PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University football team will return to Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium Saturday (Sept. 25) to entertain MIAA rival Emporia State University. Kickoff for the Gorillas' Family Day game is set for 7 p.m. (CDT).
Pitt State enters Saturday's action with a 2-1 record. The Gorillas opened the 2021 campaign with a 35-16 road victory over preseason No. 13 ranked University of Central Missouri on Sept. 2 before Pitt State dropped a 28-17 home decision to the University of Nebraska-Kearney last Saturday on Sept. 11. The Gorillas bounced back with a 48-13 road win over Northeastern State University last Saturday (Sept. 18) at Tahlequah, Okla.
Emporia State also is 2-1 on the young season. The Hornets opened the year with wins against NSU (38-7) and the University of Central Oklahoma (31-21), before ESU suffered a hard-fought 38-37 setback against Missouri Western State University last Saturday.
Live TV Broadcast
For fans in the Four States Region unable to attend Saturday's game in person, the contest will be broadcast live on KSNF TV. Additionally, the game will be aired on KSNT TV in the Topeka and Emporia markets.
Coverage will begin at 6:58 p.m. with kickoff to follow at 7 p.m. The broadcast team will feature PSU alum Brian Johnston handling play-by-play duties and former Gorilla Hall of Famer and longtime NFL member Kendall Gammon serving as color analyst.
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 4-3 overall mark. He has an 8-3 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 ESU.
ESU's Garrin Higgins is in his 15th year leading the Hornets and his 20th year as a collegiate coach. Higgins (ESU, '92) has compiled an 84-68 (.553) record leading his alma mater as well as a 135-77 (.637) career mark. He is 3-8 vs. Pitt State.
The Pitt State-Emporia State Series
This will be the 98th all-time meeting between the Gorillas and the Hornets in a series that dates all the way back to the 1915 season. The Pitt State-Emporia State series is the ninth-longest rivalry in NCAA Division II football.
Pitt State holds a commanding 61-34-2 advantage in the series. The Gorillas are 30-17-1 vs. the Hornets in Pittsburg.
Pitt State is 33-7 in its last 40 meetings against ESU.
In the last meeting between the schools on Sept. 14, 2019, Pitt State scored 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to break open a tie game and pull away for a 47-23 victory over Emporia State at Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium.
The Gorillas built a 23-7 lead against the Hornets midway through the third quarter before ESU scored 16 straight points to knot the score at 23-23 five seconds into the fourth quarter.
Tyler Adkins capped a six-play, 64-yard drive with a two-yard scoring run to put Pitt State ahead 30-23. The Gorillas' drive took 86 seconds of clock time to counter the Hornets' previous game-tying drive.
The Hornets missed on a 30-yard field goal on their next possession and Sexton then drove the Gorillas down the field as Adkins scored from four yards out to stretch the margin to 37-23 with 6:51 to play in the game.
The Pitt State defense then came up with a pair of interceptions to thwart ESU's comeback bid. Morgan Selemaea returned a Dalton Cowan interception to the ESU 23 to set up Jared Vincent's fourth field goal of the contest – a 35-yarder with 4:26 to go. KiAnte Hardin then snared another errant Cowan attempt two plays later and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown and the Gorillas final margin of victory.
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 723-356-48 overall record, winning 66.3 percent of their 1,127 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 697 victories, followed by Hillsdale (647), Carson-Newman (643) and Central Oklahoma (639).
ESU has a 535-544-45 (.496) record in 129 seasons of intercollegiate play.
Gorillas in "The Pitt"
Pitt State holds a 356-136-12 (.718) record in 504 games in "The Pitt", Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium (including postseason). The Gorillas have won 156 of their last 187 regular season home games, posting a 156-30-1 record (.837) over the last 36 seasons.
ESU is 20-18 (.526) in road games since the start of the 2014 season.
PSU's Regular Season Success
Pitt State has won 306 of its last 372 regular season games, posting a phenomenal 306-64-2 (.825) mark during the past 36 seasons (1985-2021). PSU is 161-27-1 at home, 141-28-1 on the road and 4-9-0 at neutral sites in the regular season during that span.
Scouting the Gorillas
Second year freshman running back Caleb Lewis scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in Pitt State's road win against NSU last Saturday (Sept. 18).
Lewis (5-11, 183) carried the ball eight times for 40 yards in the contest, scoring on runs of 1 and 7 yards.
The Burleson, Texas, native has four carries for 14 yards playing in one game during the 2020 season. He has a team-leading 37 carries for 176 yards (4.8 ypc) and two scores this eason.
Second year quarterback Chad Dodson Jr. tossed his first two touchdown passes for the Gorillas in reserve action against the RiverHawks last week.
The Jacksonville, Fla., native connected with wide receiver Elijah Harris for a 42-yard score and he added a 51-yard strike to wide receiver Bryce Murphy.
Dodson completed three of five passes for 104 yards and two scores with one interceptions in the contest.
Senior running back Tyler Adkins carried the ball 13 times for 64 yards and a touchdown against NSU.
Adkins (5-10, 220) has 30 rushes for 146 yards (4.9 ypc) and two TDs on the season. The Broken Arrow, Okla., native has compiled 403 career carries for 2,047 (5.1 ypc) yards and 20 touchdowns.
Senior cornerback Dallis Flowers (6-2, 190) his third interception of the season in the Gorillas road win over the RiverHawks last Saturday (Sept. 18). He currently is tied for first place in the MIAA in interceptions (1.00 pg).
For the season he has compiled six tackles (five solo) with three interceptions and one pass break-up. He also is tied for fifth place in the MIAA in passes defended (4).
Flowers, a graduate transfer, joined the Gorillas in August after earning NAIA All-America honors the past two seasons (2019-20) at Grand View University.
The Chicago native made 33 tackles and five interceptions in 2019; and he helped the Huskies to a pair of conference titles.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Dubem Okonkwo made his first career start for the Gorillas last Saturday vs. NSU and promptly shared game high tackles honors.
