Concord Stats -
West Virginia Wesleyan Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team welcomes West Virginia Wesleyan to Callaghan Stadium to close out the month of October in a Mountain East Conference game 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of Saturday's contest.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 24-14-1
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
September 17, 2022: Concord 34 - West Virginia Wesleyan 32 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
September 18, 2021: Concord 28 - West Virginia Wesleyan 25 (Athens, W.Va.)
March 27, 2021: Concord 52 - West Virginia Wesleyan 14 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
November 2, 2019: Concord 28 - West Virginia Wesleyan 24 (Athens, W.Va.)
September 1, 2018: Concord 34 - West Virginia Wesleyan 31 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 0-8
MEC Record: 0-7
Home Record: 0-4
Away Record: 0-4
FLYING AROUND
At Glenville State, the Mountain Lions intercepted two passes for the first time this season, and the first time since last year's win at home over Alderson Broaddus. In fact, CU had back-to-back games of two interceptions in 2022 versus Alderson Broaddus and Wheeling. Junior defensive back
Kevin Howard collected his third career interception—the first two came in succession versus ABU and WU last fall. And sophomore defensive back
Rodric Vaughn notched his first career interception in the second half at Glenville State. In the last three games, CU has held the opposition to an average of 132 passing yards. Meanwhile, West Virginia Wesleyan enters Saturday throwing for 126.6 yards per game.
RARE COMPANY
Sixth-year wide receiver
Kris Copeland tallied his third double-digit reception game of the season by hauling in 10 passes for 52 yards against Glenville State—Copeland started the year with an 11-catch game versus Emory & Henry and added 12 receptions two weeks later versus West Virginia State. Copeland is now up to 178 catches in his career, nine behind Thomas Mayo (2009-11) for third in program history. Copeland also went over 1,800 career receiving yards at GSU, and needs 181 to become the eighth player in program history reach 2,000 yards. Going into Saturday, only 16 active Division II receivers have topped 2,000 yards. In three career games versus WVWC, Copeland has eight receptions for 189 yards, but has rushed 33 times for 288 yards, including a career-best 141 as a true freshman in 2018.
NEW FACES
Freshman defensive back
Kendall Bournes and junior linebacker
Jamari Smith tied for the team lead in tackles at Glenville State as each had nine stops. Smith remains second in the MEC in tackles (68) while Bournes is tied with freshman linebacker
Brodee Rice (53) for eighth in the MEC. CU got contributions Saturday from sophomore defensive back
Trennon Mitchell who posted a career-best eight stops. Hampered by injuries throughout his career, Mitchell has only played in eight games over the two seasons after being injured in the first game of the 2021 season. However, he has 16 tackles in three games this season, including 14 the last two weeks. Junior defensive lineman
Bryan Maddox racked up a career-high seven tackles at Glenville State. Maddox played in just his sixth game on the defensive side of the ball after converting from tight end.
MOVING UP
On Saturday, senior wide receiver
Alvin Howard continued his steady season as he caught his fifth touchdown pass, a 10-yard strike from senior quarterback
Jack Mangel on what was Mangel's 75
th career touchdown. Howard is now tied with Copeland for fifth in the MEC in touchdown receptions in 2023. Only West Liberty's duo of Rashawn Harvey (eight) and Chris Charles (seven) and Charleston's Tae Marrero (eight) and Marquan Herron (four) have caught more touchdown passes as teammates than Copeland and Howard this fall. Howard has caught at least three passes in six of the seven games he has played this year.
SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE
West Virginia Wesleyan (57.9) and Concord (37.3) are 10
th and 11
th in the MEC in rushing offense per game this year, but both rushing defenses are 10
th (Concord/223.0) and 11
th (WVWC/259.3) in the conference. In last year's 34-32 win at West Virginia Wesleyan, CU ran for 207 yards with senior running back
Thurlow Wilkins gaining 89 yards on 16 carries. Copeland rushed six times for 77 yards. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions held WVWC to 59 yards on 34 attempts, just over 1.5 yards per carry. Both ground games found success two seasons ago with Wesleyan running for 187 yards while the Concord rushed for 129 yards in a 28-25 victory.
PASSING PRESENCE
In three career games versus West Virginia Wesleyan, Mangel has moved the ball through the air with ease. The Athens, Georgia native has passed for at least 260 yards in all three games while throwing four or more touchdowns in all three contests. In last year's game at WVWC, Mangel amassed 368 yards through the air to go with four touchdowns. His career total versus the Bobcats is 70-for-110 with 946 yards and 13 touchdowns. Mangel's passing yards average of 315.3 in three games versus WVWC is the second-highest average of any opponent in his career. He has thrown for an average of 378.3 yards versus West Virginia State in three games.
FINAL WHISTLE
Dating back to the 2011 season, the Mountain Lions have won 10 of the last 11 games versus West Virginia Wesleyan. CU is 6-1 versus the Bobcats since 2016, but five of those wins have come by four or fewer points, including last year's two-point triumph. The Maroon and Gray scored all 34 points in the first half, and needed an interception inside the Concord 45-yard line with less than 90 seconds remaining to halt a potential game-winning drive by the Bobcats. CU collected a season-best five sacks in the win. A similar storyline broke out two years ago at Concord as the Mountain Lions sprinted out to a 28-12 halftime lead before holding a second-half rally by the Bobcats in a 28-25 victory. Wesleyan missed a game-tying field goal with 1:40 remaining in that particular game.
CLASS OF KICKING
The best punter in the MEC meets one of the best kickers in the conference this weekend as graduate punter
Josh Hutley and WVWC kicker Liam Depp square off. Hutley is coming off the Glenville State game where he managed a 37.6 average on six punts—his worst average of the year. But, his season average of 43.4 still ranks eighth nationally. Hutley did manage a 59-yard punt at Glenville State. Meanwhile, Depp is 9-for-11 this season on field goal attempts, including 4-for-4 from 40 yards and beyond. Depp connected on a 50-yard try against West Virginia State earlier this year, and is one 13 kickers in Division II with at least a 50-yard field goal.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2- Bournes and Rice are the only two freshmen among the top 25 tacklers in the MEC this season.
340- Yards needed by Mangel to reach 9,000 for his career
1,006- Combined offensive yardage between CU (575) and Wesleyan (431) last year.
WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 0-7
MEC Record: 0-6
Home Record: 0-4
Away Record: 0-3
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Wesleyan's only win over the three seasons is a 31-30 triumph at Alderson Broaddus last October. Nathan Payne and Quinton Pulley have split time at quarterback this season. Payne has not played in the last two games. The top target in the passing game is Nate Garnett who ranks fifth in the MEC with 466 receiving yards on 29 receptions, seventh highest in the league. Both signal callers have a completion rate at or under 50 percent on the season. The Bobcats' defense has forced nine fumbles while recovering five.
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