Concord Hosts West Virginia Wesleyan in First Home Game in Two Years

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

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team plays its first game at Callaghan Stadium since November 16, 2019 when it welcomes West Virginia Wesleyan to Athens 2:00 p.m. Saturday for a Mountain East Conference game.

RECORDS
CU is 0-1 after a 17-10 loss at Glenville State Thursday night.

Wesleyan sports a record of 0-2 overall and is 0-1 in the MEC.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have live radio play-by-play coverage of the game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics of Saturday's contest. 
Video: Live streaming video for the game will be available courtesy of Concord. 

AIRING IT OUT
Junior quarterback Jack Mangel threw for 402 yards against Glenville State as the Athens, Georgia native became the first CU signal caller with a 400-yard passing game since Brian Novak at the end of the 2016 season. Over half of Mangel's passing yards were hauled in sophomore wide receiver Jarod Bowie who finished with 15 receptions for 204 yards and a score. Bowie becomes the first Concord wideout since Randall Hawkins in 2012 versus Shepherd with a 15-catch game and the first receiver since TJ Smith in 2014 versus Notre Dame with a 200-yard receiving contest. Bowie's 204 yards are the third-most receiving yards in the early season of Division II this season. Fifth-year wide receiver Tywan Pearce collected his own 100-yard receiving game as he caught six passes for 101 yards. After only having two 100-yard receiving games from 2017-19, Pearce now has consecutive 100-yard contests after totaling 140 yards in the spring at West Virginia Wesleyan. Additionally, Pearce moved into third place on all-time catch list at Concord with 155 career receptions.

NO PITCH COUNT
Mangel finished the night 36-of-51 as he set the program record for single-game completions and attempts. The previous record for both marks was held by Albert Rose in 2012 against Shepherd as he went 30-for-50 against the Rams. Mangel's 36 completions are tied for the third-most in a Division II game this season while his 402 yards are sixth. Mangel targeted Bowie the most at Glenville State, but freshman running back Justin Lee was second on the team in receptions with eight for 55 yards. Lee became the first CU player with at least 50 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving in the same game since junior wide receiver Kris Copeland at West Virginia Wesleyan in 2018. Lee added 70 yards rushing. Combined with his 310 yards in the spring at WVWC, Mangel is the first Concord quarterback with 700 or more passing yards in a two-game stretch since Zack Grossi against Charleston and West Virginia State in September 2011.  Paced by Mangel's 402 yards passing, Concord's 452 yards of offense are the most in the MEC in a single game this season through two weeks.

FUMBLE FRENZY
Concord recovered four fumbles in Thursday's loss to extend its streak to 15 consecutive games with at least one turnover. Of the four loose balls that the Maroon and Gray jumped on, two came inside the Concord five-yard line. Senior defensive lineman Nathan Lease, junior linebacker Ty Maust, fifth-year senior linebacker Dwain Porterfield and senior defensive back Marcellus Saint all pounced on fumbles as Concord recovered the most fumbles in a single game since September 15, 2018 when CU recovered five fumbles at UVa.-Wise. Because of the fumbling, Concord limited GSC to just two scores in four trips inside the red zone—and just one touchdown.

GOING BACKWARDS
Led by Porterfield's 2.5 tackles for loss, Concord recorded nine tackles for loss against Glenville State with senior linebacker Tylen Fowler posting Concord's only sack of the game. With the nine TFLs resulting in 29 negative yards for Glenville State, the 74 net rushing yards allowed by the Mountain Lions were the fewest since September 2017 against UVa.-Wise when the Maroon and Gray gave up just 37 rushing yards in a 7-0 win over the Cavaliers. Furthermore, Thursday night's performance in the GSC backfield was the fourth time in the last five games dating back to 2019 that Concord has had at least eight TFLs—the only time not accomplishing that feat was in the spring at West Virginia Wesleyan when it had four TFLs.

HOME SWEET HOME
Saturday afternoon will be the second time in the last five years that Concord opens with West Virginia Wesleyan at home. To start the 2017 season, CU dropped a 23-18 decision to the Bobcats—also the last time WVWC had a victory over Concord. The last win at Callaghan Stadium for the Maroon and Gray was a 28-24 comeback victory over Wesleyan November 2, 2019. Pearce posted seven catches for 64 yards, both team highs as the Mountain Lions scored with 1:01 left in the contest. It took Fowler breaking up a pass on the goal line on the final play of the game for CU to seal the win. The Spartanburg, South Carolina native had a career-best 12 tackles two years ago against Wesleyan. From a home perspective, Concord will be looking to win its home opener for the first time 2016 when it knocked off West Liberty, 32-25.

HUNTING ORANGE
Since WVWC got out of Athens with a five-point victory in 2017, Concord has won three straight games over the Bobcats and 10 of the last 12 meetings. The last time WVWC won back-to-back games in the all-time series was 2007-08. The Mountain Lions won a pair of one-possession games, 34-31 in 2018 and the four-point margin in 2019, before racing by Wesleyan 52-14 in the spring. It was the largest margin of victory since a 52-7 win over West Virginia State to end the 2015 season. Besides Mangel amassing 310 passing yards and five touchdowns against the Bobcats in the spring, Pearce added a career-high tying 10 receptions and two touchdowns. Bowie also caught two touchdowns at Wesleyan. Lease notched a career-best eight tackles.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8- Catches made by Lee at Glenville State, the most receptions for a CU running back since Calvinaugh Jones had eight in the Division II Semifinals in 2014.

153- Receiving yards needed by Pearce to eclipse 2,000 for his career.

672- Days between Concord home games.

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
The Bobcats had a forfeit loss in their last game that was scheduled to be a home date against UNC-Pembroke. In the lone game Wesleyan has played this season, it dropped a 45-3 decision to Division I Drake. Freshman quarterback Nathan Payne completed nine passes for 129 yards. WVWC allowed 529 yards of offense with 304 of those coming from the Drake rushing attack—CU only gained 50 yards on the ground against Glenville State. Cameron Lomax racked up a team-best 11 tackles against Drake. Interim head coach Dwayne Martin was appointed to his current position at the beginning of July after five years as an assistant coach on the Wesleyan staff.