Football | 10/25/2017 3:00:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (3-5, 2-4 GLIAC) will look to cause a bit of chaos in the Division II playoff picture as 12th-ranked Ashland (7-1, 6-0 GLIAC) visits Tom Adams Field on Saturday for a noon kickoff.

GAME STORYLINES
After snapping a four-game losing streak at Michigan Tech last weekend, the Warriors will aim to keep the momentum rolling as Ashland visits Detroit for a noon clash on Saturday at Tom Adams Field.  The Warriors can capture an overall winning record by winning their final three contests, along with a .500 record at home.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Ashland enters Saturday's game winners of seven straight after dropping a season-opening contest at Indiana (Pa.) by three points.  The Eagles are ranked 12th nationally and look to improve upon that number.  Head coach Lee Owens is in 14th season with the program and carries a 105-45 record with the Eagles.  Senior quarterback Travis Tarnowski is completing nearly 63 percent of his passes (135-of-216) for 1,901 yards, 22 touchdowns with just one interception.  Junior running back Andrew Vaughn has rushed for 768 yards and eight scores, while sophomore Keishaun Sims has found the endzone four times on the ground.  Senior Matthew Wilcox has caught 30 passes for 596 yards and five TDs, while junior Kamaron Green also has five receiving touchdowns to go with his 29 receptions for 386 yards.  

Sophomore linebacker Clay Shreve is the team's top tackler with 49 total stops, while junior defensive end James Prater, Jr. leads the league with 13.5 tackles for loss, including five sacks.  Senior rush end Austin Utter leads the team and the GLIAC with six sacks.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Ashland enters Saturday's game leading the league in passing yards per game (251.0), time of possession (33:55) and third-down conversions (51 percent), while ranking second in points per game (36.8), total offense per game (423.1) and points allowed per game (12.6).  The Wayne State offense is rushing for 182.9 yards per game this season, which ranks third in the league.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State trails the all-time series 7-23 versus Ashland in a series that began in 1975 when the GLIAC was formed.  The Warriors lost last season's meeting when the Eagles were ranked fifth in the country, 36-25.  WSU upset 20th-ranked Ashland on Sept. 14, 2013, in Detroit (34-22) during the first collegiate night game at Adams Field.  WSU is 4-10 at home in the series and head coach Paul Winters is 3-8 in his time at Wayne State versus AU.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Wayne State has played the fourth toughest schedule nationally up to this point of the 2017 season.  The Warriors past opponents have combined for a .635 winning percentage (33-19).  Overall (including the final three regular-season games), WSU's schedule is the 18th toughest in Division II with all 11 opponents winning nearly 57 percent of their games.

KEYS TO VICTORY
The Warriors are playing their best football when they are controlling the tempo.  Wayne State ranks second in the GLIAC in both time of possession per game (32:53) and third-down conversion percentage at 41 percent.  WSU leans on the third-best rushing attack in the league, which is averaging 182.9 yards per game.

WINNING DRIVE
After an Anthony Pittman sack on first down, and a tackle for loss by Leon Eggleston forced a third-and-16 for Michigan Tech, the Huskies were forced to punt, which resulted in a touchback.  The Warriors took control of the ball with 6:59 left on the clock and tallied three first downs, including a fourth-and-one conversion by Romello Brown.  Another WSU first down allowed the Warriors to use the victory formation as the clock went to all zeros and earn a hard-fought victory. 

SOLID PERFORMANCE
The Warriors defense only allowed seven points (the other seven came on a kickoff return) in the victory at Michigan Tech.  That is the best performance by the defense since the season-opening win at Walsh.  WSU was allowing nearly 38 points per game in the six games between the Walsh and MTU game.

WORTH NOTING
Both Romello Brown and Demetrius Stinson had 100-yard games on the ground in the win over Michigan Tech, with Brown having 25 carries for 113 yards, and Stinson contributing 107 yards and a score on 14 attempts.  It marked the second time this season that the Warriors had two backs go over 100 yards in the same game (Deiontae Nicholas with 123 rushing yards and Brown 113 in the win at Walsh).

For his career, Stinson surpassed the 2,000-yard mark in all-purpose yards at MTU.  He has 1,634 rushing yards, 281 receiving yards and 88 kick return yards for a total of 2,003 all-purpose yards.

Dakota Kupp was 12-of-23 for 127 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions or sacks in his first collegiate start.  In the previous five games where he saw action, Kupp went 3-for-17 for 20 yards.  Corey Ester tied for game-high honors with five catches, while Manny Mendoza led the squad with 43 receiving yards.  Anthony Pittman garnered a team-best eight tackles.

TOUGH SLEDDING
With the midpoint of the season in the rear-view mirror, Wayne State has been decimated by injuries.  Two All-Region players in guard Tommy Richardson and all-purpose back Deiontae Nicholas did not dress last Saturday.  Richardson has missed all eight games this year, while Nicholas has missed the last four-and-a-half contests.  Two All-GLIAC players in defensive end Jake Carrizales and cornerback James Howard have also missed time.  Carrizales has not dressed for a game this year, while Howard did not dress at Tiffin.  All told, WSU has already lost 102 man-games due to injury.  That is nearly 13 injured players per game that were unable to dress.

