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Wayne State University Athletics

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

Football Hosts Top-Ranked Ferris State For Senior Day

GAME STORYLINES
The 2026 Wayne State University football squad will play its final home game of the year this Saturday by hosting top-ranked Ferris State for a 1 PM kickoff at Tom Adams Field.

The Warriors will conclude the year by visiting No. 14-Michigan Tech in the season finale on Nov. 14.

To date, WSU has played the 60th toughest schedule (.521 / 37-34), and when combined with future opponents, the 2026 strength of schedule is seventh (.596 / 53-36) out of 160 schools ranked by the NCAA.

SCOUTING FERRIS STATE
The Bulldogs have won 39 consecutive contests since a 19-3 setback at Pittsburg (Kan.) State on August 31, 2024,  when the FSU rushing attack was limited to 38 yards and Trinidad Chambliss was 14-of-20 for 133 yards with two interceptions.

Head coach Tony Annese is in his 14th year at Ferris State.

Quarterbacks Wyatt Bower and Chase Carter have each appeared in eight contests with Bower leading the squad in rushing with 537 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Carter has 342 rushing yards and two scores.

Through the air, Bower is 74-of-112 for 1,243 yards and eight touchdowns with two interceptions, with Carter passing for 582 yards on 37-of-64 with seven touchdowns to one interception.

Kevin Sines leads FSU in receptions (23) and is second in receiving yards (319), while Jaylin Townsend has caught 19 passes for a team-best 323 yards.  Tae Boyd and Taariik Brett each have three touchdown receptions.

Ryan Ahern leads the Bulldogs defense with 58 tackles (16-42), while Tim Allen and Tyrone Fowler, Jr. are tied for the team lead with 6.5 tackles for loss.  Markee Jones has a squad-best three sacks, with William Brown notching two interceptions.

Deion Small has four kickoff returns for 104 yards, while Dakari Neely is averaging 13.3 yards on 12 punt returns.

Jay Cady is 48-of-50 on extra points and 4-of-8 on field goals with a long of 34 yards.  Eoin O'Sullivan has made all three of his field goal attempts, including a 50 yarder.  O'Sullivan averages 44.5 yards on 17 punt attempts with six inside the 20.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Ferris State has won the last 11 meetings since WSU posted back-to-back victories in 2008 and 2009.  The last time the teams met in Detroit, it ended up being a two-day affair due to weather (Oct. 12-13, 2024).  FSU has a 35-22 lead in the all-time series, including 17 victories for the Bulldogs in 30 previous outings at WSU dating back more than 100 years (the first meeting was Oct. 30, 1920, in Detroit).

NOTES FROM THE NORTHERN MICHIGAN GAME
Junior Griffin Nowak punted seven times against Northern Michigan for 365 yards, a 52.1 average per punt.  Five of his seven punts were inside the 20 with four over 50 yards.  Nowak's net punting average was 50.0 for his seven punts.

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 790 yards and seven touchdowns through the first eight games.  Both Bentley and Jefferson, Jr. missed the contest at Davenport due to injuries before Bentley returned to lead the team in rushing yards (44) vs. Northern Michigan.  The rest of the squad has combined for 46 rushing yards when you include the negative rushing yards on sacks.

One hundred twenty-seven (127) of WSU's 222 pass attempts this fall have been by true freshmen, including 71 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.  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 25 catches and 320 receiving yards.  Kristian Kilpatrick had the first two touchdown receptions among his 11 catches for 123 yards.  Drew Hickmott has at least one reception in 18 of his 20 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 676 yards and seven touchdowns over the last six 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 nine games this year (Ethan Lane-Northwood & Roosevelt; Carson Creehan-Hillsdale; Nikkos Davis-Wisconsin-La Crosse, Quincy & Northern Michigan; Brody Thompson-GVSU & SVSU; and Miekael Brooker at Davenport).  Davis became the first to start three contests, but 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-four (94) 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 18 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.  Deavante Deleon had his first career touchdown against Northern Michigan.

THE BREAKDOWN WITH BRADY BEEDON
Join head coach Terrence Issac and WSU football analyst Brady Beedon this Wednesday at 5:30 PM at Woodbridge Pub for the final 2026 edition of 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. 

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 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 the Ferris State game.  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
Carson Creehan

#18 Carson Creehan

QB
6' 3"
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

Players Mentioned

XaVior Tyus

#25 XaVior Tyus

5' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
RB
Carson Creehan

#18 Carson Creehan

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
QB
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