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Fort Hays State hosts No. 8 ranked Pittsburg State on Saturday, October 8 for Homecoming, with kickoff set at 7 pm from Lewis Field Stadium in Hays. This begins a stretch of three out of four games for the Tigers against teams currently in the national rankings. Fort Hays State enters the game at 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the MIAA, while Pittsburg State is 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA.

Last week as the No. 15 ranked team in the country, Pittsburg State knocked off No. 1 ranked Northwest Missouri State in the Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City by a score of 38-35. The Gorillas ended the Bearcats' 49-game MIAA winning streak with a field goal in the final seconds of the game. It marked the first MIAA loss for Northwest Missouri State since 2005.

Fort Hays State is fresh off snapping a six-game road losing streak with a 24-21 win at Lincoln last Saturday. The Tigers will be looking for their first win over Pittsburg State in 20 tries on Saturday, as PSU is 18-0-1 in the last 19 meetings. The last win for Fort Hays State over Pittsburg State occurred in 1978 by a score of 35-30 in Hays.

Last year's meeting in Hays was a heartbreaker for the Tigers as they looked poised to end the long drought against the Gorillas. Fort Hays State was up 21-14 after three quarters, but a huge special teams mistake led to Pittsburg State seizing momentum and scoring 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, winning 38-21.

This game will feature two of the best rushing attacks in the MIAA, with Pittsburg State leading the conference at 277.0 rushing yards per game, and Fort Hays State at 211.8 per game. Fort Hays State has conference's leading rusher in Andre Smith, who averages 111.4 yards per game on the ground. He is the only player in the MIAA averaging over 100 yards per game. Quarterback Zac Dickey of Pittsburg State is the third-leading rusher in the conference at 87.0 yards per game.

Fort Hays State is 13-7 in annual Homecoming games since joining NCAA Division II in 1991. However, the Tigers are just 1-4 in Homecoming games since joining the MIAA in 2006. The last Homecoming win for FHSU was in 2009 by a score of 40-20 over Emporia State.

Ethan Kosjer ranks second in NCAA Division II in punting average at 44.4 yards per punt. He is just two-tenths of a yard behind Jordan Campbell of New Mexico Highlands for the national lead. He averaged 44.6 yards per punt last week on eight attempts at Lincoln and six of his eight punts resulted in drives starting inside the Lincoln 20-yardline.

Alex Whitehill continues to lead NCAA Division II in tackles with 75 for the season. He recorded 13 last week at Lincoln, his fourth game out of five this season with over 10 tackles. He has a lead of seven tackles in the national standings over Nick DiAntonio of Assumption. He leads the MIAA by 16 tackles.

Pittsburg State is the second-longest running opponent in school history for FHSU. This will be the 71st meeting between the schools with Pittsburg State holding a 44-17-9 lead in the all-time series.