Football | 10/5/2016 8:50:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (4-1, 4-1 GLIAC) will travel to Findlay (2-3, 2-3 GLIAC) on Saturday for a noon kickoff.  After playing the last three games at home (3-0), the Warriors will play three of their next five contests on the road.  Wayne State has started 4-1 or better for the sixth time in the last nine seasons (2015:  2-2, 2014:  3-1, 2013:  3-2,  2012:  4-1, 2011:  6-0, 2010:  5-1, 2009:  5-1, 2008:  4-1).

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State raced out to a 41-10 lead and defeated visiting Hillsdale 41-30 in the 80th Homecoming game at WSU.

The Warriors garnered 14 points on its first two drives and added another scored just before intermission for a 21-10 advantage at halftime.

Wayne State recorded three touchdowns on its first three drives of the second half to increase its margin to 31 points (41-10) early in the fourth stanza.

After the Warrior defense forced a punt on the game's opening possession, the WSU offense drove 87 yards in eight plays with Romello Brown scoring on a four-yard rush on a third-and-three.  Big plays on the drive were a  35-yard scamper by Brown on the first play, followed by a 29-yard reception by Deiontae Nicholas on the very next snap.

The Chargers went three-and-out on their next series and Wayne State used just three plays to cover 66 yards in 1:29.  Donovan Zezula connected with Jamel Hicks on a short pass that Hicks took for 60 yards.  Two runs by Demetrius Stinson covering a total of six yards put the hosts in front 14-0 just over nine minutes into the contest.

Following a punt by each team, Hillsdale drove into WSU territory but a fake punt on fourth-and-two was stopped for no gain.  The Chargers did get on the scoreboard on their next possession with a 38-yard field goal by Steven Mette.  Then Hillsdale pulled within four at 14-10 on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Chance Stewart to Trey Brock.

WSU fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, but the Warriors stopped a fourth down pass.  The Wayne State offense then responded with a two-play, 66-yard drive with Zezula and Nicholas combining for a 65-yard touchdown pass with 2:13 left in the second quarter.

WSU had a 274 to 188 edge in total offense in the first 30 minutes, including an 86-40 edge in rushing yards.

The Warriors began the second half with a nine-play, 68-yard drive that used 3:56 on the clock.  WSU garnered four first downs on the drive including two on third down with a five-yard completion to Trent Brodbeck and a 47-yard scoring toss from Zezula to Nicholas.

After the Wayne State defense forced a three-and-out, the Warrior offense went 61 yards in seven plays with Stinson scoring on a 12-yard jaunt following a 12-yard reception by Aaron Weston.

The WSU defensive unit notched its sixth three-and-out of the game on Hillsdale's next possession, and the Wayne State offense responded with a 12-play, 79-yard drive culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by Brown with 12:56 left in the game.  The Chargers totaled 14 yards of offense in the third quarter.

HC scored the three touchdowns over the final 10 minutes to make the final score much closer.  When WSU took a 41-10 lead, the total offense read 497 yards for the Warriors compared to 202 yards for the Chargers.

SCOUTING THE OILERS
Findlay has a 2-3 overall record after wins over Saginaw Valley State, Lake Erie and defeats against Ohio Dominican, Ashland and a three-point loss vs. Ferris State last Saturday to begin a three-game home stand.  Head coach Rob Keys is in his sixth season at the helm after being an assistant at New Hampshire (2010), Slippery Rock (2006-09),  Indiana State (2005) and Findlay (2000-04).

Findlay is the second best passing team in the league in terms of yards per game (302.6) and passing touchdowns (13).  UF is allowing 27.2 points per game, which is tied for the ninth most in the GLIAC.

Junior signal caller Rhys Gervais is throwing nearly 40 times a game and is completing 64 percent of his pass for 292.4 yards per game.  Chauncey Bridges and Daouda Sylla have combined for 632 rushing yards and four TDs.  Jason Moore is the Oilers' top pass catcher at 490 yards and five scores.  Myles Alexander is tied-for-fourth in the league with 45 tackles, including 4.5 for loss.  Two-way player Aaron Ivory (WR/CB) leads the team with two interceptions.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State trails the all-time series 10-12 against Findlay.   The teams have been playing since 1923 with the first six meetings being played as non-conference match-ups.  WSU has won five of the last six contests with the Oilers winning an overtime contest 43-42 in 2011 at Tom Adams Field.  Coach Winters is 7-3 vs. Findlay, including a 4-1 mark at Donnell Stadium.

