Football | 10/5/2017 8:51:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (2-3, 1-2 GLIAC) will look to right the ship on Saturday but will need to slow down eighth-ranked Grand Valley State (4-1, 4-0 GLIAC) to do so.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State returns to the friendly surroundings of Tom Adams Field in need of some home cooking after dropping its last two contests by a combined score of 100-38, including last week's 59-17 defeat at 15th-ranked Ferris State.  The 59 points allowed were the most since a 63-42 setback at Ashland on Nov. 3, 2007.  However, the Warriors schedule does not present a chance to catch their breath as first-place Grand Valley State comes to town, winners of four straight and a top-10 ranking in hand.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
After a season-opening four-point loss at Indianapolis that looks better with each Greyhound victory, eighth-ranked Grand Valley State has won four straight by an average of 40 points, outscoring its opponents 173-13 over that stretch.  Head coach Matt Mitchell is in his eighth season with the Lakers and enters Saturday's game with a 73-21 record.  The offense is paced by running back Marty Carter, who is averaging 100 yards on the ground per game and has found the end zone on four occasions.  Carter was a Harlon Hill finalist in 2016.  Quarterback Bart Williams has been strong, completing over 62 percent of his passes for 216.6 yards per game and 12 touchdowns with just one pick.  Brandon Bean is the team's top pass catcher, snagging a league-best 6.4 receptions per game for 75.0 yards per contest and five scores. 

Reigning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week Garrett Pougnet leads the squad with 32 tackles, while Cody Moore tops the roster with 5.5 tackles for loss.  As a team, GVSU is allowing just 7.4 points per game, which ranks third nationally.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State trails the all-time series 5-33 against Grand Valley State, dating back to 1975.  The last time WSU topped the Lakers was Nov. 10, 1984, (30-3) in Allendale.  Three of the five wins all-time have come at home with the last one coming on Oct. 1, 1983 (22-10).  Last season, the Warriors fell three-points short of snapping the 28-game losing streak.

WARRIORS FIRSTS
Making their collegiate debuts at Ferris State were redshirt freshman quarterback Jake AmRhein (South Elgin, Ill.) and offensive lineman Adam McJunkin (Allen Park, Mich.).  Notching their first collegiate receptions were sophomore Tyler Blaszczak (Brownstown, Mich. / Riverview Gabriel Richard) and redshirt freshman Steven Glenn (Lincoln Park, Mich.), who had a 10-yard catch on fourth-and-seven.  Junior college transfer Samson Tai (Newark, Calif. / Newark Memorial) and sophomore Anthony Copeland both recorded their first interceptions as a Warrior.

Fifteen of the 22 starters at FSU, including nine on defense, had never started a collegiate game before this season.  Two players - running back DeOntay Moffett and safety Anthony Copeland - both made their first collegiate starts in the game in Big Rapids.

100-YARD RUSHER
Demetrius Stinson recorded his fourth career 100-yard rushing contest with 12 carries for 135 yards against the Bulldogs.  It was his first time over 100 yards against a non-Ohio team (first three were vs. Malone [9/19/15], at Walsh [10/24/15] and at Findlay [10/8/16]).

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 and Lane Potter is gaining valuable experience since starting the year with only three combined starts (all by Webber).

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Since the 2004 season when Coach Winters took over, Wayne State is 10-26 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 will look to end a six-game losing streak against ranked teams on Saturday vs. Grand Valley State.

ESTER MAKING AN IMPACT
Corey Ester had his first career 100-yard receiving game with three catches for 104 yards at Ferris State.  His 89-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter was the fifth-longest pass play in school history.

TOUGH SLEDDING
As the midpoint of the season approaches, 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 five games this year, while Nicholas has missed the last one-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 54 man-games due to injury.  That is nearly 11 injured players per game that were unable to dress.

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 36-15 tune.  WSU has had a winning record at home in each of the last eight seasons, including a 5-1 mark last season.  In the Coach Winters' era, the Warriors are 46-28 (.622) at home.  WSU is 30-12 at home this decade and carries a 214-213-19 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).

WORTH NOTING
Senior wide receiver Manny Mendoza has at least one catch in 10 of the last 11 games he has played, and 19 of his last 21 contests.
Junior quarterback D.J. Zezula had his 40th career TD pass (in his 27th career game), which ranks second in school history behind Mickey Mohner's 55 touchdown passes (in 47 games) from 2009-12.

After making 24 tackles (17-7) in the first four games, sophomore safety Kyle Toth had a game-high 16 tackles (9-7) at Ferris State, including a half-tackle for loss.

Senior Romello Brown became just the fourth person in WSU football history to rush for over 3,000 career yards after gaining 113 yards in the win at Walsh.  Brown, with 3,279 career rushing yards, joins Joique Bell (6,728), Joe Gough (4,204) and Toney Davis (3,933) in that exclusive club.

Darece Roberson, Jr. is 24th nationally in receiving touchdowns (5).

Zezula is approaching the 5,000-yard plateau (4,848) of total offense.  He moved past Ed Skowneski (1972-75) into fourth place during the Ferris State contest and needs 137 yards to pass Michael Gluski (1994-98) for third place.

STUGGLING THROUGH SEPTEMBER
Wayne State finished the month of September with a losing record (2-3) for the first time since 2007.  In the last 10 years (2008-17), the Warriors were 30-13 in August (2-0) and September (28-13) combined, which included one 4-0 month, six 3-1 months and two 2-2 months.
 
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 65-43 mark over the last 108 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.

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 game 30th among all active DII football head coaches with 78 wins.  Last week's game at Ferris State was also his 150th as the Warrior head coach.  Gembis (101) and Holmes (80) are second and third in career games coached.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Romello Brown's streak of not reaching 100 rushing yards is at four games; 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.

STRONG CONNECTIONS
Junior quarterback D.J. Zezula has several weapons on the roster and he
has used those weapons to move up within the program record books.  
Below are QB to WR touchdown totals (since 1991).
1.     Mickey Mohner to Troy Burrell -- 24
2.     Jason Charron to Pierre Brown -- 22
3.     Michael Gluski to Jimmy Hill -- 18
4.     D.J. Zezula to Jamel Hicks -- 11
5.     Carl Roscoe to Michael Johnson -- 10
        Dan Gray to Pierre Brown -- 10
7.     Dan Gray to Brandon Brown -- 9
        Richard Brown to Elbert Richmond -- 9
9.     Anthony Frederick to Nick Bush -- 8
10.    Randy Hutchison to Nick Body -- 7
11.    D.J. Zezula to Manny Mendoza -- 6
         D.J. Zezula to Darece Roberson, Jr. -- 6
13.    D.J. Zezula to Deiontae Nicholas -- 4
         D.J. Zezula to Corey Ester -- 4

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 17 of its last 20 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win over SVSU where WSU ran for 257 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 27-7 when rushing for 200 yards, including an 11-4 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 46-16 under those parameters, including a 27-6 mark at home.

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 or Sean Baligian will serve as your host during the hour-long show that includes special interviews and segments plus student-athlete profiles.

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 1959 (except 1980-81).  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.    D.J. Zezula (2015-SA), 15-11-0, .577
       Jim Gendron (1976-78), 15-7-0, .682 
5.    Mark Friday (1991-93), 13-13-0, .500 
6.    A.J. Vaughn (1965-67), 8-5-0, .615
7.    Trent Pohl (2006-07), 8-10-0, .444 
       Richard Popp (1983-86), 8-15-1, .354 
9.    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