Concord Stats -
UVa.-Wise Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University football team plays its second of two home games to start the season when it hosts UVa.-Wise in a non-conference clash at Callaghan Stadium 3:00 p.m. Saturday. It will be the final non-conference game of the season for CU.
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 of the game of MECTV.
Live Stats
Live Video
TICKETING INFORMATION
General admission tickets will be sold at the main gate ticket booth for $10 on game day. $5 is the charge for students and Concord students receive free admission. Game programs are avaiable inside the gate for $5. All gameday fees, including concessions, is cash only.
GAME PROMOTION
Any child attending the game with a
youth sports jersey on receives free admission along with their family members.
SERIES HISTORY: Tied 5-5
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VERSUS UVA.-WISE
September 15, 2018: UVa.-Wise 35 - Concord 20 (Wise, Va.)
September 14, 2017: Concord 7 - UVa.-Wise 0 (Athens, W.Va.)
October 6, 2016: UVa.-Wise 30 - Concord 19 (Wise, Va.)
October 10, 2015: Concord 63 - UVa.-Wise 21 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 1, 2014: #15 Concord 30 - UVa.-Wise 13 (Wise, Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 0-1
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-1
Away Record: 0-0
RUN THE ROCK
In a 22-13 defeat against Bluefield State in the season opener, the Mountain Lions leaned on junior running back
TJ Finney as the Mableton, Georgia native ripped off 137 yards on 28 carries. Finney racked up his second career 100-yard rushing game, and over his last four games dating back to last season, Finney has totaled 390 yards on the ground. The 28 times that Finney carried the ball against BSU were the most rushing attempt for a CU running back since Calvinaugh Jones rushed 32 times at Notre Dame in October 2015. Additionally, Finney is in the top 40 in Division II in rushing, despite the fact that some teams have already played two games.
THIRD PHASE
The Concord special teams shined Saturday afternoon with positive performances in the kicking and return game. In the kicking game, graduate kicker/punter
Josh Hutley had his first career game of making two or more field goals. Hutley was just 1-of-2 on field-goal attempts last season. The Geelong, Australia also averaged 48 yards on his four punts, including a 69-yard boot in the first half. It was the third career punt for Hutley that has traveled 60 or more yards. In the return game, sophomore wide receiver
Jake Roberts had the second-longest return of his career with a 19-yard scamper on a BSU punt. Roberts ranks ninth in Division II in punt return average at 16.5 yards. Meanwhile, freshman wide receiver
Jeremiah Valdry made an impact in the kick return game by rattling off 21.3 yards per return, eighth in the Mountain East Conference after two weeks.
SPREAD THE WEALTH
In his first collegiate start, graduate quarterback
Blayne Ferguson connected with six different receivers on his 19 completions. Junior wide receiver
Jakari Clark was the top target in his first career game at CU with six receptions for 75 yards. Finney added four receptions for 26 yards to go with his stellar day on the ground. Saturday marked the 14
th straight game that at least six different players have caught at least one pass for Concord, dating back to the 2022 season. Freshman wide receiver
Eric Hart hauled in a fourth-down pass for his lone reception that went for 25 yards—the second-longest completion of the afternoon for the Ferguson and the CU offense.
ONE DIMENSION
The stout Concord defense turned Bluefield State into a passing offense by holding the Big Blues to 88 rushing yards. In fact, BSU was held to 27 rushing yards in the first half. The lack of rushing yards for Bluefield State was due in part to the Mountain Lions living in the backfield as they registered nine tackles for loss. Freshman defensive lineman
Jacorey Jackson led the way with 2.5 tackles for loss in his first career game. Graduate linebacker
Jamari Smith picked up where he left off last season with 1.5 TFLs while recording his third career forced fumble in the Maroon and Gray. CU's run defense ranks third in the MEC as it is one of three teams to hold an opponent under 100 rushing yards this season in the conference.
A CLOSE FOE
While Saturday will only be the 11
th all-time meeting between Concord and UVa.-Wise, the two schools are only separated by 114 miles. The last meeting came in 2018 when the Cavaliers secured a 35-20 win at Carl Smith Stadium. The last time the Mountain Lions hosted UVa.-Wise, the result was Concord setting a program record with 10 sacks in a 7-0 win at Callaghan Stadium in 2017. The only touchdown scored was an interception return for CU, and it is also the last time a Concord defense pitched a shutout. The home team has won the last four meetings in the series, dating back to the Mountain Lions' 30-13 win at UVa.-Wise in November 2014 when the Cavaliers were still an MEC member.
SCORING CHANCES
Even though Concord was only able to find the end zone once versus Bluefield State, CU did score points in all three trips to the red zone Saturday. Furthermore, the Mountain Lion converted a second-quarter fumble recovery by junior defensive back
Khwan Mickens into a field goal. The Mountain Lions only had 21 points off turnovers all of last season. In terms of straight scoring, Concord will be facing a UVa.-Wise defense that has allowed 40 or more points in 10 of its last 14 games going back to the end of the 2022 season. The Cavaliers are coming off a game giving up 61 points to FCS Division I East Tennessee State.
QUINCY REUNION
UVa.-Wise is the under the direction of first-year head coach Gary Bass who is familiar with Appalachia having graduated from Division II member Catawba in Salisbury, North Carolina. Bass coached the previous seven years in Illinois at Quincy University. At Quincy, Bass coached current Concord running back
JQ Brown who scored Concord's only touchdown Saturday afternoon. Brown became the first CU running back to score in his Mountain Lions' debut since
Kris Copeland, then a running back, scored three times at West Virginia Wesleyan in 2018. Brown rushed for more than 500 yards and scored nine touchdowns for Bass and Quincy last season. Brown's only touch versus Bluefield State was a three-yard score in the first quarter.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7- Years to the day of Concord's 7-0 win over UVa.-Wise when the Mountain Lions welcome the Cavaliers Saturday.
13- Games since CU had gone without multiple field goals before Hutley's 31 and 34-yard connections against Bluefield State.
88- The 88 rushing yards that Concord held Bluefield State to is the seventh-lowest total for a CU defense since the start of the 2021 season.
UVA.-WISE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 0-1
SAC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-0
Away Record: 0-1
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
UVa.-Wise is coming off back-to-back 2-9 seasons. The Cavaliers' only accounted for five first downs and 113 yards of offense in the season opener at East Tennessee State. Quarterback Jake Corkren transferred from fellow Division II school West Alabama prior to the 2023 season. In 11 career games, Corkren has thrown for 1,128 yards and three touchdowns. DeJauvis Dozier and Ian Scammel spearhead the running game. Dozier, a true freshman, is from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. Scammel redshirted last season and is from Grundy, only 55 miles from Wise's campus.
