GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State hosts second-ranked and 2018 national runner-up Ferris State on Saturday at Tom Adams Field for Homecoming.  The Warriors are winners of three straight for the first time since Nov. 14, 2017, to Aug. 30, 2018.  The Warriors have surpassed the win total (both overall and in the GLIAC) from last season.  Wayne State will look to begin GLIAC play 3-0 for the first time since 2011 when that national runner-up team started 5-0 in the conference.

SCOUTING FERRIS STATE
After playing in the national championship game in 2018, Ferris State is 5-0 to begin this season.  Head coach Tony Annese is in eighth season with the Bulldogs.
 

On offense, FSU has played three quarterbacks through the first five games.  Senior Jayru Campbell was the 2018 Harlon Hill Trophy winner (top D2 football player in the country) and has completed nearly 57 percent of his passes for 517 yards and four touchdowns.  Senior Travis Russell has thrown for 302 yards and a TD, while sophomore Evan Cummins has started the last two games. 

Campbell started against Ashland and Central Washington, while Russell got the start vs. Findlay to begin the season.  Junior running back Marvin Campbell has totaled 290 yards on the ground with four scores and Cummins has a team-best seven rushing touchdowns.  The sophomore receiving duo of Sy Barnett and Xavier Wade are the team's go-to pass catchers.  Barnett has 12 receptions for 248 yards and a TD, while Wade has 265 receiving yards on 12 catches.
 

Defensively, Ferris State is led by senior linebacker Avonte Bell with 26 tackles and 6.5 for a loss, including five sacks.  Senior defensive back James Ceasar has four interceptions. 

As a team, the Bulldogs are averaging 37.4 points per game and allowing 16.2 points per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State trails 22-29 in the all-time series versus Ferris State, including losses in the last five meetings.  The Warriors played well in Big Rapids last year but fell 38-28.  WSU is 13-14 at home in the series and head coach Paul Winters is 2-7 vs. FSU (1-2 at home).  The Bulldogs have not played in Detroit since 2012.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
In terms of who Wayne State has played and will play, the Warriors' schedule is the toughest in Division II with those teams posting a .667 winning percentage.  WSU's past opponents have tallied a .750 winning percentage (15-5).  The remaining schedule for WSU ranks 17th nationally (.607).
 
Since a season-opening win at WSU, Slippery Rock has outscored its opponents 203-47 over the last four games meaning WSU's 37 points against the Rock is nearly the same as their last four opponents combined.

LAST TIME OUT
A first quarter interception gave Northern Michigan a short field to take a 7-0 lead last Saturday, but an 18-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes ended with a Darece Roberson, Jr. touchdown catch to tie the game at 7-7.  The Warriors totaled five first downs during the drive.  The Wildcats responded with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on their ensuing possession.  WSU tied the game at 14-14 on a 45-yard sprint by King Sanders as he found the end zone for the second time this season.
 

Roberson caught another touchdown pass from Dakota Kupp late in the first half to put the Green & Gold on top 21-14.  Two second half field goals (34 yards and 29 yards) by Niccolò Seilo gave WSU a 27-14 lead as the defense held NMU to 39 total yards and four first downs in the second half to help secure the victory.
 

Deiontae Nicholas rushed 19 times for 162 yards (8.5 ypc), while Sanders contributed 72 yards on eight carries (9.0 ypc).  Kupp completed 11-of-18 passes for 115 and two touchdowns, and was not sacked.  Ray'Jon Williams-Jackson had a team-high 55 receiving yards on a team-best five receptions.  Leon Eggleston led the defense with eight tackles (5-3), including a sack and a fumble recovery.

WELCOME BACK DEIONATE
Deiontae Nicholas rushed for a career-high 162 yards at Northern Michigan on a career-best 19 attempts.  It was his third career 100-yard game and pushed his all-time total over 1,000 rushing yards.  Nicholas ranks 31st in all-time rushing yards (1,112) and only 69th in rushing attempts (125) for a per rush average of 8.90, the highest among any WSU player in the 102-year program history.  Gary Baillargeon is second in average yards per carry at 7.29 (min. 75 attempts).  Nicholas is currently 16th in career all-purpose yards with 2,793 and needs just 207 all-purpose yards to become the 12th player in school history to reach the 3,000-yard plateau.
 

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Wayne State was outscored 76-14 in the first half during the first two games this season, but WSU has flipped those numbers over the last three weeks and has outscored its opponents 69-27 in the first 30 minutes.
 

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Wayne State is 10-31 against teams ranked inside the top 25 under Coach Winters (does not include forfeit by SVSU in 2005).  Prior to the 24-20 win over SVSU, WSU's last victory came on Sept. 13, 2014, against 13th-ranked Carson Newman at Tom Adams Field.
 

GREAT DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES
The 115 yards allowed by the WSU defense against Quincy was the fewest since surrendering 100 yards vs. Ferris State on Oct. 17, 2009, in a 45-7 Warrior victory.  The performance moved WSU from eighth in the league in yards allowed per game to fourth, where they still rank after the NMU victory, in which the WSU defense stood tall once again, allowing the Wildcats just 183 yards.

