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Wayne State University Athletics

Football Preview NMU

Football Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Football To Entertain Northern Michigan For Noon Kickoff On Saturday

GAME STORYLINES
The Wayne State University football squad will entertain Northern Michigan University this Saturday for a noon kickoff in the next-to-last home game of the season.

After the NMU contest, the Warriors will play two top-15 teams as they host No. 1-Ferris State on Nov. 7, before visiting No. 15-Michigan Tech in the season finale on Nov. 14.

To date, WSU has played the 19th toughest schedule (.600 / 33-22), and when combined with future opponents, the 2026 strength of schedule is seventh (.608 / 48-31) out of 160 schools ranked by the NCAA.

SCOUTING NORTHERN MICHIGAN
The Wildcats are under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Janus, who previously served as the head coach at Wisconsin-La Crosse for six seasons compiling a 45-14 record.

Freshman quarterback Matt Stevens has completed 48-of-72 passes (67 percent) for 611 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions, while starting the last two games.  Junior Liam Oczkowski has passed for 426 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions, while sophomore Duke Shovald has completed 38-of-79 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions.

Junior running back Noah Dobert has rushed for 904 yards and five touchdowns.  In last year's match-up, Dobert gained 406 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns, all over 50 yards.

Freshman wide receiver Wilson Ptacek has 34 catches for a team-leading 392 yards and three touchdowns.  Junior Trevor Theuerkauf also has 34 receptions for 236 yards.  Two others (junior Isaac Olson and sophomore Sebastien Boyea) each have 14 catches.

Senior linebacker Jax Hertel has a team-leading 54 tackles (31-23), along with two interceptions.  Junior defensive end Damarcus Chappell has a squad-best five tackles for loss (four sacks) among his 16 tackles (13-3).  Junior defensive back Carter Schmitt leads NMU with three interceptions.

Freshman Liam Rubino is averaging 36.8 yards on 29 punts with five inside the 20.  Classmate Mason Bratonia is 1-of-3 on field goals connecting from 35 yards.

Ptacek (five for 62 yards) and Noah Hofmann (four for 88 yards) are the two main kickoff returners.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Northern Michigan won last year's battle (45-11) in Marquette to snap a two-game series winning streak by the Warriors.  NMU has a 21-17 edge in the all-time series, but WSU has a 10-8 record in games at Adams Field.  There have been two overtime games in the series, both in Detroit (NMU won 35-29 on Nov. 1, 1997; and NMU won 49-46 on Oct. 26, 2002).

NOTES FROM THE DAVENPORT GAME
Wayne State forced four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumbles) at Davenport.  It marked the first game with four turnovers by the opponent since Nov. 9, 2024, when the Warriors picked off three passes and recovered a fumble in a 38-14 win over Roosevelt.

Sophomore linebacker Luke Johnson forced a fumble at Davenport, which was his GLIAC-leading fourth of the season.   Johnson had two forced fumbles at Quincy, and one in the last home game vs. Saginaw Valley State.  His four forced fumbles is tied-for-first in NCAA Division II with Jalin Edwards of Virginia-Wise.

Junior punter Griffin Nowak posted the fourth-highest single-game punting average (46.18 / min. 5 attempts) in program history with 508 yards on 11 attempts, which included two punts over 60 yards.  The 508 punt yards in one game is the sixth-highest in Wayne State history and the most since Mark Polcyn recorded 515 punting yards in a 1986 contest at Illinois State.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The WSU running back tandem of D'Vaun Bentley and Gary Jefferson, Jr. have combined for 746 yards and seven touchdowns through the first seven games.  Both Bentley and Jefferson, Jr. missed this past Saturday's contest at Davenport due to injuries.  The rest of the squad has combined for 50 rushing yards when you include the negative rushing yards on sacks.

One hundred (100) of WSU's 195 pass attempts this fall have been by true freshmen, including 47 by Nikkos Davis and 29 by Brody Thompson.  The Warriors have four quarterbacks with at least 29 pass attempts this season and six with at least 10 pass attempts.

