Football 10/23/2019 11:20:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Football Aims for Road Win at Northwood

Fans can listen to the game online at PatriotDetroit.com or 1400 AM/101.5 FM.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University football team (4-3 overall, 3-1 GLIAC) meets Northwood (0-7 overall, 0-4 GLIAC) on Saturday as the 2019 football season reaches week eight with three weeks remaining until playoffs.

GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State travels to face Northwood on Saturday in search of its fifth win in a six game span. Wayne State has easily surpassed the win total (both overall and in the GLIAC) from last season, which was two and one respectively. Wayne State will be trying for its third road win of the season after notching victories at Quincy and Northern Michigan earlier this year. Twice in the last five seasons (2014 and 2017), WSU had a 3-2 mark away from Adams Field.

SCOUTING NORTHWOOD
Northwood will be looking for its first win of the season after dropping its first seven contests, including four GLIAC matchups. Head coach Leonard Haynes is in his fifth season leading the program.

Senior quarterback Joe Garbarino has thrown for 716 yards and three touchdowns with eight interceptions. He is completing 50.4 percent of his passes. Redshirt freshman Cashual Goldsmith is the team's leading rusher with 267 yards but has yet to find the end zone. Junior tailback Jalen Lewis has three rushing scores to go with 183 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Gomez has a team-best four TDs on the ground. Redshirt freshman receiver Noah Koenigsknecht has 19 receptions for 192 yards, while junior quarterback-turned-wideout Chirstian Martinez has 183 yards on 14 catches and a touchdown.

Senior linebacker Dimitri Abro is the top tackler in the GLIAC at 79, including 2.5 for loss. Sophomore kicker Parker Blust has made six of his nine field goal attempts, including a 47 yarder, while connecting on 15 of his 16 extra point tries. He also is the team's punter and is averaging 40.5 yards per boot. As a team, the Timberwolves are scoring 21.0 points per game and allowing 35.3 points per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State trails 19-20 (9-11 on the road) in the all-time series against Northwood, with the Warriors winning six of the last eight meetings. Head coach Paul Winters is 7-7 in his time at Wayne State, including a 3-3 mark on the road. WSU hosted NU last season for Homecoming and won 55-21 in a game that featured clear skies, rain, sleet and snow. Wayne State's last win in Midland came in the 2016 season opener, 28-3.

OVERTIME GAMES
Wayne State is 2-5 at home in extra session games and 5-9 all-time overtime contests. The only previous home overtime victory was a 25-22 triumph in double overtime vs. Michigan Tech on October 31, 1998. The Warriors are 3-0 in double-overtime games: vs. Ashland (42-41 on Oct. 19, 2019); at Hillsdale (27-24 on Oct. 22, 2011) and vs. Michigan Tech (25-22 on Oct. 31, 1998).

FOURTH QUARTER DEFENSE
After the WSU defense only allowed 17 fourth quarter points in the first six games combined, Ashland scored 21 fourth quarter points to force overtime this past Saturday.

EGGLESTON COLLECTS SECOND WEEKLY GLIAC AWARD
Leon Eggleston was selected as the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

After a dropping a potential pick six in 2018 against Ashland, Eggleston redeemed himself in 2019, by recording two interceptions including a pick six. His other interception came in the final 30 seconds of the first half and in the end zone preventing a probable AU score. In addition to his nine tackles, Eggleston also had a forced fumble.

The last Warrior to have two interceptions in a game was Ronny Brant at Walsh on Sept. 2, 2017 (a span of 28 games). Eggleston also becomes the first WSU defensive player to earn the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week award twice in the same season (going all the way back to 1975 when WSU joined the GLIAC and also played in the MIFC). The last WSU linebacker to record two interceptions in a game was Nick Thomas vs. Saginaw Valley State on Oct. 11, 2012. It was a Thursday night CBS Sports Network DII Game of the Week won by the Cardinals 24-7. Thomas had his picks on back-to-back SVSU drives in the third quarter with his first interception leading to WSU's only score of the game.

RECORD CROWD
The announced attendance of 7,092 on Homecoming versus Ferris State 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.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
In terms of who Wayne State has played and will play, the Warriors' schedule is the fourth toughest in Division II with those teams posting a .618 winning percentage. WSU's past opponents have tallied a .690 winning percentage (29-13), which is tied-for-fourth nationally. The remaining schedule for WSU ranks 79th nationally (.500).

