Concord Stats -
UNC-Pembroke Stats -
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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team looks to keep its NCAA Division II Playoff hopes alive Saturday when it faces UNC-Pembroke 4:00 p.m. on the road at Grace P. Johnson Stadium in the final regular season game.
LIVE COVERAGE
The UNC-Pembroke Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of Saturday's game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Tied 4-4
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
November 13, 2021: Concord 28 - UNC-Pembroke 25 (Athens, W.Va.)
October 20, 2018: UNC-Pembroke 48 - Concord 34 (Pembroke, W.Va.)
October 21, 2017: Concord 31 - UNC-Pembroke 22 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 12, 2016: UNC-Pembroke 19 - Concord 18 (Pembroke, W.Va.)
October 30, 2010: Concord 30 - UNC-Pembroke 26 (Athens, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 8-2
MEC Record: 7-2
Home Record: 4-1
Away Record: 4-1
ON THE CUSP
At 8-2 this season, Concord has already secured its first winning season since 2014. The Mountain Lions enter Saturday's game eighth in Super Region One which is one spot outside of the necessary slot to make the national postseason. Along with winning Saturday at UNCP, a place Concord has won just once in four tries in program history, the Maroon and Gray will most likely need someone in the top seven to lose to move into playoff position. Seventh-ranked Gannon hosts Shippensburg Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Sixth-ranked Notre Dame travels to Alderson Broaddus in an MEC contest. Fifth-rated Slippery Rock takes on 10
th-ranked Kutztown.
INTO THE RECORD BOOK
This past week's contest against Alderson Broaddus was a record-setting one for junior wide receiver
Jarod Bowie and senior quarterback
Jack Mangel. Bowie broke single-season program records in all three major receiving marks: receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. Bowie's 94 receptions are seven better than Kory Wright's total from 2001. The Martinsburg, West Virginia native went over 1,500 receiving yards as he eclipsed the 1,369 yards posted by Thomas Mayo in 2009. And Bowie started the game tied with Mayo's 14 touchdowns from 2010 before finding the end zone three times—the fifth straight game with multiple touchdowns. Meanwhile, Mangel broke Brian Novak's record of 33 touchdowns in 2014 as his three touchdowns to Bowie brings his season total to 35. Mangel also surpassed his own mark of 251 completions from last season as he sets at 252. Mangel is first in Division II in passing touchdowns and yards (3,296). Bowie is first in touchdowns and yards (1,561).
DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
The Mountain Lions pitched a shutout for 39 minutes before Alderson Broaddus got on the board with two second-half touchdowns. Concord held the Battlers to 116 yards which established a new single-game program low for yards allowed. In fact, ABU had negative yards against Concord in the third quarter before a 77-yard scoring drive. The Maroon and Gray tied its season high with five sacks as junior defensive lineman
Tyree Martin and graduate defensive lineman
Sayrend Musgrove both had 1.5 sacks. Martin also had a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss. As a unit, Concord tallied 13 tackles for loss—the most since November 2014 when it had 14 at UVa.-Wise.
BEEN WAITING FOR THIS
With 136 yards rushing versus AB, junior running back
Thurlow Wilkins went over 1,000 yards rushing. The Avon Park, Florida native became the first CU rusher since Calvinaugh Jones (1,124) in 2015. Concord had a string of 1,000-yard rushers in four of six seasons from 2010-2015, but had to wait seven years for its next 1,000-yard gainer. Additionally, Wilkins took back the rushing lead in the MEC from Fairmont State's Myles Miree (1,038-1,031). Wilkins was also a threat in the passing game as he posted career highs in both receptions (four) and yards (47) against AB. By scoring three times Saturday, Wilkins also became the first CU player with 10 or more rushing touchdowns since Jones in 2015.
INSTANT IMPACT
Sophomore defensive back
Kevin Howard received his first career start against Wheeling two weeks ago, and has made the most of his opportunity. After his first career interception went for a touchdown versus the Cardinals, Howard backed it up Saturday with another interception and four tackles to go with a pass break-up. Howard joins teammate and senior defensive back
Marcellus Saint as CU players with an interception in consecutive games this season. Saint had picks against Glenville State and West Virginia Wesleyan in September before adding his team-best third interception versus AB. Saint moved into a tie for sixth in the MEC in interceptions.
SACK MASTERS
Saturday's road game showcases the top three sack leaders in the MEC. UNCP's duo of Tyreke King (9.5) and Branden Spencer (7.5) are first and second in the league in sacks with Concord fifth-year senior defensive lineman
Dajor Davenport tied for second in sacks. Davenport has three sacks in his last two contests and is now at 14.5 sacks for his career. With 1.5 sacks versus Alderson Broaddus, Musgrove moved up into a tie for 12
th in the MEC in quarterback takedowns with four. UNC-Pembroke (28) and CU (27) are second and third in the league in sacks. Martin is up to three sacks after Saturday while senior defensive lineman
Noah Overstreet has 2.5 sacks.
TAKE IT AWAY
Concord jumped out to a 14-0 lead on UNC-Pembroke last season before holding on for a 28-25 win. The win was keyed by a strip sack on the goal line with 10 seconds left from Overstreet. Despite allowing 454 yards, the Mountain Lion defense forced a 2021-high six turnovers (five fumbles and an interception). Graduate defensive back
Rashon Lusane collected a career-high 13 tackles and forced one of the five fumbles. Graduate linebacker
Ty Maust had eight more tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Mangel was held to 209 yards as he threw for two touchdowns and had a sneak for a one-yard rushing touchdown. Junior running back
Kris Copeland netted 82 offensive yards on eight touches (three rushes, five receptions).
GET OFF THE FIELD
After giving up eight first downs on third down against Wheeling, Concord's defense buckled down to hold Alderson Broaddus to 1-of-14 on third down. It was the first time holding an opponent to one or no third-down conversions since West Virginia Wesleyan was 1-for-14 against the Mountain Lions during the 2015 season. This season, CU has the second best third-down defense (28.6) in the MEC and ranks 14
th nationally in third-down rate by the opponent. Meanwhile, UNC-Pembroke is only converting on 27.5 percent on its third-down tries as the Braves rank 11
th in the MEC.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
10- Tackles needed by Maust to move into the top five in program history in single-season tackles. He starts the weekend with an MEC-leading 108.
20- Times that Bowie was targeted last week against Alderson Broaddus.
409- Yards that UNCP quarterback Josh Jones accounted for last season at CU (360 passing, 49 passing).
UNC-PEMBROKE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 5-5
MEC Record: 4-5
Home Record: 4-0
Away Record: 1-5
SCOUTING THE BRAVES
UNCP is in the middle of the pack in the MEC in both scoring defense (sixth / 26.0) and rushing defense (eighth / 159.5), but boasts one of the best passing defenses in the conference as it allows the second fewest passing yards per game (201.8). The only quarterback to top the 250-yard mark on the Braves' secondary was Javonte Howard of Charleston who threw for 322 three weeks ago. Virgil Lemons leads the UNC-Pembroke back end with three interceptions. UNCP quarterback Josh Jones is fifth in the MEC in passing with 1,844 yards, but has 10 interceptions and 10 touchdowns. Linebacker M
