Concord Makes Short Trip to Charleston

Concord Stats - Charleston Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - Off a 20-16 victory over West Liberty on Homecoming, the Concord University football team looks to put together a winning streak when it travels to Charleston 12:00 p.m. Saturday for a Mountain East Conference matchup.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The University of Charleston Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of Saturday's contest. 
Video: Live streaming video is also available for the game. 

RECORDS
CU improved to 2-3 this season with the narrow win.

Charleston scored 20 points in its 11-point win at Glenville State to move to 4-1 in 2021.

GET AFTER EM
The Mountain Lions held West Liberty to 189 yards of offense which were the fewest yards allowed by the Maroon and Gray defense since the season finale in 2016 at UNC-Pembroke. Though Concord did not force a turnover for the first time in 19 games, CU recorded three sacks as senior defensive lineman Dajor Davenport, senior linebacker Tylen Fowler and senior defensive lineman Nathan Lease each had a sack. It was the first three-sack game for a Concord defense since October 2018, also against WLU. Davenport and Lease's sacks came at a critical time in the fourth quarter. The 33 rushing yards allowed by CU's defense were the fewest since holding UVa.-Wise to minus-9 in 2015. Concord recorded eight tackles for loss versus West Liberty led by Lease's 2.5. It was the most TFLs for a Mountain Lion defense since a 2017 meeting with UVa.-Wise.

TRADE SPECIALISTS
A big reason for Concord's win over West Liberty was the special teams. Reigning MEC Special Teams Player of the Week senior defensive back Elijah Moore blocked two WLU kicks. The Leesburg, Virginia native was able to reject a Hilltoppers' field goal in the first quarter. And came through with a second block on a point after try for West Liberty in the fourth quarter. Senior defensive back T.J. Stokes was able to race the second block back to give CU a 17-16 edge. Moore's three blocked kicks for the season leads Division II. The Mountain Lions also picked up their longest kickoff return of the season as freshman running back Justin Lee raced 31 yards on a return to set up an eventual field goal by sophomore kicker Giovanni Christiano in the fourth quarter.

GROUND POUND
Junior wide receiver Kris Copeland who has shifted between the backfield and out wide this season gained 115 yards on the ground for his second career 100-yard rushing game, and first since the first game of his career—at West Virginia Wesleyan in 2018. Copeland produced just the second individual 100-yard rushing game for CU's offense in the last 12 games. Copeland is just outside the MEC's top 10 in rushing this season at 308 yards, but is clipping off 5.5 yards per carry which ranks sixth in the MEC. Meanwhile, Charleston's Tyreik McAllister is running for 6.7 yards per carry which leads the league. McAllister averaged 6.7 yards per carry two seasons ago against Concord as he ran for 120 yards on 18 attempts.

SECONDARY WEAPONS
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Tywan Pearce came into Saturday's contest as one of the most dangerous pass catchers in Division II. West Liberty was able to hold Pearce under 100 yards for the first time in 2021, but the North Kissimmee, Florida native still hauled in six catches for 70 yards and his conference-leading eighth touchdown of the season. And with CU missing sophomore wide receiver Jarod Bowie who also ranks in the top 20 in receiving yards per game in Division II, freshman wide receiver Bryce Klinger stepped up to catch a career-best five passes for 47 yards to aide junior quarterback Jack Mangel's 195-yard passing day. Sophomore tight end Hayden Mesimer also caught his first career pass on Saturday. Senior wide receiver Kristian Drake had two critical catches on a Concord scoring drive in the third quarter as well.

NO FLY ZONE
Coming off a game in which it gave up four passing touchdowns at Fairmont State, the Concord secondary and linebacking corps produced seven pass break-ups against West Liberty quarterback Jack Allison and limited the signal caller to a completion percentage of 47.3 (18-of-38). Junior linebacker Ty Maust and freshman defensive back Darryl Nesmith each had two pass break-ups versus WLU. Nesmith's two pass break-ups came in the fourth quarter, including one on the final play of the game in the end zone on a Hail Mary throw. The seven PBUs were the most for a Concord defense since September 2017 in a matchup with Shepherd when it had eight. Moore, freshman defensive back Kevin Howard and junior linebacker Jordan Jones each had a pass break-up on Saturday in addition to Maust and Nesmith.

IN HIGH GEAR
Concord and Charleston rank second and third in the MEC in total offense this season. The Mountain Lions check with 411.2 yards per game, though it was held to a season-low 319 versus West Liberty—the third best defense in the league. Charleston averages 405.4 yards per contest in 2021. CU has done the bulk of its damage through the air with Mangel averaging 329.0 passing yards per game, fourth in Division II. Pearce's 151 receiving yards per game rank second. Mangel's 195 passing yards was the first time he had been held under 200 yards in six career starts at Concord. Led by McAllister, the Golden Eagles get nearly half of their offense on the ground as they average 183.6 rushing yards per game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
4- One-possession games played by Concord this season, the most since playing six such games in 2016.

12- Players with at least three tackles versus West Liberty.

39- Net kickoff average for both Concord and Charleston this season, ranking second and third in the MEC for best coverage.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
The Golden Eagles have the best secondary in the MEC as they only allow 127.6 passing yards per game. In fact, UC's pass defense ranks 11^th in Division II. Dual-threat quarterback Guy Myers has only thrown five touchdowns to four interceptions this season, but is completing nearly 65 percent of his passes. Additionally, he averages 47 yards on the ground. McAllister is the team leader in receptions with 23, but Colby Cooper leads the way in both yards (269) and touchdowns (two). Nearly a quarter of the tackles for Davonta Porter have been sacks (4-of-17). Leading tackler Keon Freeman has racked up 50 stops this year with 9.5 going for loss. Despite recording no interceptions, Kei Beckham has 10 pass break-ups in the secondary.