Concord Takes Opening Weekend Momentum to Fairmont State

Concord Stats - Fairmont State Stats - Live Radio - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - After holding off West Liberty, 32-25, at Callaghan Stadium in week one of the season, the Concord University football team travels to Fairmont State for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Duvall-Rosier Field.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Fairmont State Sports Information Department will have in-game statistics of Saturday's contest. To view the live statistics click "Stats" or follow the link at the top of the page.
Radio: Fairmont State's Travis Jones and Duane Cochran will have full play-by-play coveage of the game on 106.5 FM in north central West Virginia and also streaming online. To listen to the audio click "Radio" or follow the link at the top of the page.
Video: FSU will also have live streaming video of Saturday's game. The game can be watched by clicking on "Video" or follow the link at the top of the page.

MOUNTAIN LION NOTES
senior quarterback Brian Novak claimed the top spot in the Concord record book for passing touchdowns in a career with a second quarter score to redshirt freshman wide receiver Brandon Plyler.

The College, Park Maryland native now has 59 touchdown throws in his CU career after a 21-for-28 afternoon with 231 yards and three touchdowns against West Liberty.

Furthermore, Novak is closing in on a couple of other career milestones heading into the Fairmont State matchup.

With 93 more passing yards, Novak can become the all-time leading in passing yards at Concord.

Additionally, with one more touchdown he would become the eighth active signal caller in Division II with 60 or more touchdown passes, and with 262 more yards passing Novak would become the sixth active quarterback with 8,000 or more yards in a career.

Elsewhere offensively against West Liberty, junior running back Nick Loftin rushed for 104 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries while also catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from Novak in his first action in a CU uniform.

Junior wide receiver Paul Jones, Loftin and Plyler became the 13th, 14th and 15th different players to catch touchdowns from Novak.

By racking up 104 yards on the ground, Loftin was just one of two Mountain East Conference players to go over the century mark rushing along with FSU's Terrell Charles.

Loftin and senior Ethan Richardson were responsible for the balk of the rushing yards for CU as Richardson tallied 49 yards on 14 carries.

After Saturday's game, the Mountain Lions sport the second best rushing offense in the MEC at 180 yards per game.

Defensively, senior defensive lineman Darryl Johnson and senior defensive back Akil Bordelon each had career high tackls versus WLU by logging 10 and seven tackles respecively

First-time starters, junior linebacker Edwin Campbell, junior linebacker De'Aundray Gooden, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Justin Noble, junior linebacker Kelsey Poe and junior defensive back Kevin Stephenson all had an impact against West Liberty.

Campbell had a goal line interception in the first half that stalled a WLU drive. Gooden came up with four tackles and one sack.

Noble recorded six tackles and a sack while Poe and Stephenson combined for 11 tackles.

The Concord special teams also had an impact on the game, most notably a blocked punt by redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ty Walker in the third quarter that set up the eight-yard scoring toss from Novakt to Jones.

Going back to last year, the Mountain Lions have now blocked a punt in three straight games.

Part of Concord's offensive success against West Liberty on Saturday was its ability to convert on third down as the Mountain Lions were 8-for-14 or 57 percent on third down.

It was the most third downs converted by CU since last season against Fairmont State when it was successful on 9-of-22 attempts and it was the best rate of success on third down since 2014 against FSU when the Mountain Lions were 11-of-18 or 61 percent.

Of the eight successful third-down conversions for CU, six of the attempts came with five or more yards to gain on third down.

Ahead of Saturday's matchup with the Fighting Falcons, Concord has won seven straight against FSU going back to 2009.

Last season in Athens, the Mountain Lions won a 27-10 contest as the game only featured 509 combined yards of offense.

CU stymied the Fairmont State offense as the Fighting Falcons were limited to 201 yards, the best defensive performance for Concord since 2015 aginst West Virginia Wesleyan when it limited the Bobcats to 149 yards.

Even though the offensive output was low between Concord and Fairmont State, neither team committed a turnover in 2015.

In last season's game, Novak completed 10-of-13 passes for 161 yards.

Douse caught the longest pass of the game last season a 49-yard pass, his only reception of the game.

Two years ago on the road versus Fairmont State, Novak threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns against FSU.

One touchdown went to junior tight end Jordan Bryant, the only score of the Roanoke, Virginia native's career.

On Saturday, the Mountain Lions will be going for their 50th win in the 2010s decade.

It would be the most wins for the Concord football program in a decade since it won 74 games in the 1980s.

SCOUTING FAIRMONT STATE
Fairmont State came back from an early deficit to defeat West Virginia State last week in Institute, West Virginia, 30-20.

In the win, FSU quarterback Cooper Hibbs threw for 328 yards, the second most by a conference signal caller in week one of the season.

Hibbs' top target in the win over WVSU was Andre Hall who caught 11 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown.

In the come-from-behind win, the Fighting Falcons forced four turnovers including recovering three fumbles.

Calvin Pringles and Antonio Harris each had interceptions in the win at West Virginia State.

Fairmont State will be seeking its first 2-0 start to a season since 2011.

A CONCORD WIN WOULD...
A Concord win would extend CU's winning streak over FSU to eight games.

A Concord win would match the Mountain Lions' win total on the road last season when Concord was 1-4.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
18.8-  In the seven-game winning streak over FSU, Concord has won by an average margin of 18.8 points.

27- In Saturday's win  CU went over 30 points. Concord has won 27 straight games when scoring 30 or more points.

93- Yards needed by Novak to become Concord's all-time leader in passing yards.