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Football 9/9/2021 9:26:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Football Aims to Bounce Back vs. Truman

The Warriors were unable to avenge a 2019 loss to Slippery Rock but could accomplish the feat against the Bulldogs.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (0-1 overall) will look to rebound vs. Truman State (1-0 overall) on Saturday afternoon at Tom Adams Field with a 1 p.m. kickoff.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State dropped its first game in 655 days to fifth-ranked Slippery Rock on Sept. 2nd. This will be the second of four straight non-conference games for the Green & Gold this season with a road trip to Missouri S&T next week and a rare non-GLIAC contest vs. Saginaw Valley State on Sept. 25th.

SCOUTING TRUMAN STATE
The Bulldogs dominated Davenport 31-14 to win their season opener on the road. Head coach Gregg Nesbitt is in his 12th season with the program. Truman State was picked third in the GLVC Preseason Poll behind UIndy and Lindenwood. Running back Cody Schrader was selected as the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week as he rushed for 217 yards on 35 carries with four touchdowns.

Nolan Hair completed 11-of-20 passes for 78 yards with one interception. Dante Ruffin was the team's top pass catcher with five receptions for 46 yards. Peyton Carr and Ulysses Ross both had eight tackles, while Carr collected 2.5 tackles for loss. Bennett Swope had two sacks, while Carr and Ryan Olivas tallied interceptions.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series is tied at 3-3 with the Bulldogs winning the first matchups in 1971 and 1972. WSU won the next three contests in 1974, 1975 and 2015. TSU topped WSU, 35-12, in 2019 in Missouri.

LAST TIME OUT
In a much more defensive battle than the last meeting between Wayne State (0-1 overall) and Slippery Rock (1-0 overall), which set the WSU school record for points in a season opener (99 as SRU won 62-37 in 2019), the Warriors drove inside The Rock's five-yard line in the waning seconds but were unable to score the winning touchdown as fifth-ranked Slippery Rock held on for a 24-21 triumph.

Avery Hall, who entered the contest with 55 career rushing yards, gained 86 yards on 19 attempts and scored twice. Myren Harris added 85 yards on the ground, Jake AmRhein completed 9-of-20 passes for 56 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Tre Davis had team-high totals of four catches for 38 yards. Julius Wilkerson made a team-high nine tackles (four solo).

WARRIORS & BROTHERS
The football roster has five sets of brothers on the squad, including Lane and Ty Potter, Myren and Myles Harris, Noah and Max Nicklin, Jacob and Aaaron Mass, and David and Caleb Green. The Harris' and Green's are twins. In addition, senior right tackle Joe Ziedas is the younger brother of former lineman Alex Ziedas. Furthermore, wide receiver Darrin King II is the son of former Tartar Darrin King, who recorded 295 tackles (142-153), while playing in all 41 games during his Tartar career (1988-1992).

HOUSTON MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Tieler Houston picked off his fifth career pass last week and now is tied-for-40th in the program record book. Two more would give him seven and put him in a tie-for-23rd. The WSU record for interceptions is 23 by Charles Aldrich (1979-82).

WELCOME BACK
Wide receiver Kameron Ford made his first appearance for the Green and Gold since Nov. 3, 2018, against Northern Michigan. He missed all of 2019 due to an injury and with no games in 2020 due to COVID, he played for the first time in 1,033 days on Sept. 2nd.

NEW FACES
Of the 52 players who saw action vs. Slippery Rock, 23 made their Wayne State debut, including 21 student-athletes who made their collegiate debut. Shavez Hawkins, Jr. played in eight games for Minnesota Crookston in 2017 and for the Papago Pumas (Junior College) in 2019, while Darien Tipps-Clemons appeared in 10 games for Eastern Kentucky in 2018. The lone true freshman to take the field on September 2nd was Davison product Te'Avion Warren, who made a solo tackle on the kickoff coverage team.

Making their collegiate debut in addition to Warren were Blake Bustard, Damond Duncan, Chandler Edwards, Blake Gilliam, Eli Haddad, Myren Harris, Dayton Keller, Kofe Kimbrell, Darrin King II, Jesse Prewitt III, Kane Quinlan, Donte Reed, Drake Reid, Chrishoun Roberts, Cameron Rogers, Kaveon Ross, Arnold Saidov, Jeremy Taras, A.J. Terry, and Kendall Williams.

The lone players in their fourth season of competing were Jake AmRhein, Luke Bevilacqua, Jalen Lewis and Lane Potter. Eleven (11) players began their third season and another 14 started their second year of active competition.

EARLY SEASON SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2008 season, WSU has a 33-20 record for games played in August and September. The Warriors are 28-25 in October during that same time period, 15-13 in November, and 2-1 in December.

MOST IMPROVED TEAMS
The 8-3 record in 2019 was a +6 improvement from the 2018 record of 2-9. That ranks second nationally in terms of improvement from 2018 to 2019. Kentucky State had a 6.5 win improvement to finish first in that category.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Six of Myren Harris' 12 carries went for first downs, while Jake AmRhein accounted for nine first downs (five rushing and four passing). Three of Tre Davis' four receptions went for first downs. Kendall Williams totaled four first downs on the ground with Hall moving the chains on three occasions.