WARRIORS IN OCTOBER
Five of the last seven October's have seen WSU go .500 or better.  The Warriors went 4-1 in 2010, 3-2 in both 2011 and 2015, and 2-2 in 2012.

QUARTERBACK WIN TOTALS
In baseball, the starting pitcher gets a win for going at least five innings so we thought we would take a look at the best win totals for WSU starting quarterbacks since 1972 (except 1980-83).  The same rules from baseball apply here -- the QB that was in when the winning points were scored received the decision.

1.  Mickey Mohner (2009-12), 30-15-0, .667
2.  Ed Skowneski (1972-75), 20-12-0, .625
3.  Jim Gendron (1976-78), 15-7-0, .682
4.  Mark Friday (1991-93), 13-13-0, .500
5.  Donovan Zezula (2015-16), 10-5-0, .667
6.  Richard Popp (1983-86), 8-15-1, .354
      Trent Pohl (2006-07), 8-10-0, .444
8.  Kevin Smith (2008), 7-2-0, .778
      Carl Roscoe (2012-15), 7-7-0, .500
      Anthony Frederick (1992, 94-95), 7-12-0, .368
      Michael Gluski (1994-95, 97-98), 7-16-0, .304

RARE AIR FOR BRODBECK
Trent Brodbeck enters Saturday's game at Findlay, tied-for-third in WSU history in receptions by a tight end with 54.  John Aird (1995-98), who began his career as a linebacker, also had 54 catches.  Richard Hall (1991-94) is second with 59 receptions, while Joe Benke (1987-88) is the all-time leader among tight ends with 67 catches.  Additionally, Brodbeck was selected to the Allstate AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Good Works Team®, which recognizes football student-athletes for their community service efforts.  He is only the second player in school history (Alan Guy, 2007) to receive the honor.  He is featured in a two-page spread in the Oct. 3rd edition of ESPN The Magazine.  Also, Brodbeck was named a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's William Campbell Trophy on Sept. 28th.

WORTH NOTING
Romello Brown moved into 10th place on the WSU all-time rushing chart surpassing Thabiti Williamson (1999-02) against Hillsdale.  Brown has rushed for 2,220 yards in 20 games (111 yards per game) after gaining 102 yards in four games as a redshirt freshman in 2014.  He also moved within one rushing touchdown of Josh Renel's (2008-11) fifth place mark of 28 rushing touchdowns.  Brown has scored 162 points which ranks 12th, just behind Elbert Richmond's (1950-52) 11th-place mark of 163 points.

Donovan Zezula advanced into 10th place on the all-time passing yards chart moving past Carl Roscoe (2012-15) and Anthony Frederick (1992-95) last week.  Zezula has passed for 2,789 yards in 16 games.  His 24 passing touchdowns rank seventh in school history, just one behind T. Richard Brown (1950-52) for sixth place.  Zezula set a season-high with 264 passing yards, which is his most since tossing for 284 yards on Nov. 7, 2015, vs. Lake Erie.  He has thrown for at least 200 yards in four of the five games this year.

THE EFFICIENT (AND EXPLOSIVE) ROMELLO BROWN
Romello Brown's 6.47 yards per carry is the highest by any WSU player with at least 150 career rushing attempts since Gary Baillargeon averaged 7.29 (166-1,210) in 1951-52.  In addition, he is gaining 9.6 yards per carry (min. 25 attempts) this season, which is a program record by nearly two yards (8.14 -- Gary Baillargeon, 1951).  That number puts Brown fourth in the country.  

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 12 of its last 13 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including last week vs. Hillsdale.  The only setback when accomplishing the feat came at Ashland where the Warriors ran for exactly 200 yards in a losing effort.  During the past four-plus seasons (2012-16), Wayne State is 22-5 when rushing when rushing for 200 yards including a 9-2 mark on the road.  Under coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 41-14 under those parameters, including a 25-6 mark at home.