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State controlled the first three quarters against Ashland leading 35-7 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. The Eagles would score 28 unanswered points to force overtime with the game tied at 35-35. WSU had a field goal attempt blocked on its first OT possession and AU's kicker missed a 33-yard field goal to send the game to another overtime period.

That is when things really started to get interesting. The Eagles scored on four plays to take a 41-35 lead to make it 34 unanswered points, but Charles Ellington blocked the PAT to open the door. Jake AmRhein found Darece Roberson, Jr. on the first play of WSU's second OT possession to tie the game at 41-41 and Niccolò Seilo nailed his extra point to win the game, 42-41.

WSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Warriors rank in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories. Wayne State rankes third nationally in both blocked kicks (6) and blocked punts (3), ninth in time of possession (33:28), 20th in defensive touchdowns (2), 24th in rushing offense (223.4), 28th in fumbles recovered (7), 29th in red zone defense (.700), 38th in fewest sacks allowed (1.29) and 46th in yards per completion (13.89).

Brandon Tuck-Hayden is tied-for-10th in fumbles recovered (2), while James Hill is tied-for-17th in rushing TDs (8). Deiontae Nicholas is 19th nationally is yards per carry (6.48). Jalen Lewis is 29th in sacks per game (0.83), while Tuck-Hayden is 37th in forced fumbles per game. Leon Eggleston ranks 37th in interceptions per game (0.40). Tuck-Hayden is 48th in solo tackles per game (4.9) and James Hill is tied-for-43rd in total touchdowns (8).

WELCOME BACK DEIONATE
Graduate student Deiontae Nicholas is in his sixth year of eligibility after missing much of the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He is WSU's third three-time captain in program history (102 years). He surpassed the 3,000 career all-purpose yards plateau by accumulating 225 all-purpose yards in the win over Ashland. It was his most all-purpose yards since he garnered 235 vs. Saginaw Valley State on Sept. 16, 2017. Nicholas led all running backs in the contest with 178 rushing yards. He also scored the game's first touchdown on a 47-yard reception to total a game-high 225 all-purpose yards. Nicholas was injured in last year's AU contest, which ended his season. He was named the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Week on Tuesday and is a nominee for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

QUICK HITTERS
Redshirt freshman linebacker Julius Wilkerson, who was making his first collegiate start, recorded 23 tackles becoming the first Warrior with at least 20 tackles in a game since Nick Thomas amassed 24 tackles (9-15) on Oct. 3, 2009, against Ashland.

Senior wide receiver Darece Roberson, Jr. had two touchdown catches against Ashland, including one in the second overtime. It was the second time this year and the fourth time in his career, he had two TD receptions in a contest. He moved into a tie-for-fourth in WSU history with Ray Ponder (1989-92) in career touchdown receptions at 19.

Roberson had four kickoff returns for 96 yards, with his 45-yard return after AU had tied the score at 7-7 set WSU up in great field position, which led to the go-ahead touchdown and a 14-7 Warrior lead. Even though Roberson had just one punt return for four yards, he fielded a punt that gave WSU awesome field position at the AU 40 - then he caught a 40-yard touchdown pass on the very next play.

BLOCK THAT KICK!
WSU has officially blocked six kicks this year, however a seventh 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. 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. Six different Warriors have blocked kicks this season, after Charles Ellington batted down an Ashland PAT in overtime to open the door for a WSU victory.

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.

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 44-24 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 51-37 (.580) in home games.

WSU is 35-21 at Tom Adams Field this decade and carries a 219-222-19 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).

WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 26 of its last 33 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win over Ashland last week when WSU ran for 301 yards. During the last eight-plus seasons (2011-19), Wayne State is 36-11 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 15-8 mark on the road. Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 55-20 under those parameters, including a 34-6 mark at home.

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. Eggleston notched another interception return for a TD versus Ashland.

FIRST HALF DIFFERENCE
During the four wins this season, WSU has outscored its opponents 90-34 during the 30 minutes. Conversely, in the three losses, the Warriors were outscored 111-14 in the first half.

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 Ashland game.

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