Concord Clashes with Frostburg State in Battle of Unbeatens

Concord Stats - Frostburg State Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team plays a second consecutive road game when it faces Frostburg State at Bobcat Stadium 1:00 p.m. Saturday in a Mountain East Conference clash.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Frostburg State Sports Information Department will provide live streaming video and live statistics of the contest. Additonally, the game can be heard locally in western Maryland on 99.5 WDZN or streaming at this link. 

Live Audio
Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Frostburg State leads 2-0

ALL-TIME MEETINGS
September 25, 2021: Frostburg State 42 - Concord 23 (Athens, W.Va.)
September 14, 2019: Frostburg State 52 - Concord 14 (Athens, W.Va.)

CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 3-0
MEC Record: 2-0
Home Record: 1-0
Away Record: 2-0

HOT START
Saturday will be a matchup of the last two unbeaten teams in the Mountain East Conference as both teams are 3-0. The Mountain Lions are off to their best start since 2014 when they won their first 13 games. This is the latest in the season that Concord has matched up against a fellow unbeaten team since the 2009 season when 3-0 CU matched up against 3-0 Charleston. The 2022 3-0 start comes after a 34-32 win over West Virginian Wesleyan Saturday. The total yards (575) were the most for the Maroon and Gray since November 2016 at West Virginia State, and the 34 points are the second-most in the 14-game tenure of head coach Dave Walker.

LEAGUE LEADERS
Senior quarterback Jack Mangel, the reigning MEC Offensive Player of the Week, recorded his sixth career game of at least 350 yards passing as he threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia Wesleyan. The Athens, Georgia native completed 27-of-35 passes. Not to be outdone, junior wide receiver Jarod Bowie hauled in nine receptions for 206 yards and his third touchdown of the season. Bowie set a career high for yards with second career 200-yard game. Mangel leads the MEC in passing yards (757) and is second in touchdown (seven). Meanwhile, Bowie is first in receiving yards (354) in the conference, and second in touchdowns. Frostburg State's Jordan Marcucci has five touchdowns to lead all receivers.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
Concord's defense collected five sacks on Saturday as senior defensive lineman Noah Overstreet tallied two quarterback takedowns. Overstreet became the second active CU player with a two-sack game, joining fifth-year senior defensive lineman Dajor Davenport who had three sacks versus West Virginia State. The five sacks for CU were the most since September 2017 against UVa.-Wise. The Maroon and Gray was stingy in the run game at Wesleyan as they limited the Bobcats to 59 yards. CU had 10 tackles for loss Saturday which matches the most since November 2019. Fifth-year senior linebacker Tylen Fowler had two tackles for loss Saturday, and is now fifth in the MEC in TFLs (4.0). Davenport is fourth with 4.5 TFLs.

RUNNING GAME
The Mountain Lions' run defense is second in the vaulted up to second in the MEC in rushing yards allowed per game after Saturday's contest. CU is allowing 109 yards per game. However, the rushing defense will be tested this week as it faces a Frostburg State team that is averaging 226 yards per game on the ground, second in the MEC, and top 20 in Division II. The Bobcats' running game is led by former Concord rusher Josh Maxwell who is the only player in the MEC averaging more than 100 yards per game on the ground (112.3). CU has 22 tackles for loss this season, and is holding opponents to 2.9 yards per carry.

RUNNING GAME PART II
Concord gained 207 rushing yards at West Virginia Wesleyan which were the most since the 2018 season when it had 207 yards against Urbana in the final game of the season, highlighted by 176 yards by Maxwell. At WVWC, junior running back Thurlow Wilkins had 89 yards on the ground while senior running back Kris Copeland broke off CU's longest run of the year, a second-quarter 50-yard touchdown. CU is averaging 155.7 rushing yards per game. Similar to CU, Frostburg State is top three in the MEC in run defense as its holding opponents to 112 yards on the ground. In last year's game, FSU gained 171 rushing yards on the ground to Concord's 44.

DON'T SACK JACK
In addition to leading the way for CU's hot start on the ground, the offensive line has kept Mangel upright through three sacks having not surrendered a sack. The group of junior left tackle Bo Rowland, fifth-year senior left guard Saul Robles, fifth-year senior center Josh Ramos, fifth-year senior right guard Davis Roberson and junior right tackle Kelechi Okoro is one of 10 offensive lines to have not allowed a sack this season in Division II. A year after leading the MEC in sacks with 53, Frostburg State has just three sacks in three games. Luke Freeman has accounted for two of three FSU sacks. 

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Though Bowie notched nine catches against West Virginia Wesleyan, Mangel found nine different receivers among his 27 completions, including redshirt freshman wide receiver Solomon Butler and freshman wide receiver Tyson Jarrell both had their first career touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Cayden Chambers finished second on the team with five receptions. The last time at least nine receivers caught at least one pass in a game was September 2015 against West Virginia Wesleyan at Callaghan Stadium. A total of 11 different CU receivers have at least one reception in 2022.

GAME SAVER
With West Virginia Wesleyan driving to potentially to take the lead in the fourth quarter on Saturday, senior defensive back Marcellus Saint made his second interception with less than 1:20 left in the contest to secure the win. It was the second straight game that Saint made a fourth-quarter pick. The last CU player with an interception in back-to-back games since Akil Bordelon in September 2016 against Urbana and West Virginia Wesleyan.

PAST HISTORY
Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between Concord and Frostburg State with the Bobcats winning the first two meetings in Athens in 2019 and 2021. Last year, Mangel threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-23 setback. In his last full game of 2021, Bowie hauled in seven catches for 104 yards before a season-ending injury the following week at Fairmont State. Graduate defensive back Rashon Lusane notched nine tackles and two TFLs while Saint had eight tackles and his only interception of 2021 against Frostburg State.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
9- Years since CU has played a game in the state of Maryland, a 16-10 loss at Bowie State.

26- National ranking for Frostburg State in the Top 25 Poll as they are the first team receiving votes.

87- Yards needed by Mangel to hit 4,000 passing yards for his career.

FROSTBURG STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 3-0
MEC Record: 2-0
Home Record: 2-0
Away Record: 1-0

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Frostburg State went to second string quarterback Isaiah Lester to rally past Charleston last week after starter Graham Walker was forced to leave the game. Lester tossed three touchdowns—all to Marcucci—as he led a second-half charge to rally FSU to a 34-28 win. Frostburg State has won 10 straight games with its last loss coming against nationally-ranked Notre Dame in November 2019. Wylan Harich is the reigning MEC Defensive Player of the Week after intercepting two passes at UC. Harich opened the season with two picks in a 21-7 win over American International. Half of Marcucci's receptions have been for touchdowns.