Harris led WSU with 88 all-purpose yards with Avery Hall contributing 86 yards, all on the ground, including his first two collegiate touchdowns. Jeremy Taras leads the GLIAC in punting average at 42.2 yards per attempt. Blake Gilliam made one solo tackle vs. The Rock, but blocked a fourth quarter SRU punt after previously recovering a Slippery Rock fumble in the first quarter which led to a WSU field goal attempt.

HISTORIC VICTORY
Wayne State capped off the 2019 season with a 31-17 win at Grand Valley State on Nov. 16th. It was the first win for the Warriors in the series since Nov. 10, 1984, a stretch of 30 games. The last time WSU beat GVSU at home remains Oct. 1, 1983. The victory gave the Green & Gold a second-place finish in the GLIAC.

PLAYING RANKED OPPONENTS
Wayne State is 12-33 against teams ranked inside the top 25 under Coach Winters (does not include forfeit by SVSU in 2005). The Warriors topped two ranked teams in 2019, including SVSU (#25) and GVSU (#19) and also beat Ashland who was ranked 27th when the teams met on Oct. 19, 2019. Prior to the 24-20 win over SVSU in 2019, WSU's last victory came on Sept. 13, 2014, against 13th-ranked Carson Newman at Tom Adams Field.

WARRIOR PODCASTS
There will be two podcasts from the WSU Athletic Department this fall - "What I've Heard" with Director of Athletics Rob Fournier and "Inside the Playbook" with Paul Winters. Both can be found on the podcasts page at WSUAthletics.com.

WINNING STREAK
The five-game winning streak to end the 2019 season is the longest since the 2016 squad won six straight from Sept. 17 through Oct. 22. The Warriors won eight of their final nine regular-season games in 2019, the best stretch since WSU won 10 of 11 games from Oct. 23, 2010, through Oct. 22, 2011, concluding with the double overtime triumph at Hillsdale.

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 12 seasons (2008-19) to a 45-25 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 52-38 (.578) in home games.

WSU went 36-21 at Tom Adams Field during the 2010s and carries a 220-223-19 all-time record at home in the first 104 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).

RECORD CROWD
The announced attendance of 7,092 versus Ferris State for the 2019 Homecoming contest was the largest to ever to watch a game at Tom Adams Field. The only larger home crowd was when WSU played Temple in 1968 at U of Detroit Stadium. The FSU contest was the first game with over 5,000 attendees since 5,277 watched WSU vs. Grand Valley State in 2015. The previous Adams Field attendance record was 5,511 when Wayne State hosted Hofstra in 1971.

DON'T MISS ANY OF THE ACTION
There are several ways fans 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.

Veteran Detroit broadcaster Sean Baligian is in his 13th season calling Warrior football. Former Warrior tailback and kick returner Josh Renel will again be joining Baligian in the booth. Renel provided color commentary for one game in 2012 and nearly every game for seven seasons (2013-19). In addition, former WSU defensive end Brady Beedon will fill-in for Renel on selected broadcasts and will also handle the Locker Room Report and Senior Spotlight features for WDTK. Former Warrior defensive back Ryan Oshnock will serve as the analyst for the Sept. 25th broadcast.

Every home game can be seen live on Comcast CN900 in the state of Michigan. Check your local listings for replay times. Joe Abramson returns for his 13th year on the Comcast broadcast and sixth as play-by-play announcer. Rod Beard enters his 10th year as a member of the WSU broadcast crew, while WWJ Afternoon Co-Anchor Tony Ortiz is starting his fifth year as a member of the broadcast crew. Kevin Brechmacher, who has served as the radio voice of Wayne State basketball the last six seasons, will fill-in on the crew for selected games.

In addition, every home clash will be streamed for free via WSU All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.

WARRIOR MARCHING BAND
"Celebrations and Salute"
The first show of the season celebrates a return to the field and making music with our friends. The band opens the show with a salute to Armed Forces, celebrating veterans and the service they gave to all five branches of the military. The WSU Dance team will be featured as the band performs recent pop smash "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish, and closes the show with a dance staple for all ages, the "Cupid Shuffle."

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Players Mentioned

#18 Jake AmRhein: QB; 6' 4"; Graduate Student

#42 Luke Bevilacqua: PK/P; 6' 1"; Graduate Student

#74 Blake Bustard: T; 6' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

#93 Damond Duncan: DT; 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore

#1 Chandler Edwards: RB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

#87 Kameron Ford: WR; 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior

#46 Blake Gilliam: OLB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#16 Caleb Green: QB; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman

#8 Eli Haddad: WR/PR; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#2 Avery Hall: RB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#18 Jake AmRhein
: 6' 4"; Graduate Student
: QB

#42 Luke Bevilacqua
: 6' 1"; Graduate Student
: PK/P

#74 Blake Bustard
: 6' 7"; Redshirt Freshman
: T

#93 Damond Duncan
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Sophomore
: DT

#1 Chandler Edwards
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore
: RB

#87 Kameron Ford
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior
: WR

#46 Blake Gilliam
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: OLB

#16 Caleb Green
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#8 Eli Haddad
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: WR/PR

#2 Avery Hall
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior
: RB