Football 9/11/2019 8:30:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Football Looks to Regroup on the Road

Fans can listen to the game online at PatriotDetroit.com or 1400 AM/101.5 FM.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (0-1 overall) will travel to Truman State (1-0 overall) for a Saturday clash against the Bulldogs. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will play the second of three consecutive non-GLIAC games on Saturday afternoon at Truman State. It will be the longest road trip of the season (615 miles) topping the 565 miles WSU will travel in week three to Quincy and the 457 miles for a week five contest at Northern Michigan.

SCOUTING TRUMAN STATE
Truman State started the season with a 10-7 win over D1 FCS foe Drake in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 7th. Head coach Greg Nesbitt is in his 10th season with the program.

The Bulldogs were predicted to finish third in the GLVC. TSU returns 16 starters from a team that placed third overall with a 5-2 record in conference action and a 6-5 overall mark in 2018. First Team All-Conference honorees back for 2019 include senior defensive end Sam Reeves, senior cornerback Jordan Siegel, and junior cornerback Lawrence Woods, the 2019 GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year.

Jaden Barr threw for 85 yards and ran for another 45 in the season-opener, while Jordan Salima led the team with 61 rushing yards.

Woods led the defense with eight tackles and was responsible for the only touchdown of the day, an 87-yard kickoff return early in the third quarter. Reeves tallied 1.5 tackles for loss, while Eric Yakle had an interception.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State leads 3-2 in the all-time series against Truman State. The Bulldogs were known as Northeast Missouri State until 1996. The Warriors are 1-1 on the road in the series, and have won the last three meetings overall, including a 2015 match-up at Tom Adams Field, 21-20. This will be WSU's first trip to Kirksville, Mo., since 1975.

LAST TIME OUT
Slippery Rock scored a touchdown on its first eight possessions, while the Warriors had two second quarter touchdowns before out-scoring SRU 23-13 in the second half. Slippery Rock led 21-0 after 15 minutes having out-gained WSU 131-45 in the opening stanza. The Warriors trailed 49-14 at halftime, but won the third quarter 16-13 and shutout The Rock 7-0 in the fourth quarter.

The 37 points WSU scored on Slippery Rock is the most that SRU has allowed since its 2017 season finale against Kutztown.

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
The 509 yards of total offense by the Warriors were the most since the October 1, 2016, Homecoming contest vs. Hillsdale when WSU totaled 514 yards (250 rushing, 264 passing).

The 99 points scored by the two teams combined were the most involving the Warriors since WSU posted a 56-54 triumph over Lake Erie on November 7, 2015.

Both teams garnered over 500 yards of total offense, marking the first such game since the aforementioned 56-54 contest, when WSU totaled 593 yards and the Storm had 509 yards of total offense.

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters became the longest tenured football coach in program history in 2018 and is in his 16th season at the helm of the Warriors in 2019. Winters surpassed Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis, who held the post for 14 seasons (1932-45). Winters is tied-for-30th among all active DII football head coaches with 83 wins. He is tied with Arne Ferguson (Western Oregon) and Victor Santa Cruz (Azusa Pacific).

A MATURING OFFENSIVE LINE
No matter the number of starters returning or the student-athletes graduating and participating in professional training camps, the WSU offensive line continues to be a strength of the program. The Warriors returned two veteran starters in junior guard Lane Potter (23 starts) and senior center Charlie Younger (16 starts). Other returnees on the O-Line include center Reid Thompson (seven starts) and guard Adam McJunkin (four starts). In addition, tackle Landin Mitchell made nine starts on the offensive line in 2017 for Davenport.

NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES
James Hill's three rushing touchdowns vs. Slippery Rock were the second-most in his career. He had four rushing touchdowns last season in a win over Northwood. It was Hill's sixth consecutive game with a rushing touchdown.

Leon Eggleston recorded a safety by tackling DeSean Dinkins in the end zone for a two-yard loss. It was the first safety by Wayne State since Anthony Pittman, now a member of the Detroit Lions practice squad, recorded a safety on Sept. 22, 2018, at Saginaw Valley State.

Donte McClure tallied his first collegiate touchdown on a 12-yard pass from Dakota Kupp late in the third quarter. McClure tied for game-high honors with eight receptions.

Nick Poterack scored his first career touchdown on a 49-yard reception from Kupp early in the fourth period.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 23 of its last 30 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the 2018 season-opener over Walsh, where the Warriors totaled 237 yards on the ground and vs. Northwood when WSU rushed for 399 yards. 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.

WSU ran for 248 yards in the 2019 season-opening loss to Slippery Rock. During the last eight-plus seasons (2011-19), Wayne State is 33-11 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 13-8 mark on the road. Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 52-20 under those parameters, including a 33-6 mark at home.

