Football | 10/18/2017 12:25:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (2-5, 1-4 GLIAC) will make the long road trip to Michigan Tech (3-4, 1-3 GLIAC) for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with the Huskies.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State has not lost five straight since 2013 and will need to win on Saturday after its longest road trip of the season to avoid a fifth consecutive loss.  At halftime last week, the Warriors appeared poised to return to their winning ways, leading 10-7, but 13 unanswered points from Northwood turned the tide and handed WSU a Homecoming defeat.  After the "Road Warriors" of 2011 where WSU went 8-1 on the road on its way to the National Championship game, the Green & Gold are 9-20 away from Tom Adams Field.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech enters this week at 3-4 overall and 2-3 in league play.  The Huskies have lost back-to-back road games and return to Sherman Field for a Homecoming clash with WSU.  Head coach Steve Olson is in first year leading the program after serving the previous six seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. 

Junior quarterback Jake Brown has thrown for 948 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.  Senior running back John Williams is the third leading rusher in the league at 104.0 yards per game, while finding the end zone on a GLIAC-best 10 occasions. Sophomore receiver Jacob Wenzlick has caught 28 passes for 327 yards and two scores.  

Sophomore linebacker Marvin Wright leads the defense with 59 total tackles, including seven for loss and two sacks.  He also has the team's only interception.

KEY TO VICTORY
Having success on third downs might be the key to a victory for either side on Saturday.  Michigan Tech ranks second in the league, converting 41 percent of its third downs, while Wayne State is fourth at 39 percent.

ROAD TRIP
It takes just over 10 hours to get from Detroit to Houghton via bus and equates to 556 miles.  In the same time, you could make it to St. Louis or New York City.  The longest trips for WSU athletics include football's trip to Carson-Newman in 2013 (545 miles), baseball to Orlando every Spring (1,171 miles), softball to Clearwater (1,209 miles) and fencing going to New York City (624 miles).

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series, 17-10, dating back to 1967.  The Warriors won the first 10 and 13 of the first 14 matchups.  WSU is 8-6 on the road in the series and Coach Winters is 3-7 (1-4 on the road) in his time in Detroit against the Huskies.  MTU has won the last four meetings, while WSU's last win in the series was a Homecoming win at Adams Field on Sept. 17, 2011, when the Huskies were ranked 22nd.  Of the 27 meetings, 24 have been has GLIAC counterparts.  The first two were not league games and the contest in 1987 was not a conference game.

NCAA RANKINGS
As a team, WSU is 12th nationally in red zone offense (92.9 percent / 13-of-14 / 11 touchdowns plus two field goals), 22nd in time of possession (32:26), 26th in fewest passes had intercepted (4), 46th in fourth-down percentage defense (36.4 / 4-of-11), 48th in kickoff returns (22.48 yards per return) and 50th in passing efficiency (138.37 rating).  The Warriors are ranked fifth nationally in toughest schedule with opponents having a .684 (26 wins, 12 losses) winning percentage behind West Georgia (.771), West Chester (.725), LIU Post (.710) and Minnesota Duluth (.690).

In terms of individual stats, sophomore defensive tackle Justin Hollins is tied-for-13th nationally in fumbles recovered (2).  Junior outside linebacker Anthony Pittman is tied-for-44th in tackles for loss (1.4 per game).

Sophomore wide receiver Darece Roberson, Jr. is tied-for-28th nationally in touchdown receptions (6).  Junior quarterback D.J. Zezula is 21st nationally in both passing efficiency (154.7 rating) and passing touchdowns (15), 34th in points responsible for (98) and 37th in passing yards per completion (13.55).

WORTH NOTING
D.J. Zezula had his 43rd career TD pass (in his 29th career game), which ranks second in school history behind Mickey Mohner's 55 touchdown passes (in 47 games) from 2009-12.  Zezula surpassed the 5,000-yard plateau (5,121) of total offense during the GVSU contest moving past Michael Gluski (1994-98) into third place.  However, there is still quite a bit of work to be done to catch Joique Bell (7,008) and Mickey Mohner (7,186).

Senior Romello Brown became just the fourth person in WSU football history to rush for over 3,000 career yards after gaining 113 yards in the win at Walsh.  Brown, with 3,437 career rushing yards, joins Joique Bell (6,728), Joe Gough (4,204) and Toney Davis (3,933) in that exclusive club.

TOUGH SLEDDING
With the midpoint of the season in the rear-view mirror, Wayne State has been decimated by injuries.  Two All-Region players in guard Tommy Richardson and all-purpose back Deiontae Nicholas did not dress last Saturday.  Richardson has missed all seven games this year, while Nicholas has missed the last three-and-a-half contests.  Two All-GLIAC players in defensive end Jake Carrizales and cornerback James Howard have also missed time.  Carrizales has not dressed for a game this year, while Howard did not dress at Tiffin.  All told, WSU has already lost 85 man-games due to injury.  That is over 12 injured players per game that were unable to dress.

A YOUNG OFFENSIVE LINE
Going into the season, fans of Warrior football knew the offensive line was going to be a work in progress after losing 144 combined starts from the group of Robert Kelly (41), Nate Theaker (33), Tommy Richardson (32), Andrew Zimmerman (21) and JT Pillars (17).  The group of Israel Helms, Justin Tockstein, Charlie Younger, Greg Webber and Lane Potter is gaining valuable experience since starting the year with only three combined starts (all by Webber).

