GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University football team will aim to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2019 where they ended the season on a five-game win streak.  This Saturday's contest against Northern Michigan will also be Senior Day for the Green and Gold.

SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Wildcats enter the season finale with an 0-10 overall record and will attempt to secure their first win of the 2024 season.  

Shane Richardson is in his second season as the head coach for Northern Michigan.  He has an 0-21 record with the Wildcats.  Before going to Marquette, Richardson was at the helm for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Aidan Hoard serves as the signal caller for NMU, completing 45-of-116 passes for 629 yards through nine games.  The sophomore has thrown four touchdowns, and added one more score on the ground.  In last week's contest at Davenport, Austin Ridl and Jake Bilitz were takings snaps from the center, going a combined 2-of-6.

Michael Love is the team's top receiver, with 22 catches for 443 yards, which is more receiving yards than the rest of the Wildcats combined.  Love has also caught five of the six NMU passing touchdowns this season.

Jahi Wood has been leading the way on the ground for Northern Michigan, rushing 141 times for 559 yards and one score.  Two more backs (Vince Martin and Nico Lukkarinen) have rushed over 50 times each for the Wildcats.  Martin has 59 attempts for 303 yards, while Lukkarinen has 289 yards from 80 carries.  Both have three rushing touchdowns.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Northern Michigan leads the all-time series 20-16.  Despite trailing in the series, WSU has one 15 of the last 28 meetings, and holds an 8-6 advantage at home in that span.

SENIOR DAY
The contest against Northern Michigan will serve as Senior Day as 18 members of the WSU football team will be honored.  Those being recognized are Kaleb Coleman, Colin Gardner, Tommy Guajardo, Justin Hart, Jordan Lewis, JoShawn Lewis, Aaron Mass, Myles McKatherine, Griffin Milovanski, John Rayba, Owen Salingue, Tyler Schompert, D'Marco Singleton, Jeremy Taras, Gus Taylor, Justyz Tuggle, Carl Ware, and Draven Wilson.

MILOVANSKI MAKES HISTORY
Griffin Milovanski connected on a 48-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter against Roosevelt to eclipse the school record with his 40th field goal of his career.  This was not the only record that he would break in that game, as Milovanski is now the record holder for most consecutive PATs made with 66 after going 5-of-5.

Milovanski is 32nd in points per game among active Division II players.  He is tied for seventh among active kickers with 40 field goals made, tied-for-19th in field goal percentage (.727), and is 28th in PATs with 89.

RAYBA HAULING IN TOUCHDOWNS
Junior tight end John Rayba caught two touchdown passes at Grand Valley State increasing his season total to four.  In a check of the WSU record book, since 1960 only two other tight ends had four touchdown receptions in a season - Richard Hall in 1993 and Eddie Jackson in 1984.

TYUS RUNNING HARD
XaVior Tyus has scored twice on the ground this year in contests at Truman State and Grand Valley State.  He rushed for 70 yards on 18 attempts during the annual Homecoming  game against Saginaw Valley State on November 2.  In the six games this year that he has had at least nine carries, Tyus is averaging 46.3 yards per contest.

RECOVERING FUMBLES
Through 10 weeks, Wayne State has forced eight fumbles, and recovered seven.  The Warriors are third in the GLIAC and tied-for-39th nationally in fumble recoveries  this season with seven.  Senior linebacker Carl Ware is tied-for-ninth among active players in Division II for forced fumbles per game at 0.19 (four in 21 contests - only includes games played at an NCAA institution).

TOUGHEST SCHEDULE
Heading into week 11, WSU has played the toughest schedule in D2 with past opponents having a .685 winning percentage (61-28).  The composite strength of schedule (61-38, .616) is fourth nationally behind Tusculum (.635), Delta State (.634) and Fayetteville State (.625), and just ahead of  Pittsburg State (.604).

HARRIS CONTINUES TO BE VERSATILE
Wide receiver Manny Harris had two touches for 44 yards at Grand Valley State with a 40-yard reception and a four-yard rush.  The junior also played on three of the four special teams.  Last month at Davenport, with WSU leading 6-5 in the first quarter, Harris recovered a fumbled punt.  On the second half kickoff return, he forced a fumble which went out of bounds.
After scoring his first two career touchdowns on the ground, Harris hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Champion Edwards late in the third quarter against Findlay.  It was Harris' first TD at home having scored rushing touchdowns at Grand Valley State (Nov. 5, 2022) and at Slippery Rock (Sept. 2, 2023).  He caught a 72-yard touchdown pass at Davenport on October 19.

