Concord Returns Home to Oppose Wheeling in Pivotal MEC Showdown

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

ATHENS, W. Va. - The Concord University football team looks to rebound from a 56-38 loss at West Virginia State when it welcomes Wheeling to Callaghan Stadium 12:00 p.m. Saturday in a Mountain East Conference showdown of 6-2 teams.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord Univeristy Sports Information Department will provide live in-game statistics as well as live streaming video of Saturday's game. Additionally, WVVA will broadcast the game on the NBC Channel 6 locally in southern West Virginia. Josh Widman and Jon Surratt will have the call. 

Live Stats
Live Video
WVVA Broadcast

SERIES HISTORY: Wheeling leads 2-0

ALL-TIME MEETINGS
October 30, 2021: Wheeling 15 - Concord 14 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
November 16, 2019: Wheeling 27 - Concord 20 (Athens, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 6-2
MEC Record: 5-2
Home Record: 2-1
Away Record: 4-1

ANOTHER CAREER DAY
Despite losing at West Virginia State Saturday afternoon, CU's offense continued to roll up yards on the offensive side of the ball as it finished with 552. Concord's 475.5 yards per game is tops in the MEC and eighth in Division II this season. The offense was paced by junior quarterback Jack Mangel at WVSU as the Athens, Georgia native set a career high with 450 passing yards which is the seventh most in a Division II game this season. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Solomon Butler continued his upward trajectory with career highs in both catches (10) and yards (154). Senior running back Kris Copeland hauled in a game-best 11 receptions for 99 yards which established a new career high in catches for the Summerville, South Carolina native.

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Mangel goes into the weekend with a comfortable lead in the MEC in passing yards (2,595) as no other MEC signal caller has topped 2,000 passing yards. Junior wide receiver Jarod Bowie leads Division II in receiving yards (1,073) and has a near 500-yard lead in receiving in the MEC with Charleston's Marquan Herron the closest at 590. And with 88 rushing yards Saturday, junior running back Thurlow Wilkins took over the MEC lead in rushing—by three yards (803-800)—over Fairmont State's Myles Miree. The last time Concord had either the top or runner-up passer, receiver and rusher in the MEC in the same season was 2014 when Calvinaugh Jones finished as the top rusher (1,732), Brian Novak was second in passing (3,725) and TJ Smith was the leading receiver (1,157). 

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Graduate linebacker Ty Maust put together one of his best performances in a Concord uniform as he collected a career-best 16 tackles and a tackle for loss at West Virginia State. He became the first CU player with at least 15 tackles in a contest since October 2019 when Dwain Porterfield had 15 stops versus Fairmont State. The 16 tackles were the most for a Concord player since Dominic Wilson posted 19 tackles at Charleston in September 2017. With Saturday's outing, Maust moved into a tie for third in the conference in tackles with 81. Additionally, Maust has blown past his tackle total from last year when he had 62, and Concord's top tackler from a season ago was graduate defensive back Rashon Lusane who had 68 stops.

EMERGING STARS
With Bowie attracting attention all fall, Butler as well as Copeland and junior wide receiver Cayden Chambers have stepped up to make important catches for the Maroon and Gray. Over the last three games, Butler has 23 of his 33 receptions for the season and has racked up 290 yards and two touchdowns. Copeland has at least three receptions in seven of eight games this season, and over the last three games he has posted 21 receptions for 272 yards and three touchdowns. And Chambers has made a habit of turning his catches into touchdowns. The Murrietta, California native is averaging a touchdown on every fifth reception this fall as he has 25 catches for 325 yards and five scores, including a fourth-down touchdown Saturday at West Virginia State.

CAUTION: EXPLOSIVES
Over the last two games, Concord has recorded 22 explosive plays which are classified as runs of 15 yards or more or pass plays totaling at least 20 yards. Over 35 percent of the explosive plays have gone for touchdowns (8-of-22). Wilkins has eight rushes of at least 15 yards over the last two contests. Bowie has made five catches going for 20 or more yards. Butler has four grabs of at least 20 yards. Copeland is adding three explosive plays and Chambers has one in each game. And of the 22 explosive plays, 13 of those have gone for at least 25 yards. Last year in a 15-14 loss at Wheeling, Concord only had three explosive plays.

SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
Concord seeks to put together its fourth consecutive game of at least 500 yards of offense—it would be the first time accomplishing the feat since 2014. However, the Mountain Lions will go up against one of the best defenses in the MEC. The Cardinals have the second best defense in the MEC in terms of yards allowed (328.3) and are one of three teams in the conference holding teams to 20 points or less (20.9). Since being held to a season-low 65 yards on the ground to open the season at Emory & Henry, the Mountain Lions have topped 100 yards rushing in six of the seven games since. However, Wheeling is the only team in the MEC holding opponents under 100 yards rushing (86.8). The last two Wheeling opponents, Frostburg State and West Liberty, were up to move the ball versus WU on the ground with 190 and 155 yards rushing, respectively.

A DEEPER DIVE
Mangel and the CU passing game is averaging 324.4 yards through the air, and Wheeling has been a bit vulnerable through air as it gives up 241.5 passing yards per game. Concord's passing game will have its work cut out though as the tandem of Kelvin Bazemore and Rich White each have eight pass break-ups—tied for third in the MEC—and have combined for five interceptions. And the WU secondary has an MEC-leading 14 interceptions. Furthermore, Wheeling's defense has the fifth-most sack in the league with 17, led by Caleb Grant's five.

DEFENSIVE MINDED
Last year's 15-14 win for Wheeling featured just two offensive touchdowns, both by Concord on Mangel throws. WU won using a defensive touchdown, a safety and two field goals as it rallied from a 14-9 deficit. Maust led the Concord defense with 12 tackles. Graduate linebacker Tylen Fowler piled up eight tackles. Both fifth-year senior defensive lineman Dajor Davenport and senior defensive lineman Noah Overstreet each had a sack. Davenport now has 12.5 sacks in his career, and his next sack will push him into the top three in program history in sacks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
8- By surpassing 1,000 receiving yards, Bowie became the eighth player in program history to go over 1,000 yards in a season.

42- Longest field goal of the season for Concord by freshman kicker Mor Ilderton at West Virginia State

623- Total combined offense in last year's Concord-Wheeling game.

WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 6-2
MEC Record: 5-2
Home Record: 3-1
Away Record: 3-1

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
While the Wheeling defense has grabbed headlines this year, the Cardinals' offense is averaging 33 points per game. Sy Alli has rushed for 743 yards and a conference-leading 10 touchdowns. Eli Young has gained 628 yards on the ground. No one in the MEC rushes for more yards than Wheeling's 183.3 yards per game. Javon Davis has thrown for 1,658 yards and 13 touchdowns. And while the Wheeling secondary has been strong all season, linebacker Jason Simon is the leading tackler with 51—12^th in the MEC.