LONG SCORING DRIVES

Wayne State had a 92-yard touchdown drive at Truman State.  It was the longest TD drive since an 11-play, 94-yard touchdown drive at Michigan Tech last season. 
 

Wayne State put together several long drives at Northern Michigan, including an 18-play drive in the first quarter that lasted 9:54 and went 75 yards.  The Warriors also had drives of 90 and 92 yards during the NMU contest.  The 18-play, 9:54 drive is the longest scoring drive (in terms of plays and time) in the last 20 years surpassing a 16-play, 9:10 drive at Findlay in 2016.  Ironically, WSU engineered a 20-play drive in the second half at NMU that lasted 11:48 and resulted in a missed field goal.
 

WINNING QUARTERBACKS
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. Jim Gendron (1976-78), 15-7-0, .682
    D.J. Zezula (2015-18), 15-14-0, .517
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. Dakota Kupp (2016-SA), 7-2, .778
     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

BLOCK THAT KICK!
WSU has officially blocked five kicks this year, however a sixth blocked kick (PAT at Truman) landed behind the line of scrimmage which allowed a Bulldog to pick up the ball and rumble into the end zone for two points.  The last Warrior team to have five blocked kicks was the 2010 squad, while both the 2003 and 2006 teams had seven blocked kicks.  Alan Clay had three blocks in 2006, while Gary Ruttan has the single-season school record of four set in 1995.  Five different Warriors have blocked kicks this season.
 

TOM ADAMS HOME COOKING
Tom Adams Field is not an easy place to play for visiting programs. The Warriors have defended their home turf well in the past 11-plus seasons (2008-19) to a 43-23 tune.  WSU had a winning record at Adams Field for nine straight seasons, until a 2-4 record in 2017.  In the Coach Winters' era, the Warriors are 50-36 (.581) in home games.
 
WSU is 34-20 at Tom Adams Field this decade and carries a 218-221-19 all-time record at home in the first 101-plus years of the program as Detroit Junior College (1918-23), College of the City of Detroit (CCD / 1923-34), Wayne University (1934-56) and WSU (1956-present).
 

WSU IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Warriors rank in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories.  Wayne State is tied for the national lead in blocked kicks (5) and blocked punts (3), while ranking second in time of possession.  WSU also ranks 14th in rushing offense (253.2), 17th in fourth down conversion defense (.250), 20th in fewest first downs allowed (73), 21st in rushing defense (94.2), 23rd in total defense (283.8), 29th in both third down conversion percentage (.446) and fewest sacks allowed (1.00), 39th in total offense (427.4), 46th in sacks (2.40) and 48th in winning percentage (.600).
 

Nick Poterack ranks eighth in DII in yards per reception (24.75), while James Hill ranks 20th in rushing touchdowns (6), 39th in both rushing yards (416) and total touchdowns (6), and 43rd in rushing yards per game (83.2).  Niccolò Seilo ranks 24th in field goal percentage (.800).  Deiontae Nicholas is 30th in the country in yards per carry (6.15) and Kyle Lewis ranks 33rd in kickoff return average (26.4).  Jalen Lewis ranks 37th in sacks (0.88) and Tiroca Battle, Leon Eggleston and Lewis are all tied-for-46th with a fumble recovery each.
 

LUCKY #36
Senior outside linebacker Leon Eggleston, who has worn #36 since he arrived on campus, recorded his first career interception in his 36th collegiate game against SVSU.  Eggleston's pick six late in the first quarter extended WSU's lead to 17-0 over visiting Saginaw Valley State.  WSU went on to defeat 25th-ranked SVSU 24-20 and Eggleston was selected GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.  Eggleston leads all active Warriors with 185 tackles (115-70) and 25.5 tackles for loss.
 

DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN
The 10-yard interception return by Leon Eggleston vs. Saginaw Valley State was the first defensive TD since Nov. 3, 2018, when Malcolm Williams picked off NMU's quarterback and returned it 50 yards for a score to give the Warriors a 14-0 lead before the Wildcats won 34-24.
 

CONSISTENT LEADER
Paul Winters became the longest tenured football coach in program history in 2018 and is in his 16th season at the helm of the Warriors in 2019.  Winters surpassed Hall of Fame coach Joseph Gembis, who held the post for 14 seasons (1932-45).  Winters is currently tied-for-30th among all active DII football head coaches with 86 wins.  He is tied with Arne Ferguson (Western Oregon).
 

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 25 of its last 32 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win at Northern Michigan when WSU ran for 358 yards.  During the last eight-plus seasons (2011-19), Wayne State is 35-11 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 15-8 mark on the road.  Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 54-20 under those parameters, including a 33-6 mark at home.
 

WARRIOR PODCASTS
There are two new podcasts from the WSU Athletic Department - "What I've Heard" with Director of Athletics Rob Fournier and "The Warrior Football Podcast" 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 you 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.  Every home game can be seen live on Comcast CN900 in the state of Michigan.  In addition, every home clash will be streamed via pay-per-view on WSU All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.  Check your local listings for replay times for the FSU game.