Concord Stats -
Shepherd Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - After falling at home, 47-22, to Notre Dame in week four of the season, the Concord University football team travels to Shepherd 12:00 p.m. Saturday for a Mountain East Conference contest with the Rams.
LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The Shepherd University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics for Saturday's matchup.
Video: Live streaming video will also be available for the game courtesy of the SU Sports Information Department.
RECORDS
CU is 1-3 on the season after the defeat to NDC.
Shepherd's lone loss this season was against Notre Dame, but SU has since won two straight, and is 2-1 on the young season.
PLYLER FOR THE PYLON
Despite the loss, junior wide receiver
Brandon Plyler had a career day against the Falcons.
The Fort Mill, South Carolina native set personal single-game highs in receptions (nine), receiving yards (122) and collected his second multi-touchdown game of the season and fourth of his career with two first-half scores.
Additionally, Plyler became the first Mountain Lion in 14 games--going back to the end of the 2016 season--to haul in passes for 100 or more yards.
It was the first career 100-yard day for Plyler, and he nearly doubled his single-game career-high yardage total, previoulsy set this season at West Virginia Wesleyan with 65.
Entering Saturday's contest, Plyler needs one more touchdown reception to break into the top 10 all-time at Concord in touchdown catches.
Plyler currently has 11 catch and scores in his career.
Plyler ranks fifth in the MEC in receptions this season with 23, and his five touchdowns tie him for second in the league.
TRICK UP THEIR SLEEVES
Junior quarterback
Kyle Akin threw his eighth touchdown pass of the season versus Notre Dame, but the other touchdown toss for the Mountain Lions came from sophomore wide receiver
Tywan Pearce.
The North Kissimmee, Florida native threw a 29-yard score to Plyler for the game's first score in the first quarter Saturday.
It was the first touchdown pass by a non-quarterback for CU since the 2016 season finale when then-wide receiver
Jermeil Douse threw a four-yard touchdown pass.
And even though Pearce was held to 36 yards receiving, he found a way to leave his mark on the game with the touchdown completion as well as 183 all-purpose yards.
SUPPORTING CAST
Senior linebacker
Zach Malone had 11 tackles, making it eight straight games--dating back to last season--that the Charleston, West Virginia native has had 10 or more tackles.
However, Malone, who is second in the MEC in total tackles with 46, got help versus NDC as junior defensive lineman
Ryan Gatrell came up with a career-best seven tackles.
Sophomore defensive back
Devion Green also chipped in a personal-high six stops, and junior defensive back
Jakil Sarhim followed up his career-high nine tackles at UVa.-Wise with six against Notre Dame.
LEADER AT THE MID WAY
The last two weeks against UVa.-Wise and Notre Dame, Concord has been unable to hold a halftime lead after being up on UVa.-Wise, 8-7, 30 minutes into the game, and leading Notre Dame, 22-17, at the intermission.
However, it is a step in the right direction for the Mountain Lions who only led once at halftime last season, an eventual win over UNC-Pembroke.
More than a third of CU's points (36-of-97) for the season have been tallied in the second quarter this season.
DON'T SHOW ME THE FLAG
Though Concord was penalized a season-high nine times for 100 yards on Saturday against NDC, the Mountain Lions have done a stellar job this season of not having the flag hurt them.
CU has committed just 25 penalties this season for 258 yards, an average of just 64.5 per game.
It ranks the Maroon and Gray third in the league in the least amount of penalty yardage.
Shepherd, meanwhile, is the least penalized team in the MEC, having drawn just 16 penalites for 118 yards, an average of 39.3, through three games.
When CU and Shepherd got together last season, the Mountain Lions were penalized seven times for 70 yards, but SU was whistled for 20 penalties for 207 yards--the most in an MEC game since Urbana was penalized 21 times against Fairmont State in 2014.
AIR TRAVEL
Concord has found success against a normally stout Shepherd defense in the passing game in two of the last three meetings.
Last season, then-freshman quarterback
Adam Fulton set a career high in passing yards with 244 while tossing three touchdowns versus the Rams.
In the 2015 game,
Brian Novak threw for 283 yards and added 283 yards of his own versus Shepherd.
The Rams are allowing 207.7 yards through the air this season, sixth-best in the MEC.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Plyler's five touchdowns this season surpass the number of touchdowns caught by any CU receiver in 2017.
6- Number of tackles needed by Malone to pass Rob Sabatini for seventh on the all-time tackles list at Concord.
81- Concord is scoring on 81 percent of its red zone drives, ranking fourth in the MEC.
SHEPHERD AT A GLANCE
A nationally-ranked preseason team, the 35-33 loss Shepherd suffered to start the season at NDC dropped the Rams from the national ratings.
The loss to NDC was the first MEC defeat for Shepherd since Concord beat SU at the end of the 2014 season.
Saturday will be the first time Concord plays Shepherd when they aren't ranked since the 2012 season when the Rams went into the game 3-1 and CU was 2-2.
Shepherd's offense, which is scoring 33.7 points per game is led by freshman Tyson Bagent.
The signal caller is averaging 404 yards per game through the air with eight touchdowns and four interception.
Bagent led Martinsburg High to back-to-back state championships in Class AAA in West Virginia.
Bagent's top target Ryan Feiss is tied for the MEC lead in receptions with 31.
