Football | 8/29/2017 9:30:00 AM

DETROIT --  The Wayne State University football program will begin its 100th year at Walsh on Saturday at 1 p.m.  The Warriors meet Walsh for the first time as a non-conference game as the Cavaliers have left the GLIAC for the G-MAC.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will open the 2017 season on the road with the first of two non-conference games beginning with Walsh on Saturday.  This will mark the fifth season out of the last six where WSU will begin the season on the road.  Last season's 28-3 victory at Northwood was the Green & Gold's first season-opening win since 2011.

The Warriors won six straight games and sat at 7-1 with three games left to play a year ago. however, injuries and a tougher schedule led to WSU dropping its final three games and missing the playoffs.  The season-ending 24-21 defeat to second-ranked GVSU has served as a source of motivation over the spring and summer.

OUTLOOK
Head coach Paul Winters Winters enters his 14th season and will lead the Warriors into their 100th season of football on the campus of Wayne State.  Winters and his staff will have to work with a roster that is much younger (both in terms of age and experience) than it has been in the past few years.  The Warriors have 45 returning letterwinners including five who lettered in 2015, but did not letter last season.  Of the nine returning starters, five are on offense led by an experienced group of skilled players.

The offense is solid at the skills position with the best unit being the running backs.  Led by redshirt senior Romello Brown, the group is as dynamic and diverse as any other group in program history.  After averaging 6.2 yards per carry as a group on nearly 500 attempts, everyone returns to power the offense.  

Perhaps the biggest question but one ready to be answered is how will the offensive line rebound after graduating four seniors and 113 combined starts.

The schedule should allow for WSU to find out early if it has what it takes to win games in November.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
Walsh begins its first season as an official member of the G-MAC after going 1-10 in its final season in the GLIAC.  The Cavs did not win a conference game last season, allowing nearly 40 points per game in 2016.

The most noticeable change is the new coaching staff headed by former Olivet College front man Dan Pifer. He joins the Cavaliers after five years with the Comets where he went 30-21 with a pair of conference championships each of the last two years. In addition, Walsh will be breaking in a new stadium as they return to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Tom Benson Stadium after a year off with renovations. On the field, Pifer will look to incorporate his offensive philosophy with the spread. He will benefit from the entire offensive line returning with senior Aidan O'Neill leading the group. He'll also have Mack Coleman back at tight end. The defense and special teams will return a strong amount of experience as well. Nick Sturgill returns after an impressive rookie campaign with 6.5 tackles for loss on the year. Placekicker Jacob Maloy and punter Cole Krumpak also return to aid the Cavs on special teams.

ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU has won all three meetings against Walsh, including last year's 47-14 matchup in Detroit.  The teams first met in 2014 (WSU won 52-17) and again at Walsh in 2015 (WSU won 31-16).

THE EFFICIENT (AND EXPLOSIVE) ROMELLO BROWN
Romello Brown's 6.20 yards per carry for a career is the third-highest by any WSU player with at least 75 rushing attempts behind Gary Baillargeon, who averaged 7.29 (166-1,210) in 1951-52 and Vic Zucco (6.41 / 165-1,057) in 1953-54.  

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 1980-81).  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. Jim Gendron (1976-78), 15-7-0, .682
4. D.J. Zezula (2015-SA), 13-8-0, .619
    Mark Friday (1991-93), 13-13-0, .500
6. Trent Pohl (2006-07), 8-10-0, .444
    Richard Popp (1983-86), 8-15-1, .354
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

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 15 of its last 18 games when rushing for over 200 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 seasons (2012-16), Wayne State is 25-7 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 10-4 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 44-16 under those parameters, including a 26-6 mark at home.

STINGY RED ZONE DEFENSE
In 34 trips to the red zone by 2016 opponents, the Warriors only allowed 132 points with 13 drives resulting in zero points.  By comparison, the WSU offense scored 214 points in 44 trips inside the 20.
  
SCORE FROM ANYWHERE
Last season, WSU tallied 35 touchdown drives of at least 60 yards, including nine over 80 yards.

WORTH NOTING
Romello Brown's 1,000-yard rushing season in 2016 makes him the third running back in the Paul Winters' era to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons joining Joique Bell (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and Josh Renel (2010 and 2011).  WSU has had 11 1,000-yard rushers in the last 12 seasons (only 2012 and 2013 without a 1,000-yard rusher, but the Warriors had two in 2011).

100 YEARS OF WSU ATHLETICS
The Wayne State University Athletics Department will soon be celebrating 100 years. Join us for our 100 year kickoff event on Sept. 16th featuring a parade of former student-athletes, football tailgate and game versus Saginaw Valley State.

STREAKING WARRIORS
In eight of the last nine seasons (2008-16), WSU has had at least a four-game winning streak.  The Warriors had a six-game winning streak last season.

The six-game winning streak for the Warriors was the longest in program history since the 2010 and 2011 squads combined for 10 consecutive victories from October 23, 2010, through October 8, 2011.  The Tartars produced two seven-game winning streaks from Sept. 23, 1967, through Nov. 4, 1967, and Oct. 25, 1975, through Sept. 25, 1976.  The first six-game winning streak in program history was accomplished by the 1951-52 squads from Oct. 20, 1951, through Sept. 20, 1952.

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 2017 tied-for-28th among all active DII football head coaches with 76 wins.

LAST 100 GAMES
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in eight of the last nine years (2008-16) combining for a 63-40 mark over the last 103 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.

FIRST HALF DOMINATION
Wayne State was at its best in the first 30 minutes of the game last season.  The Warriors outscored their opponents 114-35 in the first quarter and 216-99 during the first half.  However, on the other side of the coin, WSU only outscored its opponents 147-141 in the second half.

TURNOVER MARGIN SUCCESS
Wayne State improved in several areas last season, but perhaps the most important is in the turnover margin department.  The Warriors were +5 in 2016 (19 takeaways and 14 giveaways) compared to a -9 mark in 2015 (23 giveaways and 14 takeaways).

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 (2008-16) to a 35-14 tune. WSU has had a winning record at home in each of the last eight seasons, including a 5-1 mark last season.  WSU opens the home season against Indianapolis on Sept. 9th at 6 p.m.  In the Coach Winters' era, the Warriors are 45-27 (.625) at home.

WSU is 29-11 at home this decade and carries a 213-212-19 all-time record at home in the first 99 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).

DECADE TO REMEMBER
Wayne State has 49 wins this decade, which is the second most wins in program history behind the 55 wins from the 1970s (55-37-2 / .596).  WSU is 49-32 (.604) to give this decade the highest winning percentage of any full decade.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS 
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 28-10 record for games played in August and September. The Warriors are 23-18 in October during that same time period, 10-11 in November and 2-1 in December.

ANOTHER WARRIOR IN THE PROS
After an All-American career, Nate Theaker joined the Dallas Cowboys and looks to find a spot with the best offensive line unit in the NFL.  In his four years at Wayne State he played in 42 career games out of 43 contests, making 33 starts.  The team captain was selected to the D2Football.com All-America First Team and the Don Hansen All-America Second Team as well as being named to the GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team. Theaker was selected to the AFCA All-America First Team, voted to the D2CCA All-America First Team after receiving All-Super Region 4 First Team accolades and selected to the Associated Press Little All-America First Team for Division II, III and NAIA.  The White Lake native collected Don Hansen All-Super Region 4 First Team accolades, while being voted the GLIAC Offensive Lineman of the Year along with earning First Team All-GLIAC honors.

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 to prior to kickoff every road game and 30 minutes for home action.  Ashley Casavant will serve as the sideline reporter this season.

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.