EDWARDS SETTING QUARTERBACK STANDARD FOR RUSHING
Champion Edwards is leading the way on the ground for the Warriors with a team-high 475 rushing yards and a 5.4 yards per attempt.  Edwards rushed for 146 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries against Findlay in week two.  In that game, he became the first WSU quarterback with a 100-yard rushing effort since Doug Griffin rushed for 112 yards at Michigan Tech on Nov. 16, 2013.  The previous 100-yard games by a signal caller were when Randy Hutchison gained 116 on the ground at Michigan Tech on Oct. 19, 2002, and 101 vs. Gannon on Aug. 30, 2003.  It is believed to be the most rushing yards in a game by a WSU quarterback since Ed Skowneski rushed for 203 yards on Oct. 4, 1975, against Valparaiso.  He gained 93 yards on 13 carries in less than a half at Davenport before being injured.  After missing two games against Saginaw Valley State and at Grand Valley State, Edwards returned against Roosevelt rushing three times for 23 yards.

McKATHERINE PUTTING SIX ON THE BOARD
Redshirt senior wide out Myles McKatherine caught his fourth touchdown pass of the season at home against Roosevelt.  Against Ferris State (10/12/24), the wide out garnered his third touchdown.  In week two, McKatherine hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass against Findlay for his second touchdown in as many contests.  The last wide receiver to have a touchdown reception in back-to-back games was Trevonte Davis in 2021 (Sept. 18 at Missouri S&T [2] and Sept. 25 against Saginaw Valley State).  Tight end Nick Poterack had touchdown catches in consecutive games in 2022 - Sept. 3 at Slippery Rock and Sept. 10 at home vs. Shaw.  

McKatherine had a team-best 73 receiving yards against Roosevelt and leads the Warriors with 387 receiving yards on the season.

BEND BUT DON'T BREAK DEFENSE
The 27 points scored by Ferris State at WSU was its lowest output since the 2024 season opener at Pittsburg State, and only the fourth time in the last 19 games the Bulldogs were held below 28 points (2023 vs. Grand Valley State and Montana).

LETTERWINNERS RETURNING
Wayne State has 28 returning letterwinners from 2023 (including 2022 if missed all of last year due to injury).  Place-kicker Griffin Milovanski is the lone three-year WSU letterwinner on the squad.  There are nine two-year letterwinners and 18 student-athletes with one letter for the Warriors.

PLAYING OVER TWO DAYS
In a search of the Detroit Junior College/Colleges of the City of Detroit (CCD)/Wayne University/Wayne State University historical record book, it is believed the game against Ferris State was the first in program history to be suspended and completed the following day.  FSU led 10-0 near the mid-point of the second quarter when play was halted on Saturday evening due to lightning and the contest was resumed on Sunday at 11 a.m.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
A low snap on a punt attempt forced Findlay kicker Owen Clevenger to throw the ball resulting in an intentional grounding penalty which statistically is a sack for WSU's Dahmir Farnum, who was the closest Warrior to Clevenger when the pass was thrown.

WARRIOR DEBUTS
Through the first 10 games, 86 players have been on the field for WSU, including 28 who have made their collegiate debut and 18 who made their Warrior debut.

Of the 69 players who traveled to Tiffin for the season-opener, 56 saw game action.  Ten (10) Warriors made their collegiate debut in the contest vs. the Dragons (Jobe Benschoter, Amarion Brownlee, Kejuan Houston, Jordan Hutchinson, Kristian Kilpatrick, Jayden Lewin, Roshuan McGee, Raymond Payne, Jasir Rahaman, and Richardo Wourman).  In addition, another 11 Warriors made their WSU debut (Jaylon Banks, Mekhi Battle, Kaleb Coleman, Champion Edwards, Will Fennema, Shamilyn Joppy, Jordan Lewis, Myles McKatherine, Lester McManaway, Jonathan Tillman, and Justyz Tuggle).