LAST 100-PLUS GAMES
Wayne State has compiled at least a .500 season in eight of the last nine years (2008-17) combining for a 65-45 mark over the last 110 games.  Prior to Coach Winters arrival in 2004, the Tartars/Warriors had 10 consecutive losing seasons on the field and only one winning season on the field in 19 years.

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters is tied for the longest tenured football coach in program history this fall with 14 seasons.  He passed the founder of WSU athletics David Holmes in 2014 at 11 seasons (1918-28).  Winters matches Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis, who holds the WSU record with 14 seasons (1932-45).  Winters enters tonight's game tied-for-31st among all active DII football head coaches with 78 wins. The game at Ferris State on Sept. 30th was his 150th as the Warrior head coach.  Gembis (101) and Holmes (80) are second and third in career games coached.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Romello Brown's streak of not reaching 100 rushing yards is at six games; the longest of his career except for his first seven collegiate games.  Beginning with the Sept. 26, 2015, contest at Northwood through the 2017 season opener at Walsh, Brown had rushed for over 100 yards in 15 of those 20 games.

STRONG CONNECTIONS
Junior quarterback D.J. Zezula has several weapons on the roster and he
has used those weapons to move up within the program record books.  
Below are QB to WR touchdown totals (since 1991).
1.    Mickey Mohner to Troy Burrell -- 24
2.    Jason Charron to Pierre Brown -- 22
3.    Michael Gluski to Jimmy Hill -- 18
4.    D.J. Zezula to Jamel Hicks -- 11
5.    Carl Roscoe to Michael Johnson -- 10
       Dan Gray to Pierre Brown -- 10
7.    Dan Gray to Brandon Brown -- 9
       Richard Brown to Elbert Richmond -- 9
9.    Anthony Frederick to Nick Bush -- 8
10.  Randy Hutchison to Nick Body -- 7
       D.J. Zezula to Manny Mendoza -- 7
       D.J. Zezula to Darece Roberson, Jr. -- 7
13.  D.J. Zezula to Corey Ester -- 5
14.  D.J. Zezula to Deiontae Nicholas -- 4

RED ZONE OFFENSE
When presented with the opportunity for six points, Wayne State has capitalized.  The Warriors rank 12th in all of Division II football in red zone offense, scoring 13 times in14 opportunities this season when getting inside the 20-yard line.  WSU has seven passing TDs, four rushing scores and two field goals in its 14 trips to the red zone.

Against Northwood, the Warriors left enough points on the field that would have led to a different result.  WSU turned it over on downs inside the 10-yard line, fumbled inside the five-yard line and gave away another fumble inside the 35-yard line.

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 17 of its last 20 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win over SVSU where WSU ran for 257 yards.  The only setbacks when accomplishing the feat all came in 2016-at Ashland, where the Warriors ran for exactly 200 yards in a losing effort; at Ferris State; and at Ohio Dominican when WSU ran for 242 yards.  During the past five-plus seasons (2012-17), Wayne State is 27-7 when rushing for 200 yards, including an 11-4 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 46-16 under those parameters, including a 27-6 mark at home.

Against GVSU, the Warriors would have finished with over 240 rushing yards if it was not for a bad snap on a punt, which accounted for a negative 47 yards. 

WHERE TO WATCH AND LISTEN
If you are unable to make it to Tom Adams Field for one of the six home games this season, all home games are broadcasted live on Comcast CN 900 and also replayed at select times throughout the following week.  Fans can also watch on Warrior All-Access on a pay-per-view basis (24 hour pass) or select to purchase a monthly or year-long pass.  Joe Abramson, Rod Beard, Tony Ortiz and Kevin Brechmacher will bring you all the action from Midtown Detroit.

Sean Baligian and Josh Renel return to call the action for every game live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM & 101.5 FM).  The pregame show begins 15 minutes prior to kickoff for every road game and 30 minutes for home action.  Ashley Casavant will serve as the sideline reporter this season at all home games.  Former Warrior defensive back Ryan Oshnock will fill in for Renel for this Saturday's contest.

WINTERS ON WEDNESDAYS
Family, friends and fans can hear the inside scoop on WSU Football from head coach Paul Winters as Winters on Wednesdays returns to Tony V's for another season.  Rod Beard or Sean Baligian will serve as your host during the hour-long show that includes special interviews and segments plus student-athlete profiles.

QUARTERBACK WIN TOTALS
In baseball, the starting pitcher gets a win for going at least five innings so we thought we would take a look at the best win totals for WSU starting quarterbacks since 1959 (except 1980-81).  The same rules from baseball apply here -- the QB that was in when the winning points were scored received the decision. 

1.    Mickey Mohner (2009-12), 30-15-0, .667 
2.    Ed Skowneski (1972-75), 20-12-0, .625 
3.    D.J. Zezula (2015-SA), 15-13-0, .535
       Jim Gendron (1976-78), 15-7-0, .682 
5.    Mark Friday (1991-93), 13-13-0, .500 
6.    A.J. Vaughn (1965-67), 8-5-0, .615
7.    Trent Pohl (2006-07), 8-10-0, .444 
       Richard Popp (1983-86), 8-15-1, .354 
9.    Kevin Smith (2008), 7-2-0, .778 
       Carl Roscoe (2012-15), 7-7-0, .500
       Anthony Frederick (1992, 94-95), 7-12-0, .368
       Michael Gluski (1994-95, 97-98), 7-16-0, .304