Football | 9/7/2016 9:54:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (1-0, 1-0 GLIAC) will look to slow down the fifth-ranked team in the nation on Saturday when the Warriors travel to Ohio to meet Ashland (1-0. 0-0 GLIAC) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

GAME STORYLINES
This Saturday's match-up at Jack Miller Stadium features two long-time GLIAC head coaches (both in their 13th season at their respective schools) who have a history dating back to 1995 when AU's Lee Owens was named the head coach at the University of Akron and WSU's Paul Winters was his offensive coordinator.  Owens has won seven of the 10 prior meetings, including all five in Ashland.  However, the Eagles have won the last two meetings at Martinelli Field by a combined 10 points (20-17 in 2011 and 7-0 in 2012).  The Warriors last win at AU was a 29-19 triumph on Oct. 4, 2003.

LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors took the opening kickoff and drove 85 yards in four plays for the first score of the season.  After two runs by Romello Brown netted a first down, sophomore quarterback Donovan Zezula connected with senior wide receiver Jamel Hicks on a short screen pass and Hicks outraced the Timberwolves defense to the end zone.  It was Hicks longest career reception.

After the next three drives (2 for Northwood, 1 for WSU) ended in punts, it took Wayne State just 54 seconds to cover 58 yards.  After a nine-yard carry by Brown, Zezula found Hicks behind the NU secondary for a 49-yard touchdown reception.

On Northwood's ensuing possession, two WSU penalties extended the drive but on fourth-and-one from the Wayne State 22, junior cornerback James Howard recorded a seven-yard tackle for loss.

The Warrior offense then went 71 yards in nine plays with Brown scoring his 21st career rushing touchdown on a first-and-goal from the NU 10-yard line to increase the WSU lead to 21-0 following freshman Luke Bevilacqua's third PAT of the game.

On its final drive of the opening half, it took Wayne State six plays to cover 62 yards with true freshman wide receiver Darece Roberson, Jr. making his first collegiate reception a 35-yard touchdown grab.

Northwood tallied the only second half points on a 42-yard field goal by David Riser, which concluded a five-play, 11-yard drive following a Warrior fumble.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Ashland is coming off a playoff appearance last season after an unbeaten regular season in 2015.  The Eagles are off to a fast start in their quest to defend their share of the GLIAC title.  In week one, AU topped Mercyhurst 48-0 as head coach Lee Owens began his 13th season at the helm.  The offense returns 11 starters, while the defense welcomes back seven starters.  As a team, AU is returning 45 letterwinners.  The Eagles are in the middle of a season-opening three-game home stand.

Quarterback Travis Tarnowski returns after an Honorable Mention All-GLIAC season in 2015 as well as AFCA All-American tight end Adam Shaheen.  All-Region running back Vance Settlemire will carry the load out of the backfield.  On defense, All-Super Region linebacker Brandon Gency leads the way.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Ashland leads the all-time series 22-7 over Wayne State.  WSU is 3-12 in Ashland, Ohio and the conference ledger favors the Eagles 18-6.  The Warriors won the last meeting in the series on Sept. 14, 2013, 34-22, in Detroit when AU was ranked 21st in the nation.  That contest was the first collegiate night game at Tom Adams Field.  Coach Winters is 3-7 against Ashland.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 26-9 record for games played in August and September.  Of the 11 months being considered, WSU is .500 in two months (2-2), and above .500 in the other nine 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), 7-4-0, .636
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

COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
The following 13 WSU players made their collegiate debut at Northwood on Saturday:  Dakota Kupp (Waterford, Mich. / Mott), DeOntay Moffett (Muskegon Heights, Mich. / Mona Shores), Stephen Charron (Palm Harbor, Fla.), Leon Eggleston (Sylvania, Ohio / Southview), Bevilacqua, Kyle Toth (Hudsonville, Mich.), Jalen Lewis (Pontiac, Mich. / West Bloomfield), Ryan Smith (Warren, Mich. / De La Salle), Justin Tockstein (Warren, Mich. / Mott), Roberson, Kyle Muller (Clinton Twp., Mich. / Chippewa Valley), Kyle Lewis (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) and Justin Hollins (West Bloomfield, Mich.).

MILESTONES
Jamel Hicks became the 17th player in school history with at least 1,000 career receiving yards with his 75-yard TD catch on the game's opening drive at Northwood.  His second TD reception set a career-high as his previous six touchdown catches came in six different contests.

With his 217 yards on Saturday, Donovan Zezula surpassed 2,000 passing yards in his career.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has 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).  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 (2012-15), Wayne State is 19-4 when rushing when rushing for 200 yards including a 9-1 mark on the road.  Under coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 38-13 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 - 63
Ashland - 60
Michigan Tech - 52
Ferris State - 49
WAYNE STATE - 47
Saginaw Valley State - 45

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 entering 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 57-36 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 96 collegiate starts after the opening weekend, 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 31 times, while both Theaker and Richardson have 23 starts with Zimmerman (11) and Pillars (8) 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 on Saturday.

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 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 (there was no game 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 broadcasted 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 will fill in this Saturday at Ashland, while Ryan Oshnock will fill in on Oct. 15.