Concord Set for Week 8 Game at Charleston

Complete Game Notes – Live Stats / Video / Audio – Concord Statistics – Charleston Statistics


LIVE COVERAGE
• The University of Charleston Sports Information Department will provide live stats, audio and video. To access the coverage options, follow the links at the top of the page.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
• At 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Mountain East Conference, Concord is still in the hunt for a conference title. Concord's chances of winning the inaugural MEC crown would continue to improve with a victory over Charleston, which also enters Saturday's game with a 4-1 mark in conference play.

• With four games remaining in the season there are four teams with legitimate title hopes in first place Shepherd (7-0, 6-0 MEC), Urbana (6-1, 5-1 MEC) Concord and Charleston.

• The Mountain Lions are just one win away from securing their fifth straight winning season, a feat that has not been accomplished at Concord since CU earned seven consecutive winning years from 1987-93.

• The all-time series between Concord and Charleston (formerly Morris Harvey) is relatively even, with the Golden Eagles holding a slight 14-11-2 lead over CU.

• Concord rushed for 403 yards last week against Wesleyan, the most for the Mountain Lions since running for 416 yards vs. Southern Virginia in 2010 and the third-most in CU history.

• The Mountain Lions had a pair of players rush for over 100 yards against the Bobcats in junior Ben Nester (159 yards) and sophomore Calvinaugh Jones (106 yards).

• After not taking a snap as a quarterback since his high school days, Nester made his first collegiate start at quarterback against Wesleyan due to an injury to redshirt freshman quarterback Brian Novak. In addition to his 159 rushing yards, Nester also threw for 76 yards.

• Nester became the first Concord quarterback to run for over 100 yards in a game since Dustin Greenwood ran for 109 yards vs. Wesleyan in 2007.

• Jones' 100-yard performance was his third of the season. On the year, Jones ranks fourth in the MEC with 635 yards rushing to go with five touchdowns.

• Jones is well within reach of earning his first 1,000-yard season, he needs to average 91.3 yards per game over CU's final four contests to achieve the milestone.

• Senior safety Davon Marion continued to flash his big play ability by making his team-leading fourth interception of the season. The pick was Marion's third in the last four games. His four picks rank fourth in the country.

• Fellow senior safety Russell Bailey also made his presence felt against West Virginia Wesleyan thanks to a blocked punt that led directly to a touchdown. For the season, Bailey has blocked two kicks and is in a three-way tie with freshman linebacker Denis Ikic and redshirt freshman linebacker Logan Jenkins for the team-lead in special teams tackles at three stops each.

• Sophomore wide receiver Tiko Henderson, who has caught 22 passes for 381 yards this season, scored a pair of touchdowns last week. He scooped up Bailey's blocked punt for his first TD before running in his second score from nine yards out.

• Redshirt freshman running back Sam Wright rushed for a pair of touchdowns against West Virginia Wesleyan on 10 rushes.

• On the day, Henderson carried the ball eight times for 63 yards.

• In addition to ranking third in the MEC in total tackles at 72, senior linebacker Jake Lilly is tied for first in the nation with five forced fumbles.

• Lilly tallied 10 tackles for his fourth double-digit tackle game of the season against West Virginia Wesleyan. He is now 55 stops away from the CU all-time record for career tackles.

• A huge part of Concord's success has been the punting ability of sophomore Andrew Huska, who is ranked 12th in the nation in punting average (43.1) to go with 10 punts inside the 20 and nine punts of at least 50 yards. On kickoffs, Huska is a virtual lock to boot a touchback with 16 on the year.

• As a team, Concord ranks second in NCAA Division II in third down conversion defense, second in first downs allowed, third in total defense, fifth in points allowed, sixth in passing yards allowed and 14th in turnovers gained.

• Sophomore linebacker Austin Dotson has made 18 tackles over Concord's last three games.

• Sophomore defensive end Ervin Moore produced the third multi-sack game of his career with a pair of sacks last week against West Virginia Wesleyan.

• It should come as no surprise that keys to Concord's wins in 2013 have been establishing early leads and holding onto ball. The Mountain Lions are 4-0 when leading at halftime and boast an average time of possession of 35:56 in their wins compared to 31:35 in losses.

• Concord is outscoring its opponents 62-39 in the second quarter this season. The Mountain Lions also close strong by outscoring opponents 45-21 in the fourth quarter.

• The Mountain Lions are now 11-3 in home games under head coach Garin Justice.

• The University of Charleston will host Concord having won its last two games (17-10 vs. Glenville State and 31-9 vs. West Virginia State).

• The Golden Eagles are led by reigning MEC Offensive Player of the Week quarterback Maurice Leak, who tossed a career-high four touchdown passes vs. WV State last week.

• For the year, Leak has thrown for 725 yards and six touchdowns.

• Leighton Settle has rushed for 479 yards and two touchdowns for UC this season.

UP NEXT
• Concord returns home to Callaghan Stadium to host UVa.-Wise at 2:00 p.m. on Nov. 2.