Concord Stats -
Fairmont State Stats -
Live Audio -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - Off of a 46-33 win over West Liberty, the Concord University football team plays its last road game of the 2018 season at Fairmont State 1:00 p.m. Saturday at Duvall-Rosier Field.
LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: The broadcast duo from Fairmont State of Travis Jones and Duane Cochran will have live radio play-by-play coverage of the game on Sky 106.5 FM in north central West Virginia and
online.
Stats: The Fairmont State University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of the contest.
Video: Live streaming video will also be accessible by the FSU Sports Information staff Saturday.
RECORDS
CU comes into the game with a 2-7 record and a 2-6 mark in the Mountain East Conference.
Fairmont State is receiving votes in the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) poll with a record of 7-2 overall and is 6-2 in the MEC. The Fighting Falcons are also 10th in the latest release of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Rankings.
SPECIAL TEAMS ARE SPECIAL
In Concord's win over West Liberty, the Mountain Lions had two special teams touchdowns. The first came as sophomore defensive back
Cameron Fannon recovered a bad snap on a punt in the end zone.
On the next WLU possession, senior defensive back
Chaudlier Shepherd returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown.
Fannon's touchdown was the first special teams score for CU since the 2016 season at UVa.-Wise.
Shepherd's punt return was the first score on a return since the same game at UVa.-Wise two seasons ago.
Shepherd was named MEC Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort.
Concord also blocked two kicks in the game versus West Liberty. Sophomore defensive back
Jonathan Roebuck blocked an extra point while senior defensive lineman
Justin Noble stuffed a 23-yard field goal by the Hilltoppers.
The Mountain Lions are tied for 14th nationally in blocked kicks with five this season.
TAKE THE BALL AWAY
CU forced four turnovers by the Hilltoppers in the victory. Senior linebacker
Zach Malone was responsible for three takeaways in the contest as he forced two fumbles and intercepted a pass.
Malone was voted as the MEC Defensive Player of the Week after his performance against WLU.
For Malone, he ranks in a tie for second in the MEC with three forced fumbles this season. Additionally, Malone's two punch outs move him into second in all-time fumbles forced at Concord with seven.
As a defense, Concord has forced 18 fumbles this season and recovered 11 which stands tied for seventh in Division II.
The Mountain Lions have equaled their total numbers of fumbles forced and recovered from last season with two games left to play.
LONG BALL
Junior quarterback
Kyle Akin hit the longest pass play of his career with an 80-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver
Isaiah Bowman. It was the longest pass play for the Mountain Lions since
Brian Novak threw an 86-yard touchdown pass versus West Virginia State in 2013.
Akin had three of his 11 completions go for over 40 yards. The Jackson, Tennessee native found sophomore wide receiver
Tywan Pearce for a 43-yard score in the second half.
Despite not going for a touchdown, freshman tight end
Brent Butler hauled in a 42-yard reception for his first career catch.
With the help of three long pass plays, Akin threw for a career-best 259 yards versus West Liberty.
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY
On 23 trips inside the red zone this season, Concord has come away with points 19 times including 15 touchdowns.
Concord's 83 percent red zone rate ranks 11th in the Atlantic Region and fourth in the MEC behind Shepherd, Fairmont State and West Liberty.
The Maroon and Gray has already surpassed both last year's red zone scores and attempts (16-for-22).
Over the last three games, CU is 5-for-5 in red zone trips.
Part of the reason for the red zone succes for the Mountain Lions this season is freshman kicker
Luke Walls who connected on his sixth field goal of the season versus West Liberty.
Walls is a perfect 6-for-6 on field goals this season. The Richmond, Virginia native is the only kicker in the league to hit on all of his attempts in 2018.
The next closest is Shepherd's Hayden August-Scriven who is 6-for-8. Walls is tied for sixth in made field goals in the MEC with August-Scriven.
POINTS!
The 46 points that Concod put on the Callaghan Stadium scoreboard against West Liberty was the most under head coach
Paul Price, dating back to the 2016 season.
The last time CU went for more points was the season finale in 2015 when it rolled up 52 points against West Virginia State.
Additionally, the Mountain Lions scored in every quarter versus West Liberty. It marked the first time Concord has scored in each quarter of a contest since last year's contest with UNC-Pembroke.
The 22 points in the first quarter versus WLU was the highest-scoring quarter since a 26-point first quarter against UVa.-Wise in 2015.
SOME OF THE BEST
Both Concord and Fairmont State possess some of the best special team players not only in the MEC, but also in all of Division II.
FSU return man Lyrics Klugh has returned two punts for touchdowns this season and averages over 25 yards per return on punts in 2018.
Klugh has been named MEC Special Teams Player of the Week three times in 2018 for his work in the return game.
With the help of his punt return for a touchdown against West Liberty, Shepherd bumped his punt return average up to 18.4 yards.
Klugh and Shepherd rank first and second in all of Division II in punt return average this season.
Both kickers, CU's Walls and Fairmont State's Colin Harvath, have also been sharp this season.
Harvath is 10-for-15 on field goal tries including 9-for-12 from inside 40 yards.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
10- Number of receivers that have caught a pass for the Concord offense the last two weeks.
40- Concord converted 4-of-10 third downs versus WLU, marking the fourth time this season CU has been at 40 percent or better on third down.
200- CU passed for 200 or more yards in consecutive games for the first time since September 2016.
FAIRMONT STATE AT A GLANCE
The Fighting Falcons have shut out Concord in consecutive meetings including a 35-0 win in Athens last season.
Khalik Hamlin is the second leading rusher in the MEC, running for 1,124 yards this season to go with nine touchdowns.
Quarterback Takwan Crews-Naylor has tossed the second-most touchdowns in the league with 18. Crews-Naylor needs 36 yards to reach 2,000 for the season.
Fairmont State has some of the best defensive box players in the MEC as it has racked up 63 tackles for loss (TFLs) this season led by 7.5 from Antonio Harris. However, four different players have at least five TFLs.
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