Eleven (11) different players have attempted a pass for WSU this year after punter Griffin Nowak completed a fourth-down pass at Davenport this past Saturday.  In addition to the eight quarterbacks and Nowak, wide receiver Drew Hickmott had a 38-yard completion and Bentley had a one-yard completion out of the Wildcat formation.

Jordan Bell leads all Wayne State receivers with 21 catches and 247 receiving yards.  Kristian Kilpatrick has both touchdown receptions among his 11 catches for 123 yards.  Drew Hickmott has at least one reception in 17 of his 19 games with the Green and Gold.

Jefferson, Jr. has team-high totals of 18 kickoff returns for 345 yards and leads Wayne State with 682 all-purpose yards (304 rushing, 33 receiving, and 345 on kickoff returns).

BENTLEY SELECTED GLIAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
D' Vaun Bentley (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola [Lawrence Tech]) was selected GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week on September 28th after rushing for 182 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries in the loss at Quincy.
It was the first 100-yard rushing effort by a WSU running back since XaVior Tyus gained 116 yards on 14 carries vs. Northern Michigan on Nov. 16, 2024.  The 182 rushing yards were the most by a Warrior since Myren Harris rushed for 295 yards on 36 attempts at Michigan Tech on Oct. 8, 2022, while the four rushing touchdowns were the most since Myren Harris had four rushing scores vs. Northwood on Oct. 30, 2021.  

Bentley was never stopped behind the line of scrimmage by the Hawks and also contributed two receptions for 50 yards, including a 41-yard catch from deep in Warrior territory to just over midfield, to finish with 232 all-purpose yards.

NOTES FROM THE ROOSEVELT CONTEST 
The 96-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was WSU's longest drive since the 2023 squad recorded two scoring drives of at least 90 yards:
    1) Sept. 2, 2023, at #15-Slippery Rock (7 plays, 91 yards, 2:42) - Manny Harris with a 25-yard run;
    2) Sept. 16, 2023, at #18-UIndy (8 plays, 95 yards, 3:47) - Eli McLean with a 13-yard run.

WSU rushed for 160 yards and one touchdown in the first three games combined, but has rushed for 636 yards and six touchdowns over the last four contests.

The Warriors posted a season-high 160 passing yards vs. the Lakers.

For the second straight game, Wayne State had a kicker connect on a 47-yard field goal.  Griffin Nowak made a career-long 47-yard attempt at Grand Valley, and junior college transfer Ryan Rodas drilled a 47-yard field goal vs. Roosevelt.

The Warriors have used five different starting quarterbacks in the first eight games this year (Ethan Lane-Northwood & Roosevelt; Carson Creehan-Hillsdale; Nikkos Davis-Wisconsin-La Crosse & Quincy, Brody Thompson-GVSU & SVSU; and Miekael Brooker at Davenport).  No signal caller has started three contests and not one of them has played in more than four games.

NOTES FROM THE QUINCY CONTEST 
The WSU offensive line allowed just one sack at Quincy despite the fact that four quarterbacks (all true freshmen) took snaps vs. the Hawks.

Kristian Kilpatrick caught a touchdown pass for the second consecutive game in the Quincy contest.  He is the first Warrior with a touchdown reception in back-to-back games since Myles McKatherine in 2024 (Sept. 5 at Tiffin and Sept. 14 at home vs. Findlay).

After not forcing a turnover in the first three contests, the Warrior defense forced two fumbles at Quincy, and turned those two miscues into 14 points.

Luke Johnson forced both fumbles at Quincy becoming the first Warrior with two forced fumbles in a game since Logan McGraw had two in the 2025 season opener (Sept. 4 vs. Tiffin).

Wayne State was outscored 21-6 in the fourth quarter through the first three games, but turned the tables at Quincy, outscoring the host Hawks 21-0 over the final 15 minutes.  In the loss to Roosevelt on October 10, WSU tallied 18 of the 27 fourth quarter points.