Four players made their collegiate debut in the Findlay contest (Max Edwards, Cane Mack, Will O'Brien and Da'Carion Taylor), while transfers Clifton Buchanan, Jr. and Jeremiah Drake made their WSU debuts against the Oilers.  Two student-athletes made their collegiate debut in the Indianapolis contest (Amauri Haller and Steven McCrary, Jr.), while another four student-athletes made their WSU debut (Avery Burch, Colin Gardner, Xzavier Goldsby-Rogers and JoShawn Lewis) vs. the Greyhounds.  Freshman M'Khi Guy made his collegiate debut at Truman State, while classmate Tanielu Ah-Loe made his collegiate debut at Davenport.  Rob Brazziel made his WSU debut vs. the Panthers with first-year cornerback DeCarlos White making his collegiate debut against Saginaw Valley State.

In the Grand Valley State game, three true freshmen (Amire Harris, Mickey Keller and Camren Warburton) made their collegiate debut as did redshirt sophomore Tray Steverson, who did not see any game action in two seasons at Independence Community College.

Last Saturday (Nov. 9) at home against Roosevelt, Phil Cato, Jayson Harris, Kaleb Jefferson, Aydin Johnson, and Jordan Stefanides all made their collegiate debuts.

VETERAN OFFENSIVE LINE CONTINGENT
Arguably the most experienced position group for the Warriors in 2024 is the offensive line with two returning starters in redshirt junior Aidan Tweedy (22 career starts, including 19 of the last 21 games at center) and redshirt senior Charles Wesley (24 career starts from three different spots).  Another five student-athletes who have started games also returned in redshirt sophomore Tomi Bisiriyu (three starts at left tackle); redshirt sophomore Will Edwards (nine starts at right guard); redshirt sophomore Ethan Gates (two starts at right tackle); redshirt junior Owen Salingue (three career starts); and redshirt senior Tyler Schompert (22 career starts).

Tweedy was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection in 2023 and was very durable as he saw action on every offensive play in eight games a season ago.  Wesley was named WSU's Offensive Most Valuable Player last fall, while earning Honorable Mention All-GLIAC recognition.  He is WSU's nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team (based on community service) this fall.

The five additional offensive linemen that have started boosted the number of career starts for this group to 96.  Schompert is the most veteran of this group with action in 29 contests and starting at left tackle (16 times), left guard (five) and right tackle (once).  Salingue is in his fourth year in the program, while Bisiriyu, Edwards and Gates all are in their third year with the Warriors.  Freshman Richardo Wourman started twice at right tackle, while Jayden Lewin has started the last nine contests.

A FAMILY AFFAIR
WSU currently has three sets of brothers:
Champion and Max Edwards; Devon and Donovan Isaac; Shamarr and Shamilyn Joppy

There are three younger brothers of former Warriors in Aaron Mass (older brother Jacob was also a defensive end), Gabe Mendoza (older brother Manny was a wide receiver), and Mekhi Battle (older brother Tiroca was also on the defensive line).
Jeremiah Sterling and Jordan Bell are cousins as Jordan's dad Joique and Jeremiah's mother Ambie are brother-sister.  Redshirt freshman wide receiver Tyler Swick is the younger brother of defensive graduate assistant coach Trey Swick.

WARRIORS BY THE NUMBERS 
Of the 106 players currently on the roster, 81 came directly from high school, 14 played at another four-year college, nine played at a junior college, and two attended another school (one four year and one two year) but did not see any playing time.
Football student-athletes represent 11 states with a majority (80) coming from Michigan.  The other states include Ohio (8), Illinois (5), Virginia (3), California (2), New York (2), and Pennsylvania (2), along with one each from Indiana, New Jersey, Washington, and Wisconsin.

With only 13 players in their final year (six graduate students, six redshirt seniors, and one senior), the Wayne State roster is loaded with inexperience.  There are 18 redshirt juniors, three juniors, 16 redshirt sophomores, four sophomores, 21 redshirt freshmen and 31 true freshmen on the squad.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
For the 23rd 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 16th season calling Warrior football.  Former Warrior defensive end Brady Beedon will serve as the color analyst.  In addition, Tony Ortiz will serve as the Sideline Reporter for all six home games.  The radio pre-game show will start 30 minutes prior to a home game.  

All six home games, plus the road GLIAC contests will be streamed on FloSports.  The home games will be via The PreP with the radio announcers broadcast being simulcast on FloSports.