six kickoff returns for 205 yards (34.17 average).

MANNY BEING MANNY
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Manny Mendoza had his three-game touchdown reception streak end at Tiffin. He notched his first 100-yard receiving effort the week prior at Northwood.  Mendoza finished with two receptions for a team-best 102 yards vs. the Timberwolves, including a 78-yard TD catch.  After grabbing one pass last year, he is the team leader in yards per catch at 20.9 (9 for 188 yards).

CAREER DAY FOR 'MELLO
Redshirt sophomore running back Romello Brown rushed for a game-high 119 yards on 15 carries at Northwood.  It was his first collegiate 100-yard rushing game.  Brown has four of WSU's seven rushing touchdowns on the season after scoring on a one-yard plunge at Tiffin.

FRESHMAN RECORD SET ON SATURDAY
Freshman quarterback D.J. Zezula has equaled the WSU record for touchdown passes by a true freshman with nine (Kevin Smith had nine in 2008).  Zezula did not throw an interception until his 79th attempt.  He threw at least two touchdown passes in each of the first four games this season and has a159.8 passer rating.

NEED TO REGROUP
For the second week in a row Wayne State allowed 31 points. The 31 points allowed by the Warriors at Northwood were the most since a 33-30 setback at Northern Michigan on Oct. 18, 2014, while the 442 yards allowed were the highest total since Carson-Newman garnered 468 yards of total offense in a 41-31 Warrior victory in Detroit on Sept. 13, 2014. 

GO-TO TIGHT END
Junior tight end Trent Brodbeck extended his reception streak to 11 games with one catch for five yards at Tiffin.  He is third on the team in receiving yards (177) and touchdowns (2), while ranking second in yards per catch (19.7).

FINISHING STRONG
In the five final quarters this season, D.J. Zezula  is:
- 14-23 passing for 279 yards and four TD in 30:43 (team has scored six TD's with him at the helm; other two were rushing).
- He has rushed six times for 11 yards and accounted for 290 yards of total offense.
- WSU has ran 67 plays for 428 yards and collected 21 first downs (10 rush, 10 pass, 1 penalty) and Zezula has accounted for 11 of those first downs (10 pass, 1 rush).

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, 1233 yards, 8 TD, 8 INT, 112.5
2008 - Kevin Smith, 74-159, 805 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT, 100.2
2015 - D.J. Zezula, 53-88, 737 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT, 159.78

- Zezula is tied for the third-most passing TDs by a true freshman QB with nine (Kevin Smith - 9).
- He already has the fourth-most passing yards with 737 (Trent Pohl - 1233, Kevin Smith - 805, Nolan Martin - 747).
- He owns the highest passing efficiency rating at 159.8 (2nd - Zack George - 141.7, 3rd - Trent Pohl - 112.5, 4th - Richard Lisabeth - 112.0).

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
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 TV
All four 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.