PITTMAN MAKING AN IMPRESSION
One of the leaders of the defense, during his time at Wayne State was linebacker Anthony Pittman. He made a strong case to earn a roster spot with the Detroit Lions when the team broke camp, but joined the practice squad to begin the season. In the August 23rd exhibition game, Pittman led all Lions with 48 snaps from scrimmage. He also saw action on nine special teams plays. The week before in Houston, Pittman saw action in 60 plays (47 defense, 13 ST) recording three tackles and a quarterback hit. In Detroit's final pre-season game in which Pittman started and made three tackles, he saw action on 66 plays on defense and 13 on special teams.

A DOZEN DEBUTS
Of the 50 players who saw action for the Warriors vs. 10th-ranked Slippery Rock, 12 were making their collegiate debut (Lukas Cusac, Nolan Kimmey, Daniel Knight, Steven Mason, Niko Mosley, Noah Nicklin, Dalen Peeks, King Sanders, Niccolò Seilo, Ian Sharp, Troy Vinson, and Julius Wilkerson). Cusac, Peeks, Seilo and Vinson are true freshmen. Two others made their WSU debut -- Charles Ellington (Malone) and Landin Mitchell (Davenport).

OPTIONS IN THE BACKFIELD
Coach Winters has to be happy when he looks into the running back room and sees three running backs in their final year of eligibility led by James Hill, DeOntay Moffett and Deiontae Nicholas. The trio entered 2019 having combined for 2,435 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns along with a 6.44 yards per carry average. In addition, the three seniors have a joint 864 receiving yards giving the contingent 3,299 yards from scrimmage in their collegiate careers prior to the SRU contest. Hill had a game-high 138 rushing yards vs. The Rock.

Hill, who was voted to the 2018 All-GLIAC Second Team as well as WSU's Offensive MVP, returns after leading the GLIAC in yards per carry (6.4), which ranked 18th nationally. Hill finished fourth in the league in rushing yards (831), and fifth in both rushing yards per game (75.5) and rushing touchdowns (10). During Hill's breakout season a year ago, he was second on the squad in receptions (17), total offense and all-purpose yards (1,021), and third in receiving yards (172).

SIGNAL CALLERS
One of the ever-popular topics of conversations around the country as the summer winds down is who will be playing quarterback for the local team. Wayne State has a couple of experienced options in junior Jake AmRhein and senior Dakota Kupp.

AmRhein started the final nine games a season ago, and the season opener. He finished with 112 passing yards and an interception vs. Slippery Rock.

Kupp is 4-1 as a starter and completed 13-of-17 passes last week for 149 yards and two touchdowns in relief of AmRhein. He also ran for 44 yards.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 31-18 record for games played in August and September. The Warriors are 25-24 in October during that same time period, 12-13 in November and 2-1 in December.

GOOD TO MEET YOU
The WSU and Slippery Rock game was the first meeting of those two programs since 1986. This week will see the Warriors first trip to Kirksville, Mo., since Oct. 11, 1975, when the Tartars posted a 41-7 triumph. The week three match-up with Quincy will be the first football meeting between the schools.

Wayne University has played only one opponent whose name began with a Q in the first 101 years of football. WU lost 7-0 at Quantico Marines (Quantico, Va.) in 1948, followed by a 33-14 setback at home the following year.

WSU IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Warriors rank in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories. Wayne State ranks 17th in rushing offense (248.0 YPG), 19th in total offense (509.0 YPG), 27th in scoring offense (37.0 PPG), 37th in kickoff return average (24.86 YPR), 39th in third-down conversions (47.1 %), 43rd in fewest tackles for loss allowed (5.0/game) and 44th in offensive first downs (22).

Kyle Lewis lead the GLIAC with 137 kickoff return yards, while Dakota Kupp leads the league and is ninth nationally in completion percentage (76.5 %), and is tops in the conference plus 13th in DII in passing efficiency rating (188.9). James Hill is tied for the national scoring lead at 18.0 PPG and is 12th in DII in rushing yards per game (138.0). Darece Roberson, Jr. ranks 21st nationally in yards per catch (32.67).

900TH GAME
Wayne State played its 900th football game on Oct 13, 2018. 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 (261-341-7).

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Wayne State is 9-31 against teams ranked inside the top 25 under Coach Winters (does not include forfeit by SVSU in 2005). WSU's last victory came on Sept. 13, 2014, against 13th-ranked Carson Newman at Tom Adams Field.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
There are several ways you can watch or listen to Wayne State Football this season. Every contest can be heard live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) or online at PatriotDetroit.com. Every home game can be seen live on Comcast CN900 in the state of Michigan. In addition, every home clash will be streamed via pay-per-view on WSU All-Access at WSUAthletics.com. CN900 will show replays of the SRU contest on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and Thursday at 8:00 a.m.

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