A YOUNG OFFENSIVE LINE
Going into the season, fans of Warrior football knew the offensive line was going to be a work in progress after losing 144 combined starts from the group of Robert Kelly (41), Nate Theaker (33), Tommy Richardson (32), Andrew Zimmerman (21) and JT Pillars (17).  The group of Israel Helms, Justin Tockstein, Charlie Younger, Greg Webber, Lane Potter and Reagan Kropp is gaining valuable experience since starting the year with only three combined starts (all by Webber).

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 nine seasons (2008-17) to a 39-17 tune.  WSU has had a winning record at home in each of the last nine seasons, including a 5-1 mark last season.  In the Coach Winters' era, the Warriors are 46-30 (.605) at home.  WSU is 30-14 at home this decade and carries a 214-215-19 all-time record at home in the first 99-plus years of the program as Detroit Junior College (1918-23), College of the City of Detroit (CCD / 1923-34), Wayne University (1934-56) and WSU (1956-present).

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Since the 2004 season when Coach Winters took over, Wayne State is 10-28 versus ranked opponents.  The last time the Warriors knocked off a top-25 program was when WSU topped Carson-Newman 41-31 on Sept. 4, 2014.  Five of those 10 victories came in 2011 as Wayne State won four road playoff contests en route to the title game.  The Green & Gold were unable to end a seven-game losing streak against ranked teams on Oct. 7th vs. Grand Valley State but will look to end that streak against Ashland.

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters is tied for the longest tenured football coach in program history this fall with 14 seasons.  He passed the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes in 2014 at 11 seasons (1918-28).  Winters matches Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis, who holds the WSU record with 14 seasons (1932-45).  Winters enters Saturday's contest 31st among all active DII football head coaches with 79 wins.  The game at Ferris State on Sept. 30th was his 150th as the Warrior head coach.  Gembis (101) and Holmes (80) are second and third in career games coached.

LAST 100-PLUS GAMES
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in eight of the last nine years (2008-17) combining for a 66-45 mark over the last 111 games.  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.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Romello Brown's streak of not reaching 100 rushing yards ended at six games last weekend; the longest of his career except for his first seven collegiate games.  Beginning with the Sept. 26, 2015, contest at Northwood through the 2017 season opener at Walsh, Brown had rushed for over 100 yards in 15 of those 20 games.  He totaled 113 yards on 25 carries and helped WSU secure the victory at Michigan Tech with 10 carries on the final drive.

FLIGHT SQUAD
The two upperclassmen of the wide receivers corps, senior Manny Mendoza and junior Corey Ester, have been leading the way.  Ester has a team-high 21 receptions, while ranking second in both receiving yards (313) and touchdown receptions (4).  Mendoza has over 200 receiving yards over the last three games (11 receptions for 208 yards and two touchdowns).  Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Ray'Jon Williams-Jackson has all six of his career receptions in the last two contests.  In addition, redshirt sophomore tight end Luke Ketterman had his first career reception in the MTU contest (for 24 yards on a third-and-three leading to a field goal).

MAKING THE MOST
Senior linebacker Dustin Carlin, who has started all eight games this season, has recorded 38 tackles this year (19-19) after notching 38 tackles (22-16) in his first three seasons for the Green and Gold.  Senior defensive tackle LaMonte Baker has all six of his career tackles (5-1) in 2017.  Junior defensive end Derrick Coleman has totaled 29 stops (20-9) this year after tallying a then career-best 23 tackles (15-8) a year ago.

RED ZONE OFFENSE
When presented with the opportunity for six points, Wayne State has capitalized.  The Warriors rank 29th in all of Division II football in red zone offense, scoring 15 times in 17 opportunities this season when getting inside the 20-yard line.  WSU has seven passing TDs, four rushing scores and four field goals in its 17 trips to the red zone.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 18 of its last 21 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win at MTU where WSU ran for 243 yards.  The only setbacks when accomplishing the feat all came in 2016-at Ashland, where the Warriors ran for exactly 200 yards in a losing effort; at Ferris State; and at Ohio Dominican when WSU ran for 242 yards.  During the past five-plus seasons (2012-17), Wayne State is 28-7 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 12-4 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 47-16 under those parameters, including a 27-6 mark at home.  Against GVSU, the Warriors would have finished with over 240 rushing yards if it was not for a bad snap on a punt, which accounted for a negative 47 yards. 

ROAD TRIP
It took just over 10 hours for WSU to get from Detroit to Houghton via bus  last week.  The trip equates to 556 miles.  In the same time, you could make it to St. Louis or New York City.  The longest trips for WSU athletics include football's trip to Carson-Newman in 2013 (545 miles), baseball to Orlando every Spring (1,171 miles), softball to Clearwater (1,209 miles) and fencing going to New York City (624 miles).

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN
If you are unable to make it to Tom Adams Field for one of the six home games this season, all home games are broadcasted live on Comcast CN 900 and also replayed at select times throughout the following week.  Fans can also watch on Warrior All-Access on a pay-per-view basis (24 hour pass) or select to purchase a monthly or year-long pass.  Joe Abramson, Rod Beard, Tony Ortiz and Kevin Brechmacher will bring you all the action from Midtown Detroit.

Sean Baligian and Josh Renel return to call the action for every game live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM & 101.5 FM).  The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to kickoff for every road game and 30 minutes for home action.  Ashley Casavant will serve as the sideline reporter this season at all home games.

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
Family, friends and fans can hear the inside scoop on WSU Football from head coach Paul Winters as Winters on Wednesdays returns to Tony V's for another season.  Rod Beard, Sean Baligian or Kevin Brechmacher will serve as your host during the hour-long show that includes special interviews and segments plus student-athlete profiles.