PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University football team will return to the friendly confines of Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium Saturday (Oct. 16) to host MIAA rival Lincoln University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (CDT).

Saturday's game is Homecoming on the Pitt State campus. The Gorillas are 56-13-2 in Homecoming games since 1949, including a 1-0 mark against LU (a 69-6 victory on Oct. 15, 2011).

Pitt State enters Saturday's action with a 4-2 record. The Gorillas dropped a hard fought 20-19 decision to No. 2 ranked Northwest Missouri State University last Saturday (Oct. 9) at Maryville, Mo.
Pitt State has had each of its last three games – a pair of wins over Emporia State University (30-28) and Missouri Southern State University (20-16) and the loss to the Bearcats – decided by four points or less. It marks the first time since the 2015 season that the Gorillas have had a series of three consecutive games decided by a touchdown or less.

Lincoln is 0-5 on the season entering Saturday's action. The Blue Tigers, who dropped a 52-32 decision to Missouri Southern last week at Jefferson City, Mo., have averaged a 64-24 defeat in their five games played. Lincoln had its week two road game scheduled against NWMSU canceled due to Covid-19 protocols within the Blue Tigers program.

The Coaches
Brian Wright is in his second season as head coach at Pittsburg State.

He was hired as the program's 15th all-time head coach on December 7, 2019. Wright led the Gorillas to a 2-2 record during the abbreviated 2020 season; and he has compiled a 6-4 overall mark. He has a 10-4 record as a collegiate head coach.

Wright came to Pitt State after serving the past four seasons as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Toledo.

In his four seasons with the Rockets, Wright helped guide offenses that have been among the best in the Mid-American Conference while boasting four NFL draft picks.

Prior to coming to Toledo, Wright coached at Florida Atlantic for four seasons as the Owls' offensive coordinator. He stepped in as interim head coach for the final four games of the 2013 season, leading the Owls to four consecutive victories and bowl eligibility (6-6) for the first time since 2008.

Prior to his stint at Florida Atlantic, Wright spent two seasons at Montana State as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Before heading west to Montana State, Wright served nine years at perennial FCS power Youngstown State.

Wright joined the Penguins' staff in 2001 as quarterbacks coach, also working as offensive coordinator from 2005-09. He began his collegiate coaching career at Walsh (Ohio) University as a graduate assistant in 1995-96.

After a year as a graduate assistant at YSU in which the Penguins won the NCAA Division I-AA national title, Wright returned to Walsh in 1998 and served until 2000.
Saturday's action will mark Wright's first match-up against Lincoln.

Lincoln's Malik Hoskins is in his second year leading the Blue Tigers. He has served on the LU staff for five seasons including serving as interim head coach in 2019. Hoskins has a 1-17 record leading the Blue Tigers. He is 0-1 vs. Pitt State.

The Pitt State-Lincoln Series
This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the Gorillas and the Blue Tigers in a series that dates back to the 1981 season. However, this will be the just the second match-up between the squads since 2013.

Pitt State holds an unblemished 10-0-0 advantage in the series, averaging a 50-10 victory over Lincoln in those games.

All-Time Winningest Programs
Pittsburg State is the all-time winningest NCAA Division II football program. The Gorillas, who are playing in their 114th season of intercollegiate competition, have compiled a 725-357-48 overall record, winning 66.3 percent of their 1,130 all-time games.

Pittsburg State is one of just seven NCAA Division II institutions to have recorded 600 all-time victories and the Gorillas became just the 33rd program – the first Division II institution – across all levels of college football to reach the 700-win plateau. The Gorillas rank 30th among all college football programs in all-time victories.

Tuskegee is second on the Division II all-time list with 698 victories, followed by Hillsdale (650), Carson-Newman (643) and Central Oklahoma (641).

LU has a 252-478-25 (.350) record in 92 seasons of intercollegiate play.

Gorillas at Home
Pitt State holds a 357-136-12 (.719) record in 505 games inside Carnie Smith Stadium (including postseason). The Gorillas have won 157 of their last 188 regular season home games, posting a 157-30-1 record (.838) over the last 36 seasons.

Lincoln has lost each of its last 10 road games dating back to the 2018 season.

PSU's Regular Season Success
Pitt State has won 308 of its last 375 regular season games, posting a phenomenal 308-65-2 (.824) mark during the past 36 seasons (1985-2021). PSU is 162-27-1 at home, 142-29-1 on the road and 4-9-0 at neutral sites in the regular season during that span.

Scouting the Gorillas
Senior Jalen Martin has established himself as one of the top wide receiving targets in the MIAA to date.

Martin (6-3, 210) has caught a team-leading 38 passes for 595 yards (15.7 ypc) and three touchdowns.

Martin leads the MIAA in receptions (6.3 pg) and ranks second in the league in receiving yards (99.2 ypg).

The Detroit native has caught 67 passes for 905 yards (13.5 ypc) and five touchdowns in 10 career games for the Gorillas.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Mak Sexton has completed 109 of 176 passes (.619) for 1,466 yards (240.7 ypg) and 11 touchdown on the season. He currently ranks sixth in the MIAA in passing yards.

Sexton (6-1, 206) had a hand in all five Pitt State touchdowns against No. 13 Central Missouri on Sept. 2 and earned MIAA Player of the Week honors from that game. The Leander, Texas, native posted his second career 300-yard game last week when he passed for 309 yards and two scores against Emporia State.

Sexton, who has a 7-4 record in 11 career starts for the Gorillas, has completed 317 of 543 passes (.581) for 4,132 yards and 32 touchdowns in 21 career games.

Freshman Dominik Stadlman has punted 13 times for a 40.4 yard average on the season including five kicks placed inside the opponent 20 yard line. He currently ranks second in the MIAA in punting average.

Stadlman, an Overland Park, Kan., native, punted twice for a 51.5 yard average in the Gorillas game last week against NWMSU, including a career long 52-yard punt against the Bearcats.
He has punted 13 times for a 40.4 yard average with six kicks inside the opponent 20 yard line on the year. Stadlman currently ranks second in the MIAA in punting average.