PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State University football team will travel to Joplin, Mo., Saturday (Oct. 2) to face MIAA rival Missouri Southern State University. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (CDT) at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

Pitt State enters Saturday's action with a 3-1 record. The Gorillas are coming off a 30-28 home victory over Emporia State University on Sept. 25. Pitt State opened the 2021 season with a 35-16 road win over preseason No. 13 ranked University of Central Missouri on Sept. 2. The Gorillas dropped a 28-17 home decision to the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 11, before bouncing back with a decisive 48-13 road win over Northeastern State University on Sept. 18.

Missouri Southern 1-3 on the young season. The Lions dropped a 42-21 home decision to Fort Hays State University last Saturday (Sept. 25). MSSU opened the year with back-to-back losses to Nebraska-Kearney (38-0) and Northeastern State (21-17), before bouncing back with a 14-10 road win over the University of Central Oklahoma on Sept. 18.

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 5-3 overall mark. He has a 9-3 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 MSSU.

Atiba Bradley is in his first full year leading his alma mater and his first year as a collegiate coach. Bradley guided the Lions to a 1-0 record during the Covid-19 altered 2021 spring season. He has a 2-3 mark leading MSSU.

Bradley returned to MSSU after serving most recently as defensive coordinator at NCAA Division II member McKendree University. He also served as co-defensive coordinator at the University of South Dakota from 2016-18.

This will be Bradley's first meeting vs. Pitt State.

The Pitt State-Southern Series
This will be the 53rd all-time meeting between the Gorillas and the Lions in a series that dates back to the 1968 season – Southern's first year as a four-year school. Pitt State holds a commanding 42-9-1 advantage in the series.

The Gorillas are 29-6-0 vs. the Lions at Joplin, including 12 consecutive victories in games played at Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

The Miner's Bowl Match-Up
Pitt State and Southern have played every year since 1968, but the two teams began competing for the Miner's Bowl Trophy in 1986.

While the series has produced its share of close contests and memorable moments, the Gorillas have dominated the series, winning 32 of the 34 meetings. All told, Pitt State has averaged a 37-14 victory in the 34 meetings.

The clash always brings out the area fans. The Miner's Bowl game has averaged 8,196 fans in the last 25 meetings.

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 724-356-48 overall record, winning 66.3 percent of their 1,128 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 (648), Carson-Newman (643) and Central Oklahoma (639).

MSSU has a 245-293-7 (.456) record in 54 seasons of intercollegiate play.

Gorillas on the Road
Historically, Pitt State has posted a solid record in road games. The Gorillas have posted a 105-33-1 (.759) record in its last 139 road games (including post-season play) dating back to the start of the 1994 season. The Gorillas are 41-10 (.804) in their last 51 road games dating back to Oct. 23, 2010.

PSU's Regular Season Success
Pitt State has won 307 of its last 373 regular season games, posting a phenomenal 307-64-2 (.828) mark during the past 36 seasons (1985-2021). PSU is 162-27-1 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
Senior Jalen Martin and junior Elijah Harris are establishing themselves as two of the top wide receiving targets in the MIAA early in the season.

Martin (6-3, 210) has caught a team-leading 21 passes for 365 yards (17.4 ypc) and two touchdowns, while Harris has snared 15 catches for 315 yards (21.0 ypc) and four scores. Martin shares the MIAA lead in receptions (5.3 pg) and ranks third in the conference in yards per game (91.2 ypg). Harris (5-10, 179) is currently second among MIAA wide receivers in TDs (4) and he ranks eighth in receiving yards (78.8 pg).

Martin, a Detroit native, has caught 54 passes for 677 yards (12.5 ypc) and four touchdowns in eight career games for the Gorillas.

Harris, a Pittsburg, Kan., native,  has 41 career receptions for 598 yards (14.6 ypc) and six touchdowns.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Mak Sexton has completed 62 of 107 passes (.579) for 923 yards (230.8 ypg) and eight touchdown on the season.

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 6-3 record in nine career starts for the Gorillas, has completed 270 of 474 passes (.570) for 3,626 yards and 29 touchdowns in 19 career games.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Luke Jennings (6-4, 217) posted a career high 17 tackles against the Hornets last week.

The Gardner, Kan., native has made a team-high 33 tackles (18 solo) through the Gorillas' first four games.  Jennings has compiled 49 career tackles (30 solo) with 4.5 tackles-for-loss in eight career games.

Junior linebacker P.J. Sarwinski also posted a career high 13 tackles against Emporia State. The Galena, Kan., native had made 30 tackles (16 solo) on the season. Sarwinski (6-1, 207) has 50 career stops in games for the Gorillas.

Second-year freshman Dominik Stadlman (6-1, 168) punted four times for a 44-yard average in last week's game against the Hornets, including two kicks inside the opponent 20 yard line. The Overland Park, Kan., native has punted 10 times for a 39.0-yard average on the season.