DETROIT -- With wins in five of its last six games, the Wayne State University football team (5-3 overall, 4-1 GLIAC) will attempt to keep it rolling at Davenport (3-4 overall, 1-4 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.
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GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State will stay on the road for the second consecutive week traveling to Davenport for a Saturday afternoon contest. The Warriors have their sights set on a second three-game winning streak this season. WSU is 5-1 in the past six games, while the three losses this year have come against top 25 opponents (Ferris State, Slippery Rock and Truman State).
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WSU will be trying for its fourth road win of the season after notching victories at Quincy, Northern Michigan and Northwood earlier this year. Wayne State has not won four road games in a season since the 2011 team went 8-1 on the road.
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SCOUTING DAVENPORT
Davenport started the season 3-0 but then the schedule shifted into high-gear and the Panthers have lost four straight, including games against Ferris State, Ashland and Grand Valley State. Head coach Sparky McEwen is in third season with the program.
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Junior quarterback Deondre Ford has thrown for 1,065 yards and seven touchdowns, while completing nearly 50 percent of his passes. Senior running back Michael Catching is the team's top rusher at 241 yards plus two touchdowns. Senior wideout Nate Couturier is one of the better receivers in the league with 24 receptions for 384 yards and four scores.
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Senior linebacker Kye Black has a team-best 55 tackles, while Abe Thompson has 8.5 tackles for loss and senior defensive end Robert Clanton has eight stops behind the line of scrimmage. Junior cornerback Deion Powers and senior corner Brandon Mangram lead the team with three interceptions apiece. Sophomore kicker Chris Ahmed is 4-of-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 41, while he has made 13 of his 14 PATs. Freshman punter Kyle Wojahn has an average punt of 35.9 yards on 37 attempts. As a team, DU is scoring 18.1 points per game and allowing 23.1 points per contest.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State and Davenport met for the first time in 2017 and the Warriors won in overtime, 34-27, on the road. The Panthers won last season's contest 37-14 at Tom Adams Field.
LAST TIME OUT
Two first quarter touchdown connections from Dakota Kupp to Darece Roberson, Jr. gave Wayne State a 14-0 lead at Northwood. The Warriors would score in each quarter and go on to win 31-10.
Deiontae Nicholas rushed for a game-high 61 yards, while Kupp added 57 yards on the ground. Kupp was 11-of-18 through the air for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Roberson, Jr. recorded a game-best 147 receiving yards on three catches with two touchdowns. Leon Eggleston had a game-best 10 tackles, including two for loss along with an interception.
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The 255 passing yards by Kupp was the most by Warrior since Jake AmRhein passed for 262 at Ferris State in 2018.
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FIRST HALF DIFFERENCE
During the five wins this season, WSU has outscored its opponents 111-37 during the first 30 minutes. Conversely, in the three losses, the Warriors were outscored 111-14 in the first half.
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SUPER REGION THREE
Wayne State is currently ranked 17th in Super Region 3 according to the Massey Ratings. The first set of regional rankings were released on Monday with Ferris State (#1) and Grand Valley State (#7) representing the GLIAC in the top 10. WSU's Super Region features 21 of the top 40 teams in the country, according to the Massey Ratings.
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TRICK-OR-TREAT
The 3-1 month of October by WSU is the best month (of at least three games) since going 4-1 in October of 2016.
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ROBERSON'S HOT STREAK
Senior wide receiver Darece Roberson, Jr. has had five games of at least 80 receiving yards this season, including two touchdown receptions in a game three times this year. He had a season-high 147 receiving yards at Northwood last Saturday, including a 94-yard TD catch on WSU's first play from scrimmage. Roberson also contributed a 27-yard run on a reverse down to the NU 1-yard line. He is tied for the GLIAC lead with six touchdown receptions, and is second in average yards per catch (23.3YPC). Roberson is second in the GLIAC with 882 all-purpose yards and is tied-for-third in WSU history with 21 career touchdown receptions.
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LEON'S IMPACT
Senior outside linebacker Leon Eggleston is having an impressive season for the Green & Gold. He has twice been selected as the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week and has been part of a turnover in five consecutive games:
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He had a pick-six against Saginaw Valley to put WSU up 17-0 in the first quarter; recovered a Northern Michigan red zone fumble with the score tied 14-14 in the second quarter; had a 45-yard fumble return against Ferris State; had an interception in the end zone preventing an Ashland score just before halftime, then had a pick six on AU's third play after intermission; intercepted a Northwood pass in the end zone late in the third quarter with WSU up 24-3.
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Eggleston leads WSU with 61 tackles (tied-for-sixth in the GLIAC), four interceptions (which is tied-for-second in the GLIAC) and two fumble recoveries (which is tied-for-first in the GLIAC).
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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 became 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.Â
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STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
In terms of who Wayne State has played and will play, the Warriors' schedule is the third toughest in Division II with those teams posting a .610 winning percentage (47-30). WSU's past opponents have tallied a .600 winning percentage (33-22), which is tied-for-18th nationally. The remaining schedule for WSU ranks 30th nationally (.636 / 14-8).Â
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WSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Warriors rank in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories. Wayne State ranks third nationally in blocked kicks (6), tied-for-fifth blocked punts (3), seventh in time of possession (33:28), 19th in red zone defense (.647), 24th in rushing offense (224.8), 25th in passing yards per completion (14.96), 26th in defensive touchdowns (2), 36th in fewest sacks allowed (1.25), 40th in kickoff return defense (17.88), 41st in fumbles recovered (7), 48th in both punt return defense (5.73) and winning percentage (.625), and 50th in both third down conversion percentage (.409) and total offense (404.3).
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Darece Roberson, Jr. ranks seventh in Division II in yards per reception (23.25) and tied-for-39th in receiving touchdowns (6), while Leon Eggleston is tied-for-12th in fumbles recovered (2) and 19th in interceptions per game (0.5). James Hill is 15th in rushing TDs (10), 30th in total touchdowns (10) and 46th in total points scored (60). Deiontae Nicholas ranks 21st in rushing yards per carry (6.24), while Dakota Kupp is 27th in passing yards per completion (14.38). Jalen Lewis is 48th in sacks per game (0.71).
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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. He was named the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Week following the Ashland contest and is a nominee for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
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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.Â
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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. The Warriors used one play to go 94 yards at Northwood last Saturday to start the game.Â
The longest play of the year was a Dakota Kupp pass to Darece Roberson, Jr.
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WINNING WHEN EXECUTING
Wayne State has won 27 of its last 34 games when rushing for over 200 yards, including the win over Northwood last week when WSU ran for 237 yards. During the last eight-plus seasons (2011-19), Wayne State is 37-11 when rushing for 200 yards, including a 16-8 mark on the road. Under Coach Winters, the Green & Gold are 56-20 under those parameters, including a 34-6 mark at home.
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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 on Oct. 12th, and Northwood scored a touchdown in the final minute.
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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.
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NEXT MAN UP
Redshirt freshman linebacker Julius Wilkerson, who was making his first collegiate start in the Ashland contest for the injured Ryan Smith, 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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.Â
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.