Football | 9/14/2016 7:38:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (1-1, 1-1 GLIAC) will open the 2016 home season against Lake Erie (0-2, 0-2 GLIAC) on Saturday at 6 p.m.  The Warriors will look to overcome a disappointing second half led to a 36-25 defeat at No. 5 Ashland last weekend.

The first fans through the gates will receive thunder sticks, while students will be able to pick up the official WarriorZone official student section t-shirts.  In addition, academic award winners will be recognized after the first quarter plus the Parade of Athletes will take place at halftime.  Also, the winner of the First Pitch Contest winner will be announced at halftime.

GAME STORYLINES
In the 12 previous home openers under head coach Paul Winters, the Warriors are 7-5 including capturing victories in seven of the past eight such games.  Last season, WSU won a 21-20 thriller over Truman State.  WSU is in the midst of three straight match-ups against GLIAC South Division opponents after collecting a GLIAC North triumph over Northwood to begin the season.

LAST TIME OUT
After the WSU defense garnered a turnover on Ashland's opening possession, the Warrior offense drove 77 yards in five plays with Jamel Hicks hauling in a 37-yard touchdown strike from Donovan Zezula.

After an exchange of punts, Wayne State's Ronny Brant II recovered another AU fumble, this time in the Warrior offensive red zone.  On the fifth play of the 19-yard scoring drive, Demetrius Stinson scored on a one-yard plunge.  After a mishandled snap on the first PAT, WSU went for two but Zezula's pass was incomplete giving the Warriors a 12-0 advantage.

The Eagles tallied the only points of the second stanza on a pair of field goals by Aidan Simenc.  The first field goal (22 yards) concluded a 14-play, 65-yard drive, while the 25-yard boot ended a nine-play, 86-yard drive.

The Warriors fumbled the second half kickoff return and the Eagles went 29 yards in five plays with Keishawn Sims scoring on a one-yard run.  Simenc's PAT gave AU its first lead of the game at 13-12.

Following a WSU punt, Ashland went 67 yards in five plays to extend its margin to 20-12.  The big plays on the drive were a 53-yard reception by Matthew Wilcox and Adam Shaheen's 14-yard touchdown reception from Travis Tarnowski.

Wayne State answered back with 73-yard drive culminating in a six-yard TD scamper by Stinson for his second touchdown run of the contest.  Zezula's two-point conversion pass was intercepted in the end zone by Dale Irby and returned for a defensive PAT making the score 22-18 in favor Ashland.

Sims scored his second rushing touchdown of the quarter on the ensuing possession giving the hosts a 29-18 lead.

After a WSU turnover on downs, the Eagles used eight plays to cover 86 yards and completed the scoring drive on a six-yard pass from Tarnowski to Wilcox.

Wayne State responded with a five-play, 75-yard drive with Manny Mendoza catching a nine-yard touchdown throw by Zezula.

WSU's last two possessions ended in a punt and an interception.

SCOUTING THE STORM
Lake Erie has started 2016 with a pair of losses -- 38-35 in overtime vs. Northern Michigan and 55-7 at third-ranked Grand Valley State last Saturday.  Head coach Mark McNellie is in his 10th season as the LEC football coach after being named the first coach in program history in August of 2006.  He has compiled a 31-57 record as the leader for LEC.

Redshirt senior quarterback John Banyasz leads the Storm in both rushing yards (139) and passing yards (279).  He enters Saturday's contest with a 139.2 passer rating and has yet to throw an interception.  Desmon Turner has carried the ball 24 times for 132 yards and two scores, while Mitchel Tilley has caught five passes for a team-leading 105 yards.  

Defensively, Lake Erie defense is allowing 506.5 yards and 46.5 points per game.  Nick Szabados, Zack Jude and Maurice Hale lead the team with 14, 13 and 12 tackles, respectively.  The only turnover the Storm have generated came on punt coverage.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series against Lake Erie, including a 56-54 victory last year at Adams Field in the highest scoring game in WSU history.  The Warriors won the first three meetings, including a 28-16 triumph at LEC in 2010.  WSU has also won the last two match-ups.  The Storm won their only game in the series, 35-17, in Painesville, Ohio, in 2013.  Wayne State is 3-0 at home against Lake Erie.  The Green & Gold have scored at least 35 points in four of the six games.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 26-10 record for games played in August and September.  Of the 11 months being considered, WSU is .500 in three months, and above .500 in the other eight months.

