Concord Stats -
Wheeling Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team closes the regular season with the first of two consecutive home games when it hosts Wheeling 1:00 p.m. Saturday at Callaghan Stadium in a Mountain East Conference game.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live statistics and live video of the game. Jason Reed and Steve Cox will have the call on MECTV.
Live Stats
Live Video.
ALL-TIME MEETINGS VERSUS WHEELING
September 23, 2023: Wheeling 44 - Concord 27 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
October 29, 2022: Concord 62 - Wheeling 31 (Athens, W.Va.)
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: 1-8
MEC Record: 1-6
Home Record: 0-4
Away Record: 1-4
DYNAMIC DUO
In Saturday's loss at Fairmont State, the Mountain Lions had two players top the century mark in receiving yards. Sophomore wide receiver
Jake Roberts continued his recent strong play by grabbing a career-high eight passes for 136 yards. Most of freshman wide receiver
Marcus Striggles' production came in the second half as he snared six receptions for 103 yards. Saturday marked the first time that CU had two receivers reach 100 yards since 2022 at West Virginia State. Roberts has 14 receptions for 295 yards and two touchdowns over his last two games. In the first seven games of the season, Roberts only had 12 catches for 105 yards. Striggles continues to be in the top five in the MEC in receptions as he starts Week 10 with 40 catches, third in the conference.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
Concord tallied three interceptions at FSU with junior defensive back
Cole McKinney and freshman defensive back
Cartaveon Valentine both registering their first career interceptions. Sophomore defensive back
Nehemiah Scott had an interception for the second straight week. Over the last three weeks, the Mountain Lions have seven interceptions which is the most interceptions in a three-game span since October 2014 when CU recorded eight interceptions. All of last season, CU only had seven interceptions and now has eight this fall. Individually, sophomore defensive back
Kendall Bournes and Scott are two of 21 players in the MEC that have multiple interceptions in 2024. Additionally, the Mountain Lions are third in the MEC in passing yards allowed per game (200.8).
BROWN'S TOWN
For the third consecutive game, senior running back
JQ Brown rushed for more than 100 yards as he clipped off 131 yards on 28 carries at Fairmont State. Brown has amassed 455 yards and is averaging 6.1 yards per carry over the last three contests. The 455 yards on the ground are the most for a Mountain Lion running back since Thurlow Wilkins in October 2022. Even though Brown only ranks seventh in the MEC in rushing yards for the season (563), the Augusta, Georgia native is fifth in the league in rushing yards per game (70.4) as he has only played in eight games. Brown seeks to continue his success against a Wheeling run defense that is middle of the pack in the MEC, allowing 156 yards per game which is sixth.
LET IT FLY
For the second time this season, graduate kicker/punter
Josh Hutley made two field goals in the same game as he connected on field goals of 42 and 22 yards at Fairmont State. The Geelong, Australia native registered a new career high for field goal distance when he converted from 42 yards on CU's opening drive of the game. Hutley became the first Mountain Lion with a 40-plus yard field goal since
Mor Ilderton at West Virginia State in 2022. And Hutley continued his usual steady play in the punting game as he averaged at least 40 yards per punt for the seventh time this season. By averaging 40 or more yards on punts versus Wheeling, he will match his 40-yard game average from 2023 when he also had eight.
KICK IT SHORT
Saturday's contest features two of the best kick returners in the MEC in Concord freshman wide receiver
Jeremiah Valdry and Wheeling's Tre Holloway. Valdry's 703 kickoff return yards leads the conference and his return yards are also the fourth most in a single season at CU. The Marietta, Georgia native has three games of at least 100 kickoff return yards this season, including 106 at FSU this past week. Meanwhile, Holloway is just one of two players in the MEC with multiple kickoff returns for scores this season. Holloway ran back two kickoffs in a 52-49 shootout loss to Fairmont State in September. Holloway's 28.1 kickoff return average is second in the MEC behind Frostburg State's Jordan Marcucci (28.9).
PASSING PROWESS
In the last three meetings with Wheeling, CU has had success in the passing game throwing for at least 220 yards. Last year at Wheeling and in 2022 at Callaghan Stadium, Concord racked up 363 and 361 yards through the air. With the emergence of Roberts and the steady of play of Striggles, sophomore quarterback
Kameron Howard has thrown for 658 yards over the last two games. Furthermore, Howard became the first Concord quarterback to complete at least 20 passes this season as he finished 21-for-45 for 292 yards at Fairmont State. On the other side, Wheeling comes to Athens allowing 256.1 passing yards per game which is the second most in the MEC. Wheeling has been better in the secondary of late, limiting the opposition to 225 or fewer yards in three of the last four games.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Two of the previous four games versus Wheeling have been decided in the closing minutes. In the first meeting in 2019, the Cardinals scored with 3:24 remaining to win 27-20 after Concord had stormed back from a 20-6 deficit in the fourth quarter. Three years ago at Wheeling, the Mountain Lions held a 14-9 halftime lead, but were stymied in the second half, and Wheeling kicked two fourth-quarter field goals to win 15-14. The only touchdown in the 2021 contest for WU was an interception return 95 yards in the first half. As for this season, Wheeling has played the most one-possession games in the MEC with seven games decided by one score and five games decided by three points or less.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
45- Pass attempts by Howard at Fairmont State were the fourth most in an MEC game this season.
90- Kickoff yards needed by Valdry to break the single-season program record, currently held by Eddie Rivers (793/2001).
133- Combined tackles from WU's Jack Parry (68) and Concord sophomore linebacker
Ryker Brown (65) as the top tacklers in the MEC.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 4-5
MEC Record: 3-4
Home Record: 1-4
Away Record: 3-1
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Not only is Holloway one of the best kick returners in the MEC, but he is also one of the top pass catchers. Holloway is second in the conference in receptions with 47 and his 703 receiving yards are tied for second. Opening game starting quarterback Javon Davis hasn't played since October 12 at Charleston. Landon Lutz has thrown eight touchdowns and two interceptions in the three games in the absence of Davis. Stevie Mitchel paces the WU ground game with 597 yards and five touchdowns. Dawuan Green has found the end zone seven times. Jack Parry leads the MEC in tackles with 68.
