PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University football team will wrap up regular season play Saturday (Nov. 13) with a road game against MIAA rival Fort Hays State University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (CST) at Lewis Field Stadium.

Pitt State enters Saturday's action with a 7-3 record. The Gorillas dropped a hard fought 28-26 home decision to Washburn University in their last action on Nov. 6 at Carnie Smith Stadium. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak by Pitt State.

Fort Hays State is 5-5 on the season heading into the regular season finale. The Tigers posted a 64-6 road victory over Northeastern State University last Saturday. FHSU is seeking a victory against Pitt State to avoid its first losing season since 2012.

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 9-5 overall mark. He has a 13-5 (.722) record as a collegiate head coach.

Wright came to Pitt State after serving the previous 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 Washburn.

Chris Brown is in his 10th season as head coach at FHSU. Brown (Pitt State, 1996) has compiled a 71-41-0 (.634) record leading the Tigers. Brown, a three-time All-America free safety for the Gorillas from 1993-95, came to FHSU after serving as defensive coordinator at Washburn from 2002-10. This will be his ninth meeting vs. his alma mater. Brown is 5-3 vs. Pitt State.

The Pitt State-Fort Hays State Series
This will be the 79th all-time meeting between the Gorillas and the Tigers in a series that dates all the way back to the 1915 season. Pitt State holds a commanding 46-23-9 advantage in the series. The Gorillas are 22-12-6 vs. the Tigers at Hays all-time. Pitt State is 20-5-1 in its last 26 overall meetings against Fort Hays State.

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 728-358-48 overall record, winning 66.3 percent of their 1,134 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 699 victories, followed by Hillsdale (653), Carson-Newman (644) and Central Oklahoma (642).

FHSU has a 483-475-44 (.504) record in 109 seasons of intercollegiate play.

Gorillas on the Road
Historically, Pitt State has posted a solid record in road games. The Gorillas have posted a 106-34-1 (.755) record in its last 141 road games (including post-season play) dating back to the start of the 1994 season.

The Gorillas are 42-11 (.792) in their last 53 road games dating back to Oct. 23, 2010, including a 4-1 record this season.

PSU's Regular Season Success
Pitt State has won 311 of its last 379 regular season games, posting a phenomenal 311-66-2 (.823) mark during the past 36 seasons (1985-2021). PSU is 164-28-1 at home, 143-29-1 on the road and 4-9-0 at neutral sites in the regular season during that span.

Scouting the Gorillas
Senior running back Tyler Adkins continues to climb the Pitt State career rushing yards chart. Adkins has carried the ball 502 times for 2,488 yards (5.0 ypc) and 25 touchdowns. He ranks 13th all-time in school history for career yards.

Adkins, who carried the ball 17 times for 69 yards and two touchdowns against Washburn last Saturday (Nov. 6), needs 121 yards to pass Justin Johnson (1995-97) for 12th place on the list.
The Broken Arrow, Okla., native has rushed the ball a team-leading 129 times for  587 yards (4.6 ypc) and seven scores this season.

Senior Dallis Flowers enters Saturday's action leading the MIAA and ranking sixth in NCAA Division II in kickoff returns. Flowers has returned 15 kicks for a 31.6-yard average with one touchdown on the season.

The Chicago, Ill., native currently ranks second on Pitt State's single season kickoff return chart, trailing only John Brown who averaged 32.4 yards per return in 2012.

Flowers also has made 17 tackles (13 solo) as well as three interceptions and six pass break-ups from his starting cornerback position. He leads the team and ranks sixth in the MIAA in passes defended (9).

Senior defensive end Kaden Roy (6-5, 245) made eight tackles, including a quarterback sack and a forced fumble against Washburn last week.

The Webb City, Mo., native has made 184 career tackles (97 solo) and 12.0 tackles-for-loss in 48 career games for the Gorillas.

Roy made a team-leading 86 tackles (42 solo) with 7.0 tackles-for-loss as a junior in 2019.