Concord Battles West Virginia State Saturday

Concord Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team hosts West Virginia State in a Mountain East Conference game at Callaghan Stadium 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have the live radio broadcast of the game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of Saturday's game. 
Video: Live streaming video will be available for the contest. 
TV: WVVA's Hannah Howard and Glenn Kittle will have the live game broadcast on WVVA-TV, the NBC affiliate in Bluefield, West Virginia. 

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are 2-4 this season.

 WVSU is 3-4 overall and one game ahead of CU in the MEC at 3-3.

BACK TO BACK
At Charleston, junior wide receiver Kris Copeland continued his hot streak in Concord's rushing game by amassing 100 yards on the ground for a second straight game, becoming the first player since Josh Maxwell in November 2018 to top the century mark in rushing back-to-back games. Copeland gained 110 yards on just 14 carries, an average of 7.9, and did it in three quarters of work as he was forced to leave with injury. Copeland moved up to eighth in the MEC in rushing this season with 418 yards while vaulting up to third in the conference in yards per carry (6.0). In his only career game versus West Virginia State—in 2018—the Summerville, South Carolina native had 86 yards rushing on just 11 carries.

MILESTONE MEMORIES
By hauling in seven receptions at Charleston, fifth-year wide receiver Tywan Pearce needs one catch to go over 200 for his career. Earlier this season, Pearce topped 2,000 career receiving yards. The North Kissimme, Florida native would be one of five active players in Division II with 200 career receptions and 2,000 career yards, joining Minnesota-Moorhead's Grady Bresnahan, Shaw's Jermaine Russell, Ohio Dominican's David Turner and Slippery Rock's Jermaine Wynn. Pearce is also closing in on the career mark in receptions at Concord which is held by Thomas Mayo (2008-10) at 205. With 24 completions on Saturday, junior quarterback Jack Mangel would be the fastest in program history to 200 career completions, needing just eight games. After Saturday at UC, Mangel jumped into the top 10 at Concord in completions with 176.

STARTING A NEW STREAK
After not forcing a turnover against West Liberty—the first in 19 games not coming up with a takeaway—the Mountain Lion defense picked off Charleston's Guy Myers as fifth-year senior defensive back Jonathan Roebuck grabbed his fifth career interception in the second quarter. The Leesburg, Virginia native recorded his first pick since the September 2019 meeting against West Virginia State. Furthermore, the Concord defense had three turnovers versus WVSU at Callaghan Stadium two seasons ago. Senior defensive lineman Nathan Lease pounced on a fumble while former safety Ke'Shawn Hall had a second interception to go with Roebuck's pick. After a slow start, the Concord secondary now has four interceptions in the last four games.

MEN IN THE MIDDLE
Saturday's game will pit some of the best linebackers in the conference against the offenses. Fifth-year senior linebacker Dwain Porterfield is coming off a season-best 13 tackles at Charleston, two off his career high. Porterfield took over the team lead in total tackles this season with 49, and moved up to fourth in the MEC in tackles per game (8.2). Senior linebacker Tylen Fowler was held to one tackle in game six, but is still tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with senior defensive back Rashon Lusane at five. Both are in the top 15 in the MEC in tackles for loss. Meanwhile, junior linebacker Ty Maust had a career-best six tackles at UC. West Virginia State counters with Peyton Lunsford who only trails Charleston's Keon Freeman in tackles per game (9.9) for the MEC lead. Lunsford does have the most tackles in the MEC with 69, having played one more game than Freeman.

TOUGH PUZZLE TO SOLVE
While the Mountain Lions have done the bulk of their damage on the offensive side of the ball, West Virginia State's pass defense has been stout all season, but particularly in the last three games. WVSU has only allowed one 300-yard passer all season—Notre Dame's Chris Brimm for 319 yards. The last three games versus Alderson-Broaddus, West Virginia Wesleyan and UNC-Pembroke the Yellow Jackets have allowed 230 yards or fewer through the air. WVSU's pass defense ranks fourth in the MEC. Mangel began the year by throwing for 265 yards or more in four straight games, but has cooled off for under 200 yards in the last two games. However, Mangel still ranks 12^th in Division II in passing yards per game (299.0).

REUNION TOUR
Former Concord wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator John Pennington is in his fifth year as WVSU's head coach, and seventh overall on the West Virginia State staff after spending two years as the offensive coordinator. Pennington was at CU from 2011-2014. On his staff is former Concord head coach Paul Price who spent 2016-19 as the leader of the Mountain Lions' program. Price is the linebackers' coach for West Virginia State, a role he also held in Athens from 2009-10. Price was also a defensive coordinator for the Maroon and Gray from 2011-15. Joining Pennington on his staff is two of his former WVU teammates in George Shehl (defensive coordinator) and Quincy Wilson (running backs). Former Concord all-region offensive lineman Derek Dressler was on the WVSU staff until accepting a job at Division I Bryant this summer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6- Sophomore kicker Giovanni Christiano is the first CU kicker with six field goals in the season's first six games since Andy Ellington in 2014.

10- Career receptions for Pearce in two career games versus West Virginia State.

18- First time this season Concord did not have at least 20 first downs in a game as it came up two short at Charleston.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE A GLANCE
West Virginia State quarterback Donovan Riddick is in a four-way tie for passing touchdowns in the MEC—a group that includes Mangel—with 11. Of quarterbacks that have played at least five games this season, Riddick has the second-fewest interceptions with just three. The trio of Keedrick Cunningham, Barry Hill and Ty Lyte have combined to catch 69 passes this season with all three amassing at least 350 receiving yards. Lyte leads the group with six touchdown grabs. In the running game, Malik Newton is one of the most powerful runners in the MEC, averaging just under six yards per carry. However, he has only scored three times this season. A 14-13 loss to UNC-Pembroke snapped a two-game winning streak for WVSU. The Yellow Jackets had also won three of four games before the setback on Saturday.