DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football program (0-2 overall) will travel to Rolla, Mo. and meet Missouri S&T (1-1 overall) for a Saturday afternoon clash.

GAME STORYLINES
The 2021 season is beginning to look like the 2019 season and if that were to continue the Warriors would take it.  Because that would mean a week three victory on the road in the GLVC.  Wayne State travels to Missouri S&T for a 1:00 PM (Central time) clash in Rolla, Mo.  The Warriors have had success on the road as of late and look to right the ship in the third of four consecutive non-conference contests.

SCOUTING MISSOUR S&T
The Miners are 1-1 overall and coming off a 71-0 pounding of Arkansas Baptist in their home opener.  Missouri S&T fell at South Dakota Mines to start the season.  Head coach Todd Drury is in his third season with the program and went 2-3 during an abbreviated spring 2021 season.  He went 7-4 in his debut season in 2019.

A trio of Miners lead the rushing attack led by Josh Sanders (186 yards, three TDs), while Gideon Niboh (145 yards, 1 TD) and Aaron Moya (145 yards, 2 TDs) balance the backfield.  Brennan Sims has completed 54 percent of his passes (22-41) for 317 yards and three scores, while Max Conrad has appeared in both games, throwing for 147 yards and three touchdowns.  Breon Michel and Josh Brown highlight the receiving corps.  Michel has 10 receptions for 177 yards and four TDs, while Brown has caught eight passes for 127 yards plus a touchdown.

Keep an eye on Moya on kickoff return as he is averaging 23.5 yards per return so far this season.

Defensively, Ben Straatmann leads the Miners' defense with 14 tackles, including two for loss.  Justin Onwugbufor has 11 tackles, while Cameron Clemons, Carson Prenger and Peyton Shelton have the three S&T interceptions.

ALL-TIME SERIES
This will be the first-ever football meeting between the two programs.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wayne State University football team (0-2 overall) suffered a 27-9 setback to visiting Truman State University (2-0 overall) on September 11th at Tom Adams Field.

Josh Kulka led WSU with 36 rushing yards.  He completed 27-of-40 passes for 219 yards with one interception.  Kendall Williams had a game-high eight receptions, while Jesse Prewitt III posted a game-best 99 receiving yards.  Brandon Tuck-Hayden had a game-high 10 tackles, while Samari Dean notched his second career interception.

ROAD SUCCESS
The Green & Gold have won their last five road games.

Nov. 16, 2019 at #19-GVSU (31-17)
Nov. 2, 2019 at Davenport (34-0)
Oct. 26, 2019 at Northwood (31-10)
Oct. 19, 2019 at Northern Michigan (27-14)
Sept. 21, 2019 at Quincy (33-7)

SAMARI SNAGS ANOTHER
Samari Dean's second-quarter interception vs. Truman State was his second career pick.  He registered his first career interception, a pass break-up and a solo tackle in the win over Michigan Tech in 2019.

A NEW SIGNAL CALLER
Josh Kulka's 51 offensive plays (40 pass attempts, 11 rushes) did not make the top 10 all-time, but it was the most since Joique Bell had 51 rushing attempts in a 41-26 victory vs. Hillsdale on October 14, 2006.  The 40 pass attempts were the most since Mickey Mohner completed 30-of-45 passes for 355 yards and five touchdowns in a 40-35 setback at home against Ashland on October 16, 2010.

WARRIORS & BROTHERS
The football roster has five sets of brothers on the squad, including Lane and Ty Potter, Myren and Myles Harris, Noah and Max Nicklin, Jacob and Aaaron Mass, and David and Caleb Green. The Harris' and Green's are twins.  In addition, senior right tackle Joe Ziedas is the younger brother of former lineman Alex Ziedas.  Furthermore, wide receiver Darrin King II is the son of former Tartar Darrin King,  who recorded 295 tackles (142-153), while playing in all 41 games during his Tartar career (1988-1992).

MISCELLANEOUS PLAYER NOTES 
Jake AmRhein's two-yard touchdown run against Truman State was his second career rushing score.  His first came versus Northern Michigan on November 3, 2018.

Kendall Williams had eight receptions for 53 yards vs. the Bulldogs, after notching three receptions the week before in his collegiate debut.

Jesse Prewitt III had a game-high 99 receiving yards in the loss to Truman State.

HOUSTON MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Tieler Houston picked off his fifth career pass against Slippery Rock and now is tied-for-40th in the program record book.  Two more would give him seven and put him in a tie-for-23rd.  The WSU record for interceptions is 23 by Charles Aldrich (1979-82).

WELCOME BACK
Wide receiver Kameron Ford made his first appearance for the Green and Gold since Nov. 3, 2018, against Northern Michigan.  He missed all of 2019 due to an injury and with no games in 2020 due to COVID, he played for the first time in 1,033 days on Sept. 2nd.  Ford caught his first pass last weekend versus Truman State for nine yards.

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.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Six of Myren Harris' 12 carries vs. Slippery Rock went for first downs, while Jake AmRhein accounted for nine first downs (five rushing and four passing).  Three of Tre Davis' four receptions went for first downs.  Kendall Williams totaled four first downs on the ground with Hall moving the chains on three occasions.

Harris led WSU with 88 all-purpose yards with Avery Hall contributing 86 yards, all on the ground, including his first two collegiate touchdowns.  Jeremy Taras leads the GLIAC in punting average at 42.2 yards per attempt.  Blake Gilliam made one solo tackle vs. The Rock, but blocked a fourth quarter SRU punt after previously recovering a Slippery Rock fumble in the first quarter which led to a WSU field goal attempt. 

NEW FACES
Of the 52 players who saw action vs. Slippery Rock, 23 made their Wayne State debut, including 21 student-athletes who made their collegiate debut.  Shavez Hawkins, Jr. played in eight games for Minnesota Crookston in 2017 and for the Papago Pumas (Junior College) in 2019, while Darien Tipps-Clemons appeared in 10 games for Eastern Kentucky in 2018.  The lone true freshman to take the field on September 2nd was Davison product Te'Avion Warren, who made a solo tackle on the kickoff coverage team.

Making their collegiate debut in the Slippery Rock contest, in addition to Warren, were Blake Bustard, Damond Duncan, Chandler Edwards, Blake Gilliam, Eli Haddad, Myren Harris, Dayton Keller, Kofe Kimbrell, Darrin King II, Jesse Prewitt III, Kane Quinlan, Donte Reed, Drake Reid, Chrishoun Roberts, Cameron Rogers, Kaveon Ross, Arnold Saidov, Jeremy Taras, A.J. Terry, and Kendall Williams.  

Jelani Harbor, Josh Kulka and Cole Price made their collegiate debut in the Truman game.

The lone players in their fourth season of competing were Jake AmRhein, Luke Bevilacqua, Jalen Lewis and Lane Potter.  Eleven (11) players began their third season and another 14 started their second year of active competition.

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 is in 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.  

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.

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 MARCHING BAND
9/25 and 10/9: "The Music of Prince"
The second Warrior Band Show celebrates the Purple One's legacy, featuring hits from his peak popularity in the 1980s, with songs from "1999" and "Purple Rain." Prince often mentioned Detroit as second favorite city (behind his native Minneapolis), having performed over the years to sold-out shows for multiple-night concerts at Cobo Hall, Joe Louis Arena, Masonic Temple, State Theater, and The Palace of Auburn Hills.