Concord Battles for Outright MEC Title Versus Shepherd

ATHENS, W.Va. - Having already claimed a share of the Mountain East Conference Championship, the Concord University football team will seek to win its first outright conference title since 2011 when it travels to Shepherd for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Shepherd University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics as well as video for Saturday's contest. Jason "Moos" Reed and Steve Cox will have the radio broadcast of the game on "Willie" 97.3 FM. To access the live coverage options follow the links at the top of the page or click here.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
• Concord enters the matchup with Shepherd sporting a record of 10-0 overall and 9-0 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Rams have a mark of 8-1 both overall and in the conference.

• The Mountain Lions are slotted second in the regional rankings and 12th in the AFCA Poll.

• Shepherd is sixth in the regional rankings and 21st in the AFCA poll.

• Concord locked up a share of the league crown by virtue of beating Notre Dame 51-14 on Senior Day at Callaghan Stadium.

• CU can claim the MEC Championship all to itself by winning at SU while a Shepherd victory would mean the two teams would split the title.

• Even though it was senior day, several underclassmen shined bright in Concord's 37-point win over NDC.

• Reigning MEC Offensive Player of the Week, freshman wide receiver TJ Smith caught eight passes for 212 yards and found the endzone three times. His yards and touchdowns were career highs.

• In fact, Smith was the first CU wideout to go over 200 receiving yards in a game since 2010 when Thomas Mayo accomplished the feat versus Fairmont State.

• This season Smith has 829 yards and 10 touchdowns, both a team best.

• Sophomore quarterback Brian Novak tossed four touchdowns in CU's win while throwing for 390 yards, the fourth time he's eclipsed 300 yards this season. Novak is 10th nationally this season in touchdown passes (28) and 21st in passing yards (2,711).

• Meanwhile, junior running back Calvinaugh Jones ran for a season-high 188 yards and scored his eighth touchdown of the season versus Notre Dame.
Jones is the 12th leading rusher in Division II this season, racking up 1,261 yards.

• Additionally, Jones became just the fourth CU running back to gain 3,000 yards over his career and also took over the rushing lead in the MEC for the first time this season.

• Behind the offensive firepower of Jones, Novak and Smith, Concord is fourth in the nation in point per game (46.8).

• On senior day, senior defensive lineman Will Greathouse blocked a field goal attempt by the Falcons in the first quarter, which was returned by redshirt freshman defensive back Jeremiah Johnson.

• It was the seventh time the Mountain Lions have blocked a kick this season and the second time Johnson has picked up a blocked kick and ran it back for a touchdown.
 Concord is fifth in the nation in blocked kicks as Greathouse leads CU with two.

• The Concord defense stood tall against Notre Dame only allowing 46 yards on the ground, marking the third time in its last five games, Concord hasn't allowed 100 yards on the ground by the opponent.

• Concord is also ranked second in the MEC in rush defense giving up 116 yards per contest. 

• With an interception each from junior defensive back Derrick Johnson and sophomore defensive back Jocorey Robins, the Mountain Lions have a string of nine straight games with at least one interception.

• D. Johnson now has a team-leading five interceptions while senior defensive back Mike Carey and J. Johnson each have four.
• Concord's secondary is tied for third nationally in interceptions with 19.

• By catching a touchdown versus Notre Dame, sophomore tight end Dalton Brindo became the eighth different CU player to catch a touchdown this season, tied for most in the league with Fairmont State and Notre Dame.

• This will mark the second straight year these teams will clash with the MEC title at stake.

• Last season the roles were reversed as Shepherd had already claimed a share of the conference championship.

• The Rams walked away with a 41-33 win at Callagha Stadium.

• Novak threw for a 244 yards and two touchdowns while Brindo threw of his two career touchdown passes versus SU.

• Junior wide receiver Tiko Henderson, sophomore wide receiver Davon McGill and junior running back Shaun Workinger all caught scoring passes.

• In fact, McGill's best game as a Mountain Lion came last season versus SU when he hauled in four passes for a career-high 92 yards and a touchdown against Shepherd.

• The last two meetings Concord has combined to throw for 712 yards, 376 in 2012 and 336 in 2013, by far the most the Rams have given up to an opponent in consecutive meetings the last two seasons.

• Saturday's contest will be a matchup of strength vs. strength as Concord boasts the MEC's best rushing attack 231.9 yards per game (ypg) while the Rams give up a mere 39.4  ypg

• In fact, SU is number one in Division II in rush defense while the Mountain Lions' ground game is 21st nationally.

• SU quarterback Jeff Ziemba has thrown 15 touchdowns to just two interceptions and is two spots behind Novak in national passer efficiency, ranking fifth.

• Shaneil Jenkins (7.5), Myles Humphrey (5.5) and Bernard Wolley (five) are the only trio on the same team in the MEC to have five sacks besides NDC and Concord's junior defensive lineman Ervin Moore (six), junior linebacker Nick Ortiz (five) and junior defensive lineman Anthony Pyle (five).

A CONCORD WIN WOULD...
• A Concord win would give the Mountain Lions their first conference championship since the 2011 season.

• A Concord win would give CU its first win over Shepherd since 2011.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
171- Yards needed by Smith to become CU's first 1,000-yard receiver since the 2010 season.

1980-  The last time a Concord team won 11 games. CU can accomplish the feat with a win versus Shepherd.

1- Touchdown needed by Novak to break CU's single season passing scores record.