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.  Trent Pohl (2006-07), 8-10-0, .444
6.  Richard Popp (1983-86), 8-15-1, .354
7.  Kevin Smith (2008), 7-2-0, .778
8.  Donovan Zezula (2015-16), 7-5-0, .583
9.  Carl Roscoe (2012-15), 7-7-0, .500
10.  Anthony Frederick (1992, 94-95), 7-12-0, .368
11.  Michael Gluski (1994-95, 97-98), 7-16-0, .304

RARE AIR FOR BRODBECK
Trent Brodbeck enters Saturday's game against Lake Erie, fourth in WSU history in receptions by a tight end with 52.  John Aird (1995-98), who began his career as a linebacker, is third with 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.

MILESTONES
Jamel Hicks became the 12th player in WSU history with over 1,200 receiving yards last week.  His career totals stand at 72 receptions for 1,204 yards and nine touchdowns.  His nine touchdown receptions places him in a 10th-place tie with Tom Badalementi (1983-85) and Dean Morrison (1974-77).

Donovan Zezula moved into 11th place on the WSU all-time passing touchdowns chart with his two TD tosses at Ashland.  With 19 passing touchdowns, he trails Richard Popp (1983-86) by one for 10th place.

Anthony DeDamos, with his game-best 14 tackles, surpassed the 200 tackle plateau for his career at 118 solo and 87 assisted for 205 total stops.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State had won its last nine games when rushing for over 200 yards, including three times a season ago (Sept. 19 vs. Malone, Oct. 24 at Walsh and Oct. 31 vs. Findlay).  However, last week at Ashland the Warriors ran for exactly 200 yards in a losing effort.  A year ago, 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-plus seasons (2012-16), Wayne State is 19-5 when rushing when rushing for 200 yards including a 9-2 mark on the road.  Under coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 38-14 under those parameters, including a 22-6 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 - 64
Ashland - 61
Michigan Tech - 52
Ferris State - 50
WAYNE STATE - 47
Saginaw Valley State - 46

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
The weekly Winters on Wednesdays radio show began its fifth season with head coach Paul Winters joining host Rod Beard and co-host Nicole Stoll on Aug. 31.  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.  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.

D2FOOTBALL.COM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
Nate Theaker was voted to the 2016 D2Football.com Preseason All-America First Team.  Prior to a season-ending injury in 2015, he earned a spot on the Lindy's Division II Preseason All-America Second Team, D2Football.com Preseason All-America First Team and the USA College Football Preseason All-America First Team.

GLIAC PRESEASON POLL
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) released its Preseason Football Coaches Polls and Wayne State was ranked fourth in the North Division with 48 points.  Grand Valley State and Ashland were the favorites in each division heading into the 2016 season.

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.

2016 SIGNING CLASS
WSU signed nine freshmen and added one transfer on National Signing Day in February.  The nine signees represent eight offensive players and one athlete.  The biggest positions are offensive line (three), wide receivers (two) and quarterbacks (two).  There are six recruits from Michigan, two from Ohio, and one from Illinois.

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 will remain 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 57-37 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 101 collegiate starts after the first two 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 32 times, while both Theaker and Richardson have 24 starts with Zimmerman (12) and Pillars (9) getting most of their starts a year ago.

FIRST 45 MINUTES
If Wayne State wants to return to the playoff discussion it may want to work on getting off to a fast start.  So far, so good in 2016.  WSU scored 28 points before halftime against Northwood and led 12-6 at intermission against the fifth-ranked Eagles.

In 2015, WSU opponents outscored the Warriors 237 to 187 in the first three quarters, including an 82-42 mark in the third stanza.  However, a strength of the Green & Gold in 2015 was its late game execution, outscoring its opponents 118 to 75 in the final period.

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 (2008-15) to a 33-13 tune.  WSU has had a winning record at home in each of the last eight seasons, including a 5-1 mark last season.

80TH HOMECOMING CONTEST
WSU will host Hillsdale on Oct. 1st in the 80th Homecoming game in program history, dating back to 1935 (no game was played in 1943 and 1944 due to WWII).  The Chargers have met WSU on eight occasions during Homecoming week, including most recently in 2006 when the Warriors were victorious by a 41-26 score.

ALL HOME GAMES TELEVISED
Once again, all six of Wayne State's home games will be televised live on Comcast Xfinity Channel 900.  The broadcast team of Joe Abramson, Rod Beard and Tony Ortiz will have the call from Tom Adams Field.  All games will be shown live plus 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.  Play-by-play announcer Sean Baligian along with former Warrior Josh Renel, who will serve as the color analyst for the season.  Mickey Mohner filled in last Saturday at Ashland, while Ryan Oshnock will fill in on Oct. 15.