DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (1-5 overall, 0-3 GLIAC) aims to snap a five-game losing streak on Saturday at Michigan Tech (2-4 overall, 0-4 GLIAC).  The contest will be the 900th game in program history for WSU.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and will be just the second afternoon game for the Warriors this season as five previous contests started at 6:00 p.m. (except Sept. 22 at Saginaw Valley).

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech enters week seven at 2-4 overall and 0-4 in the GLIAC.  The two non-conference victories came to start the season at Truman State (20-10) and at home against Hillsdale (31-30 / OT).  The Huskies have played four of the top five programs in the league (Davenport, GVSU, SVSU and Ferris State).  Steve Olson is in his second season as the head coach, but spent time with MTU as an assistant coach for the seven seasons prior.

Sophomore quarterback Will Ark has thrown for 1,312 yards, which ranks third in the league, while completing 51.5 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns with six interceptions.  Senior running back James Henderson has collected a team-high 347 rushing yards and two TDs, but did not play last week against Ferris State.  The next top rusher is freshman Jared Smith who has totaled 123 yards on the ground and two scores.  Senior wide receiver Jacob Wenzlick is the top pass catcher in the conference at 111.0 receiving yards per game and 6.7 receptions per contest.  He also ranks third in the GLIAC at 23.7 yards per kickoff return.

Junior linebacker Marvin Wright lead the league in tackles at 67 (11.2 per game) and ranks second in the conference at 10 tackles for loss.  Michigan Tech is averaging 19.3 points per game and allowing 26.7 points per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State leads 18-10 in the all-time series vs. Michigan Tech.  However, the Huskies have won six of the previous eight meetings.  The Warriors won last season's matchup in Houghton, 20-14, to end MTU's four-game series winning streak.  WSU is 9-6 on the road in the series, while head coach Paul Winters is 4-7 versus the Huskies in his time with the program.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State started strong against Davenport last Saturday and responded to an early Panthers touchdown with two quick scores thanks to Darece Roberson, Jr.  A 57-yards pass from Jake AmRhein to Roberson tied the game at 7-7 before Roberson returned a line drive punt 69 yards to put WSU on top 14-7.  However, DU scored 30 unanswered points for the 37-14 win.

KICKING HIS WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Paul Graham became the third place-kicker in school history to score at least 200 points with his second quarter field goal against Tiffin.  Graham passed David Chudzinski (2005-08, 206 points) with his two PATs vs. Davenport.  He trails Stefan Terleckyj (2010-13, 286 points).  Graham has 35 field goals, which ranks second behind Terleckyj's 39, while his 103 PATs is third behind Terleckyj (169) and Chudzinski (107).

Additionally, his .854 field goal percentage (35-41) is the highest in program history and is third among current players across all divisions with at least 40 attempts.  John Baron of San Diego State (.878 / 43-49) and Blanton Creque of Louisville (.867 / 39-45) are the top two kickers within that category.

A MATURING OFFENSIVE LINE
Going into the 2017 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 (10), Justin Tockstein (11), Charlie Younger (11), Lane Potter (11) and Adam McJunkin (1) gained valuable experience since the 2017 season began with only three combined starts (all by then senior Greg Webber).  With the return of Tommy Richardson and his 36 career starts, the 2018 offensive line now has 106 career starts.

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters will become the longest tenured football coach in program history this fall as he is in his 15th season.  He passed the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes in 2014 at 11 seasons (1918-28).  Winters surpasses Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis, who held the post for 14 seasons (1932-45).  Winters enters the MTU contest 33rd among all active DII football head coaches with 82 wins.  The game at Ferris State on Sept. 30, 2017, 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 10 years (2008-17) combining for a 69-51 mark over the last 120 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.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 22 of its last 27 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the 2018 season-opener over Walsh, where the Warriors totaled 237 yards on the ground.  The first three setbacks when accomplishing the feat 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.

Twice this year WSU has lost when rushing for at least 200 yards - at UIndy on Sept. 8th where the Green & Gold compiled 202 yards on the ground and Sept. 22 at Saginaw Valley.  During the last seven-plus seasons (2011-18), Wayne State is 32-9 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 13-7 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 51-18 under those parameters, including a 32-5 mark at home.