WARRIORS SEEING ACTION
Ninety-three (93) different players have seen action this year for Wayne State.  This group includes 23 past WSU letterwinners, 20 players listed as redshirt freshmen, 20 players that transferred to Wayne State in 2026, 13 players who have been at WSU but have not lettered previously, and 17 true freshmen. 

FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT
Both of Wayne State's touchdowns against Wisconsin-La Crosse had heavy contributions from true freshmen.  The 80-yard touchdown pass was from true freshman quarterback Nikkos Davis to sophomore wide receiver Kristian Kilpatrick.  The 80-yard scoring strike is tied-for-11th longest in program history and was Kilpatrick's first touchdown reception of his WSU career.

The Warriors' second touchdown was a 16-yard scamper by true freshman running back Gary Jefferson, Jr.

THE BREAKDOWN WITH BRADY BEEDON
Join head coach Terrence Issac and WSU football analyst Brady Beedon each Wednesday prior to a home football game at 5:30 PM at Woodbridge Pub for The Breakdown with Brady Beedon podcast. 

Each week a different assistant coach will join Isaac and Beedon.  In addition, a student-athlete will be interviewed. 

The podcast will be added to the Wayne State athletics website every Friday morning for those unable to be at Woodbridge that week.  The next editions of the Breakdown with Brady Beedon will take place on Wednesday, October 28, and Wednesday, November 4. 

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION 
The 2026 campaign marks the second season of the Warrior Sports Network (WSN), which provides internet audio coverage of Wayne State football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball.

Veteran Detroit sports broadcaster Sean Baligian is in his 18th season calling Warrior football.  Baligian, who has been on the Detroit airwaves since 1998, will serve as the play-by-play announcer.

Former Warrior defensive end Brady Beedon will serve as the color analyst for selected remaining games.  Beedon will also handle the Locker Room Report and Senior Spotlight features for the WSN.  

Kevin Brechmacher, who will return for his 11th season calling the WSU men's basketball games this winter, will serve as a color analyst for selected games this fall.  He also co-hosts the Warrior Weekly podcast with Brady Beedon that began airing in January of 2026. 

WWJ afternoon anchor Tony Ortiz will serve as the sideline commentator during the six home broadcasts.

Every Wayne State GLIAC football game will be available on FloCollege with the broadcasts of home games being produced by The PreP for the fourth consecutive year. 
 
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Players Mentioned

XaVior Tyus

#25 XaVior Tyus

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
Logan McGraw

#9 Logan McGraw

WLB
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Jordan Bell

#0 Jordan Bell

WR
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
D

#1 D'Vaun Bentley

RB
5' 11"
Graduate Student
Miekael Brooker

#14 Miekael Brooker

QB
6' 5"
Senior
Drew Hickmott

#12 Drew Hickmott

WR
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Luke Johnson

#0 Luke Johnson

LB
6' 0"
Sophomore
Kristian Kilpatrick

#2 Kristian Kilpatrick

WR
5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
Griffin Nowak

#40 Griffin Nowak

PK/P
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
Ethan Lane

#9 Ethan Lane

QB
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

XaVior Tyus

#25 XaVior Tyus

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
RB
Logan McGraw

#9 Logan McGraw

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
WLB
Jordan Bell

#0 Jordan Bell

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
WR
D

#1 D'Vaun Bentley

5' 11"
Graduate Student
RB
Miekael Brooker

#14 Miekael Brooker

6' 5"
Senior
QB
Drew Hickmott

#12 Drew Hickmott

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
WR
Luke Johnson

#0 Luke Johnson

6' 0"
Sophomore
LB
Kristian Kilpatrick

#2 Kristian Kilpatrick

5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
WR
Griffin Nowak

#40 Griffin Nowak

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
PK/P
Ethan Lane

#9 Ethan Lane

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
QB