DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (0-0) will host fifth-ranked Slippery Rock (0-0) on Thursday night at Tom Adams Field.  It will be the first action for the Green & Gold in 655 days and the first home matchup in 662 days.

GAME STORYLINES
655 days.  One year, nine months and 15 days since the Warriors have strapped on the helmet and pads.  After an impressive 2019, including a win at No. 19-Grand Valley State to end the season, Wayne State returns to the gridiron looking to regain that momentum from 2019.  WSU will welcome fifth-ranked Slippery Rock in the season opener on Thursday night.

SCOUTING SLIPPERY ROCK
The Rock had an outstanding 2019 season, going 13-0 until a National Semifinal appearance against fourth-ranked Minnesota State where SRU fell 58-15 at home to finish the campaign.  Head coach Shawn Lutz will begin his fifth season (39-11) at the helm after winning PSAC West Coach of the Year honors in 2018 and 2019.  

The Rock return eight offensive starters and eight defensive starters from that 2019 team, headlined by All-American wide receiver Henry Litwin and All-American defensive end Chad Kuhn, who were both named to the Lindy's Sports Preseason All-America First Team this summer.  Slippery Rock will play its first five games this season at night with two road games and three home games in that stretch all scheduled for 6:00 PM starts.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State and Slippery Rock are tied 2-2 in the all-time series.  The 2019 matchup was the first meeting since 1986.  The first-ever contest between the two programs took place at The Big House (Michigan Stadium) in 1981 in front of 34,876 fans.  WSU won that contest 14-13.  SRU won the last meeting 62-37 at Tom Adams Field in the season opener for both squads.

OPENING THE SEASON
Since Paul Winters took over prior to the 2004 season, Wayne State is 8-7 in season openers.  Thursday will be the third straight season that WSU has started the season at home.  The Warriors are 5-4 in season openers at home under Winters, and 9-7 in home openers over the last 16 seasons, but 9-3 over the last 12 years.

Highest Scoring Season Openers
99 points - #10-Slippery Rock 62, at Wayne State 37, Sept. 5, 2019
93 points - at #21-Wayne State 69, Urbana 24, Sept. 3, 2011 
84 points - at Mercyhurst 49, Wayne State 35, Sept. 4, 1999
83 points - Indianapolis 43, at Wayne State 40, Sept. 1, 1990
83 points - at #17-Carson Newman 55, Wayne State 28, Sept. 5, 2013

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since  the  start  of  the  2008  season,  WSU  has  a  33-19  record  for  games  played  in  August  and  September.  The Warriors are 28-25 in October during that same time period, 15-13 in November, and 2-1 in December.

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Wayne State is 12-32 against teams ranked inside the top 25 under Coach Winters (does not include forfeit by SVSU in 2005).  The Warriors topped two ranked teams in 2019, including SVSU (#25) and GVSU (#19) and also beat Ashland who was ranked 27th when the teams met on Oct. 19, 2019.   Prior to the 24-20 win over SVSU in 2019, WSU's last victory came on Sept. 13, 2014, against 13th-ranked Carson Newman at Tom Adams Field.

HISTORIC VICTORY
Wayne State capped off the 2019 season with a 31-17 win at Grand Valley State on Nov. 16th.  It was the first win for the Warriors in the series since Nov. 10, 1984, a stretch of 30 games.  The last time WSU beat GVSU at home remains Oct. 1, 1983.   The victory gave the Green & Gold a second-place finish in the GLIAC.

WINNING STREAK
The five-game winning streak to end the 2019 season is the longest since the 2016 squad won six straight from Sept. 17 through Oct. 22.  The Warriors won eight of their final nine regular-season games in 2019, the best stretch since WSU won 10 of 11 games from Oct. 23, 2010, through Oct. 22, 2011, concluding with the double overtime triumph at Hillsdale.

MOST IMPROVED TEAMS
The 8-3 record in 2019 was a +6 improvement from the 2018 record of 2-9.  That ranks second nationally in terms of improvement from 2018 to 2019.  Kentucky State had a 6.5 win improvement to finish first in that category.

TOM ADAMS HOME COOKING
Tom Adams Field is not an easy place to play for visiting programs. The Warriors have defended their home turf well in the past 12 seasons (2008-19) to a 45-24 tune.  WSU had a winning record at Adams Field for nine straight seasons, until a 2-4 record in 2017.  In the Coach Winters' era, the Warriors are 52-37 (.584) in home games.
 
WSU went 36-21 at Tom Adams Field during the 2010s and carries a 220-222-19 all-time record at home in the first 102 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).

YOUTHFUL ROSTER
As is the case across the country for most Division II football programs, the 2021 roster is full of freshmen, redshirt freshmen and second-year redshirt freshmen following the cancellation of the 2020 season.  Out of the 116 student-athletes on the roster, 80 have never played a down of college football.

RECORD CROWD
The announced attendance of 7,092 versus Ferris State for the 2019 Homecoming contest was the largest to ever to watch a game at Tom Adams Field.  The only larger home crowd was when WSU played Temple in 1968 at U of Detroit Stadium.  The FSU contest was the first game with over 5,000 attendees since 5,277 watched WSU vs. Grand Valley State in 2015.  The previous Adams Field attendance record was 5,511 when Wayne State hosted Hofstra in 1971.

WARRIOR PODCASTS
There will be two podcasts from the WSU Athletic Department this fall - "What I've Heard" with Director of Athletics Rob Fournier and "Inside the Playbook" with Paul Winters.  Both can be found on the podcasts page at WSUAthletics.com.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
There are several ways fans 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.  Veteran Detroit broadcaster Sean Baligian returns for his 13th season calling Warrior football.  Former Warrior tailback and kick returner Josh Renel will again be joining Baligian in the booth.  Renel provided color commentary for one game in 2012 and nearly every game for seven seasons (2013-19).  In addition, former WSU defensive end Brady Beedon will fill-in for Renel on selected broadcasts and will also handle the Locker Room Report and Senior Spotlight features for WDTK.  Former Warrior defensive back Ryan Oshnock will serve as the analyst for the Sept. 25th broadcast.

Every home game can be seen live on Comcast CN900 in the state of Michigan.  Check your local listings for replay times.    Joe Abramson returns for his 13th year on the Comcast broadcast and sixth as play-by-play announcer.  Rod Beard enters his 10th year as a member of the WSU broadcast crew, while WWJ Afternoon Co-Anchor Tony Ortiz is starting his fifth year as a member of the broadcast crew.  Kevin Brechmacher, who has served as the radio voice of Wayne State basketball the last six seasons, will fill-in on the crew for selected games.

In addition, every home clash will be streamed for free via WSU All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.  

WARRIOR MARCHING BAND
"Celebrations and Salute"
The first show of the season celebrates a return to the field and making music with our friends.  The band opens the show with a salute to Armed Forces, celebrating veterans and the service they gave to all five branches of the military. The WSU Dance team will be featured as the band performs recent pop smash "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, and closes the show with a dance staple for all ages, the "Cupid Shuffle."