Concord Stats -
West Liberty Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - After two straight road games, the Concord University football team returns home to host West Liberty 12:00 p.m. Saturday at Callaghan Stadium for a Mountain East Conference clash.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and
Steve Cox will be in the radio booth for complete play-by-play coverage for the contest. The action can be heard on 94.5 "Willie" FM in southern West Virginia and also online at
www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department provides live in-game statistics for all Concord home games.
Video: A live stream will be available for the game with West Liberty.
TV: Nick Dugan and Chase Parker of WVVA-TV in Bluefield, West Virginia will be on the call for the contest. Live video can be accessed at
wvvva.com/live.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions enter their ninth game of the season with a record of 1-7 overall and 1-6 in the league.
West Liberty improved its record to 3-5 overall and in the MEC after defeating West Virginia State, 36-24, last week.
OFFENSIVE SHOWCASE
In Concord's 48-34 loss to UNC-Pembroke last week, the Mountain Lions put up a season-high 459 yards of offense including a season-best 291 yards through the air.
It marked just the fourth time under head coach
Paul Price that CU has eclipsed 400 yards of offense.
CU had 432 offensive yards to open the season at West Virginia Wesleyan.
The other two instances came in 2016 when Concord totaled 601 yards of offense versus West Virginia State and 411 against West Liberty.
FINDING PLYLER
In Concord's 291 passing yards, junior wide receiver
Brandon Plyler was the top target for the Mountain Lions.
Plyler hauled in six catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns for his second career 100-yard receiving game--the first came earlier this season versus Notre Dame.
Plyler also climbed into the top 10 in career touchdown receptions at Concord.
The Fort Mill, South Carolina native now has 13 scores through the air in his career.
Additionally, Plyler starts the week tied for first in the touchdown receptions in the MEC with UVa.-Wise's Kaian Duverger, Fairmont State's Javon Hayes and Notre Dame's Marvelle Ross. The quartet of players all have seven touchdowns.
And with his performance versus UNC-Pembroke, Plyler also went over 1,000 receiving yards for his career with 1,092 and is within nine receptions of 100 for his career.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Besides Plyler, Concord had several players chip in, in the offensive outburst at UNCP.
Junior quarterback
Adam Fulton tied his career high with three touchdowns to go along with 210 yards through the air.
Junior quarterback
Kyle Akin came off the bench in the second half to throw his first touchdown since September 29 at Shepherd--Akin had been sidelined with injury in the last three games.
While Plyler caught two touchdowns, sophomore wide receiver
Tywan Pearce led CU with seven receptions for a career-best 97 yards.
It was the third time this season that the North Kissimmee, Florida native went over 90 yards receiving.
Sophomore wide receiver
Isaiah Bowman and redshirt freshman wide receiver
Jamal Fisher each caught their first collegiate receiving touchdown in the contest at UNC-Pembroke.
The Concord ground game racked up 168 yards with Bowman leading the way with 77 yards while freshman running back
Kris Copeland added 64 yards rushing.
The Mountain Lions rushing attack clipped off 5.4 yards per rush at UNCP--a season high.
It was the highest rushing average per carry for Concord since a 7.9 average at West Virginia State to end the 2016 season.
TRIPLE THREAT
Led by Bowman, Copeland and freshman running back
Josh Maxwell, the Concord rushing offense has found its way.
Over the last three games, the trio has combined to run for 515 yards on 93 attempts and four touchdowns.
The average between the three running backs is 5.5 per carry with all three backs averaging at least 4.4 yards per carry led by Copeland with an average of 7.5.
Bowman has gained 210 yards on 35 carries in his last three contests. Copeland has run off 225 yards on 30 attempts while Maxwell has added 80 yards on 18 rushes.
Against UNCP, all three rushers went over 50 yards on the ground as it marked the first time Concord had three running backs over 50 yards on the ground since the 2015 contest versus West Virginia Wesleyan when
Calvinaugh Jones, Javares McRoy and
Jamal Petty all rushed for at least 50 yards.
In the last two games with West Liberty, the running game for the Mountain Lions has found success.
Concord ran for 153 yards on 28 carries last season--an average of 5.5 yards. Two seasons ago, CU ran or 180 yards on 43 attempts, averaging 4.2 yards per tote.
BACK AND FORTH SERIES
West Liberty owns a slight 34-29 edge in the all-time series between it and the Mountain Lions.
However, the teams have alternated wins in the last four years with the Hilltoppers winning last season 44-14 at home.
CU won at Callaghan Stadium two seasons ago in Price's head coaching debut at Concord, 32-25.
In 2016, Plyler caught his first career touchdown pass, which also helped record-setting CU quarterback
Brian Novak break the all-time touchdown passing record at Concord with his 58th career touchdown pass. Also in the 2016 contest, senior defensive lineman
Justin Noble recorded his first career sack.
In 2017's defeat, senior linebacker
Andrew Jakubowsky tallied a career-best 11 tackles while junior defensive lineman
Ryan Gatrell notched his second career sack.
ACTIVE LEADERS
Saturday's contest will feature the top two active leading tacklers in the MEC.
Senior linebacker
Zach Malone enters the contest with 315 career tackles, ninth best in all of Division II.
Meanwhile, West Liberty's Cliff Clark needs eight tackles to reach 300 for his career. Clark is 13th among active Division II tacklers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Number of games this season that Concord has been whistled for less than 50 yards in penalties.
15- Tackles needed by Malone to reach 100 for a third consecutive season.
23- Â Number of first downs for Concord at UNC-Pembroke, tying a season-high set at WVWC.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
All three wins for the Hilltoppers have come at home with victories over WVSU, West Virginia Wesleyan and UVa.-Wise.
WLU is 0-4 on the road this season with its latest road loss coming two weeks ago at Glenville State.
West Liberty and CU are very similar offensively with the Hilltoppers averaging 300 yards per contest while Concord is 11 yards better per game.
Six different WLU receivers have caught touchdown passes led by Ridge Durbin, Shane Phillips and Isaiah Robinson all with two.
Former Concord head coach Mike Kellar (2009-10) is the offensive coordinator for the Hilltoppers.