TOP OF THE LEAGUE
Since the start of the 2008 season, here are the most successful teams in the GLIAC in terms of conference victories:
Grand Valley State - 67
Ashland - 63
Michigan Tech - 53
Ferris State - 52
WAYNE STATE - 50
Saginaw Valley State - 48

A STRONG CONNECTION
QB to WR touchdown totals (Since 1991)
24 - Mickey Mohner to Troy Burrell
22 - Jason Charron to Pierre Brown
18 - Michael Gluski to Jimmy Hill
10 - Carl Roscoe to Michael Johnson
10 - Dan Gray to Pierre Brown
9 - Donovan Zezula to Jamel Hicks
9 - Dan Gray to Brandon Brown
9 - Richard Brown to Elbert Richmond
8 - Anthony Frederick to Nate Bush
7 - Randy Hutchison to Nick Body

TEAM CAPTAINS
Paul Winters announced his 2016 captains during a special "Captains Presentation" prior to a scrimmage on August 20th.  The 2016 WSU captains will consist of four fifth-year seniors, plus a graduate student.  Left tackle Nate Theaker, who graduated in December, returns as a graduate student after earning a sixth-year waiver from the NCAA.  The other offensive captain is tight end Trent Brodbeck.  The defensive captains will be defensive end Nathan White, along with linebackers Anthony DeDamos and Valorian Cunningham.  All five are first-year captains.

STREAKING WARRIORS
In seven of the last eight seasons (2008-15) WSU has had at least a four-game winning streak.  The Warriors are attempting to make it eight of nine years against Findlay on Saturday.

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters is the second-longest tenured football coach in program history this fall with 13 seasons.  He passed the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes in 2014 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 is very similar to past seasons.  Along with Winters in his 13th season, defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Scott Kazmierski is in his 13th season with the Green & Gold.  Offensive line coach Scott Wooster is in his eighth season, defensive coordinator and secondary coach Brad Wilson is in his fifth season and quarterbacks coach Jeff Reardon is in his fourth season with the Warriors. E.J. Henderson is back for his second season in his latest stint with WSU after serving three years previously (2004-06).  A new coach on the staff is a familiar name to Warrior fans as Jon Robinson returns as the linebackers coach after playing for WSU (2007-11).

MODEL OF SUCCESS
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in seven of the last eight years (2008-16) combining for a 60-37 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.

THE FRONT LINE
The running game has always been a calling card of Wayne State football and 2016 looks to be no different as the strongest units of the team appear to be its running backs and offensive line.  Last season, WSU rushed for 2,137 yards and 27 touchdowns.  This year's offensive line contingent has quality, versatility and depth.  The five projected starters have made 116 collegiate starts after the first three games, while the back-ups have started a combined 28 contests for the Green and Gold.  Leading the way are graduate student and captain Nate Theaker, fifth-year seniors Robert Kelly, Andrew Zimmerman and JT Pillars, along with junior Tommy Richardson.  Kelly leads the corps having started 35 times, while both Theaker and Richardson have 27 starts with Zimmerman (15) and Pillars (12) getting most of their starts a year ago.

NCAA RANKINGS UPDATE
WSU's strength of schedule currently is tied the 57th toughest schedule in Division II and the Warriors are ranked 34th in the Massey Ratings, which is a composite system that takes everything from offensive and defensive statistics to strength of schedule and home field advantage.

FIRST HALF DOMINATION
Wayne State has been at its best in the first 30 minutes of the game this season.  The Warriors are outscoring its opponents 87-7 in the first quarter and 129-23 during the first half.  However, on the other side of the coin, WSU is being outscored 74-50 in the second half.

TOM ADAMS HOME COOKING
Tom Adams Field is not an easy place to play for visiting programs.  The Warriors have defended their home turf extremely well in the past eight seasons (2008-16) to a 36-13 tune.  WSU is 3-0 in 2016 at home and has had a winning record at home in each of the last eight seasons, including a 5-1 mark last season.