NCAA STATS REPORT
Wayne State ranks sixth nationally in passing yards per game allowed (138.3), seventh in fewest penalties per game (4.00), 10th in fewest penalty yards per game (39.83), 13th in blocked punts (1), 20th in punt return average (15.08), 38th in total defense (321.8 yards per game), 41st in punt return defense (5.29 yards per return), 42nd in first down defense (98), 45th in tackles for loss allowed per game (5.50) and 46th in both fourth down conversion percentage (.583) and fumbles recovered (5).

Darece Roberson, Jr. is in top 50 in DII in several categories.  He is tied-for-third with one punt return for a touchdown, fifth in yards per reception (24.25), 21st in combined kick return yards (449), 34th in receiving touchdowns (5) and 43rd in all-purpose yards per game (125.67).

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
WSU is tied-for-eighth this week by the NCAA in terms of toughest schedule with an opponent winning percentage of .714 (20-8/ Walsh 1-3, Indianapolis 3-1, Ashland 2-3, Saginaw Valley 4-1, Tiffin 5-0 and Davenport 5-0).  The Warriors remaining opponents are 16-14 (.533), for a seventh ranked cumulative opposition record of 36-22 (.621).  Michigan Tech has played the toughest Division II schedule with an opponents winning percentage of .900 (27-3).

MR. MOFFETT
Redshirt junior DeOntay Moffett tallied his fifth rushing touchdown of the season against Tiffin, which is tied-for-fifth in the league.  He found the end zone twice vs. Walsh, twice at Saginaw Valley State before scoring WSU's only TD versus Tiffin.  His five rushing touchdowns is tied-for-42nd nationally.

WINNINGEST MICHIGAN FOOTBALL PROGRAMS
Over the last decade-plus (2008-18), Wayne State ranks seventh among all Michigan football programs in winning percentage (both regular season and playoffs).  
    
    1. Grand Valley State, 107-26 / .805
    2. Michigan State, 96-41 / .701
    3. Ferris State, 83-40 / .675
    4. Adrian, 68-39 / .636
    5. Hillsdale, 72-46 / .610
    6. Michigan, 79-54 / .594
    7. Wayne State, 69-51 / .575

PARTICIPATION BREAKDOWN
Of the 66 players to participate this year for WSU, there were three true freshmen, 15 redshirt freshmen, two true sophomores, six redshirt sophomores, one true junior, 22 redshirt juniors, one true senior, nine redshirt seniors and seven graduate students.

DYNAMIC DUO
Leon Eggleston and Anthony Pittman have both spent a lot of time in the opponent's backfield this season.  Eggleston is tied-for-third in the GLIAC with nine tackles for loss, while Pittman is fifth in the league at eight TFLs.  Eggleston is 36th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.5).

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Darece Roberson, Jr.'s 69-yard punt return for a touchdown to give WSU a first-quarter lead not only electrified the rain-drenched crowd at Tom Adams Field but it was the first such score for WSU in quite some time.  The last punt return that found the end zone was on Oct. 4, 2004, when Jerriel Burrus took a Michigan Tech punt back 50 yards for six points.

McCARTY'S BIG LEG
Sophomore Taylor McCarty blasted a career-best 62-yard punt in the second quarter last Saturday.  It was his fourth career punt to travel more than 50 yards and topped a 60-yard punt he had last season at Michigan Tech.  He currently ranks fifth in the GLIAC at 39.2 yards per punt.

ROAD TRIP
It takes just over 10 hours to get from Detroit to Houghton via bus and 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).

900TH GAME
Wayne State will play its 900th football game this Saturday.  The first contest was a 41-0 win on October 6, 1918, at Assumption (Ont.) College (became Assumption University in 1956).  The record by school names is Detroit Junior College (24-12-6), College of the City of Detroit (24-57-5). Wayne University (70-86-11) and WSU (260-337-7).

LOSING STREAK
Wayne State will attempt to avoid a six-game losing streak at Michigan Tech.  The current five-game losing streak is the longest since the Warriors lost six consecutive games to end the 2013 campaign and the opening game of the 2014 season.

16-GAME SEASON
In the 45-year history of NCAA Division II football, the 2011 Warrior squad is the only team to play a 16-game schedule.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY
WSU has played 13 times before on October 13th, compiling a 6-6-1 record.  The first game on this date was a 54-0 victory over Ferris State in 1953.