Concord Gears Up for Senior Day Against Notre Dame

Concord Stats - Notre Dame Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team plays host to Notre Dame 1:00 p.m. Saturday in the final regular season home game of the fall at Callaghan Stadium.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will handle live statistics and live streaming video for the game. 

Live Stats
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SERIES HISTORY: NDC leads 5-2

LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS NOTRE DAME
September 7, 2019: #4 Notre Dame 33 - Concord 10 (South Euclid, Ohio)
September 22, 2018: Notre Dame 47 - Concord 22 (Athens, W.Va.)
September 23, 2017: Notre Dame 44 - Concord 13 (South Euclid, Ohio)
October 15, 2016: Notre Dame 14 - Concord 10 (Athens, W.Va.)
October 17, 2015: Notre Dame 23 - Concord 21 (South Euclid, Ohio)

CONCORD AT AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 1-8
MEC Record: 1-7
Home Record: 1-4
Away Record: 0-4

SENIOR SHOWCASE
Among the group of seniors that will be recognized prior to the game are quarterback Jack Mangel, wide receiver Kris Copeland, defensive lineman Vonte Pannell, running back Thurlow Wilkins and offensive lineman Bo Rowland. In all, 13 Mountain Lions take to the Callaghan Stadium turf one last time. Mangel holds every major passing record at CU with the exception of passing yards. He needs 70 yards to surpass 9,000 for his career, and with two completions will reach 750. Copeland has appeared in 40 career games—the most active veteran Concord player. He needs 33 yards to reach 2,000 for his career to go with 191 receptions. Wilkins, an All-American last season, became CU's first 1,000-yard rusher in seven years after piling up 1,179 yards. Rowland, an anchor on the offensive line, has not missed a start at left tackle over the last two seasons and was named All-MEC Second Team a season ago. Pannell has put together a career year with 47 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two sacks. The other seniors are wide receiver Kyle Cooke, defensive back JaiMeer Goodman, running back Gerard Hearst wide receiver De'Andre Hicks, tight end Ethan Johnson, defensive lineman Delando Morris and defensive back Andre Williams.

FAST FINNEY
Sophomore running back TJ Finney put together quite the performance against West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday. The Mableton, Georgia native finished with 226 yards on 26 carries while scoring his first two career touchdowns with the Maroon and Gray. Finney busted off the sixth-most rushing yards in a single game in program history, and the second most in an MEC game this season. Only four running backs in program history have had a 200-yard rushing game with one of the others being Wilkins who ripped off 279 yards last season versus Charleston. The biggest run for Finney came on an 88-yard scamper in the fourth quarter which surpassed Calvinaugh Jones' 87-yard run in the 2014 NCAA Division II Playoffs versus West Chester as the longest run in program history.

GET TO THE QUARTERBACK
In the victory over WVWC, the CU defense showed out as it collected season highs in both sacks (five) and tackles for loss (10). The Mountain Lions had only had multiple sacks in one game this season—versus West Liberty. Five different Concord players picked up a sack in the game. Freshman defensive lineman Charles Green, graduate defensive lineman Vonte Pannell and junior linebacker Jamari Smith all posted their second sacks of the season while sophomore defensive lineman AJ Covington and freshman linebacker Brodee Rice added their first career sacks. Smith forced his second fumble of the season on his fourth-quarter sack.

AND THAT'S ANOTHER CONCORD FIRST DOWN
Concord converted a season-high 26 first downs in the contest versus West Virginia Wesleyan while hitting on 6-of-12 third-down conversions. CU was well balanced with 11 first downs coming on run plays with the other 15 being passing plays. The Mountain Lions' offense also put up a season-best 540 yards of offense while being even in the running game (270 yards) and passing game (270 yards). Notre Dame has been especially hard on the opposition this season as it only surrenders 30.4 percent of third-down conversions, second-best rate in the MEC. However, the Falcons are giving up 19.4 first downs per game, fourth most in the conference.

LONG TIME COMING
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a rotational conference schedule, the Mountain Lions meet NDC for the first time since the 2019 season opener, a 33-10 win for the then-fourth ranked Falcons who were on their way to the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals that year. Saturday will be just the eighth all-time meeting between CU and Notre Dame. Concord won the first two meetings, in 2013 and 2014, by a combined score of 81-28. However, the last five games have gone to Notre Dame. NDC's last trip into Athens, in 2018, saw Concord get out to a 22-17 halftime lead before the Falcons rattled off 30 unanswered points in the second half. Copeland and Pannell are the only Concord players that is on the current roster that was on the 2019 team.

ONE DIMENSIONAL
Concord's passing defense has been constantly improving throughout the fall as did not allow Wesleyan to complete its third pass of the game until after halftime. The CU secondary has allowed fewer than 200 yards through the air in three of the last four games—and only allowed 209 to Glenville State two weeks ago. Junior defensive back Kevin Howard tied his career high with two pass break-ups in Concord's win over Wesleyan. This season, Notre Dame is only throwing for 213.6 yards per game, seventh in the conference. Concord's pass defense is giving up the same number through the air, but over the last seven games is only allowing 194 yards passing per game.

GROUND GAME
After holding WVWC to 45 rushing yards for the game, the Mountain Lions seek to carry the run defense performance over against a run-heavy Notre Dame offense. The Falcons are bullish on the ground as they are one of three teams in the conference rushing for more than 200 yards per game, averaging 206 which is third in the MEC. CU held Wesleyan running backs to 13 yards in the game with the Bobcats' leading rusher being quarterback Quinton Pulley with 23 yards. Notre Dame's Idris Lawrence has already surpassed 1,000 yards on the ground with 1,019. He averages 6.1 yards per carry and 127 yards per game. Lawrence has ripped off six 100-yard games this season, including four straight games of at least 180 yards.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Concord and Notre Dame had arguably the two best defensive players in the MEC last season that they lost to graduation. Concord all-region linebacker Ty Maust led the MEC in tackles with 124 while NDC's Nathan Moore was the MEC Defensive Player of the Year with 122 tackles to go with 15 tackles for loss. The two standout linebackers have been replaced by Rice and Smith for CU and Nathan Rosario-Santos and Isaiah Stephens for Notre Dame. Smith has recorded seven or more tackles in all but one game this season, and has at least one tackles for loss in seven straight games. Smith is tied for second in the MEC in tackles (75). Rice's 57 tackles are tied for eighth in the conference. Stephens, a Coastal Carolina transfer, has amassed 70 tackles this season, fifth in the conference. Rosario-Santos is adding 60 tackles.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Copeland would be the third player in program history to reach 200 career receptions.

18- Games with at least 250 passing yards for Mangel

1,364- Snaps played at left tackle by Rowland over the last two seasons.

NOTRE DAME AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 6-3
MEC Record: 5-3
Home Record: 4-1
Away Record: 2-2

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Saturday concludes the 2023 season for the Falcons who will miss out on the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the first time since 2017. Deshawn Evans has taken over at quarterback for longtime signal caller Chris Brimm, who was under center from 2018-22. Evans has tossed just nine touchdowns this season while throwing seven interceptions. Seven of the nine games for Notre Dame have been decided by seven points or less. NDC hung on for a 28-25 win versus Wheeling last week.