FOOTBALL PREVIEW: CONCORD at WEST VIRGINIA STATE

1:00 PM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2; LAKIN FIELD, INSTITUTE, WV

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Last week, Concord met one of the WVIAC's rising programs. This week, CU meets a program headed in the opposite direction.

The University of Charleston had won 11 of it last 14 games going into last Saturday's game against Concord. But the Mountain Lions defeated UC 37-28 at Callaghan Stadium.

This week's opponent, West Virginia State, went 14-6 over the 2007 and 2008 seasons. But the Yellow Jackets slipped to 3-7 last year, and bring an 0-3 mark into this Saturday's 1:00 pm clash with CU at Lakin Field in Institute, WV.

Defense helped lift WVSU to contender status in '07 and '08. But they fell to the bottom half of the conference in '09 and are at or near the bottom of the league in several categories this season.

The Yellow Jackets are last in the WVIAC in Scoring Defense (36.7 ppg), Rushing Defense (276. ypg/6.3 ypc), Opponents 3rd Down Conversions (.486) and Red Zone Defense (12-12). State is next-to-last in Total Defense (395.3 ypg).

All of which seems to set up Concord well. The Mountain Lions lead the WVIAC in Total Offense (541.8 ypg) and Passing Efficiency (151.5) and are second in Passing Offense (322.5 ypg). CU is third in Scoring Offense (35.5 ppg) and Rushing Offense (219.2 ypg/5.8 ypc).

On top of that, Concord comes in off a 557-yard performance in last weekend's win over Charleston. That was without All-WVIAC RB Brian Kennedy, who missed the game due to injury.

Kellar turned to a “halfback by committee” approach against Charleston, with freshmen Tae Gilbert (16 carries, 160 yards, 2 TDs), Chris Rodriguez (10-89) and Carlton Colson (6-30) filling in capably for Kennedy.
Charleston had allowed only 54 rushing yards per game going into last weekend, but Concord torched them for 255.
Kellar hopes to re-establish the running game again on Saturday afternoon.

“There's a myth out there that, since I was a quarterback (in college) and played for Coach (Rich) Rodriguez at Glenville State, that I'm a throwing guy,” Kellar said. “But I know that if you outrush your opponent, you're going to win the football game. I like the game where you can get a run-pass mix and keep people off-balance. You can't do that if you can't run the football.”

Concord also threw the ball well against Charleston. QB Zack Grossi passed for 302 yards and two TDs, with WR Thomas Mayo hauling in nine receptions for 186 yards and both TDs on the way to earning WVIAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors (
Kellar says being able to run the ball will make Mayo an even greater threat.

“We're not the only people that know Thomas is a really good player, and the other guys can only put 11 on the field,” said Kellar. “So if they're going to put people in the box and try to stop the running game, that's going to open up some one-on-ones on the outside. The thing we need is that when he gets those opportunities, he's got to capitalize.”

An interesting sidebar to Saturday's contest is William King.

King left his job as WVSU's Defensive Coordinator to join Concord's staff as Defensive Line Coach & Recruiting Coordinator during this past off-season.

“Concord, to me, is a program that's on the rise,” King said after accepting the CU job last spring. “The coaches here have a vision of where they want the program to go, and how to win championships. The culture here has changed – the players are working hard, and they know what to do to raise up this program.”

With King as its Coordinator, West Virginia State had one of the WVIAC's top defenses.
Last year, the Yellow Jackets topped the conference in Passing Defense (177.4 ypg).
In 2008, WVSU led the league in Passing Defense (147.2 ypg) and were second in Pass Efficiency Defense (107.3), Sacks (30) and 1st Downs Allowed (177). The Yellow Jackets were third in Total Defense (319.7).
In 2007, the Yellow Jackets allowed the fewest first downs (180) and were second in pass defense efficiency (109.2).

West Virginia State head coach Earl Monroe went into this season breaking in eight new starters on each side of the ball. But after the Yellow Jackets' 42-0 loss at Charleston September 18, Monroe said his team's inexperience was not an excuse.

"We have three games under our belt, and we are still saying 'young.' Young is becoming a crutch. We have to grow up,” Monroe told Jacob Messer of the Charleston Daily Mail. “If we are young, we have to grow up in a hurry."

"They aren't stepping up like I thought they would," said Monroe of his youthful players. “Some of them are doing OK in practice. We have been rotating guys, but when you look around, you have another new guy to put in and then he doesn't show up in the bright lights. When the bright lights come on, they are going to have to make plays and they are going to have to perform."

FULL STORY:  dailymail.com/Sports/wviacsports/201009201095

Saturday will be West Virginia State's first home game of the 2010 season.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 102.3 The Ticket (WMTD/Hinton/Princeton/Beckley), starting with the “Mountain Lion Preview Show” at 12:30 pm.
The audio webcast will be available at www.theticket102.com/.


CONCORD FOOTBALL HOME PAGE:  www.cumountainlions.com/index.aspx
WEST VIRGINIA STATE FOOTBALL HOME PAGE:  www.wvsuyellowjackets.com/page.cfm
WVIAC WEEK #6 PREVIEW:  www.wviac.org/news/2010/9/29/FB_0929103340.aspx
WVIAC 2010 STATISTICS:  www.wviac.org/custompages/football/10fbHTML/confstat.htm

LIVE STATS for Saturday's game can be found here:  www.wvsuyellowjackets.com/Live/xlive.htm

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