Concord Stats -
Bluefield State Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Tickets -
Tailgating Information -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - After a 37-29 win over regional rival UVa.-Wise to open the season, the Concord University football team travels across Mercer County to take on its closest geographic rival Bluefield State 1:00 p.m. Saturday at Mitchell Stadium.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Bluefield State Sports Information Department will handle live statistics and live video for Saturday's contest.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased at this link through Hometown Ticketing for $16.
Tickets
TAILGATING POLICY FOR BLUEFIELD STATE
Bluefield State does allow tailgating at Mitchell Stadium. However, premium spots must be purchased for $125. Standard sports at $50 per game. For more information, visit this
link
SERIES HISTORY: Bluefield State leads 10-8
Last Five Meetings vs. Bluefield State
September 7, 2024: Bluefield State 22 - Concord 13 (Athens, W.Va.)
1979: Concord 48 - Bluefield State 0
1978: Concord 42 - Bluefield State 0Â
1977: Concord 40 - Bluefield State 0
1976: Concord 38 - Bluefield State 6
Concord at a Glance
Overall Record: 1-0
MEC Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-0
Away Record: 1-0
Last Five: 2-3
Bluefield State at a Glance
Overall Record: 0-1
CIAA Record: 0-0
Home Record: 0-1
Away Record: 0-0
Last Five: 0-5
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| Concord |
Statistical Category |
Bluefield State |
| 1 |
Wins |
0 |
| 37.0 |
Points/Game |
23.0 |
| 29.0 |
Opp Points/Game |
49.0 |
| 23.0 |
Rushing/Game |
56.0 |
| 389.0 |
Passing/Game |
205.0 |
| 181.0 |
Opp Rushing/Game |
468,0 |
| 160.0 |
Opp Passing/Game |
94.0 |
| 412.0 |
Yards/Game |
261.0 |
| 341.0 |
Opp Yards/Game |
562.0 |
| 101.0 |
Penalty Yards/Game |
65.0 |
| 42.1 |
Third Down Pct. |
11.1 |
| 3 |
Takeaways |
2 |
| 0 |
Sacks |
0 |
Concord Leaders
Passing Yards:
Tyler Mizzell (389)
Passing Touchdowns:
Tyler Mizzell (3)
Rushing Yards:
Rashad Luckey-Dowdy (14)
Receptions:
Dom Collins (7),
Que Moore (4)
Receiving Yards:
Dom Collins (186),
Keyon Concepcion (79)
Receiving Touchdowns:
Dom Collins (2),
Que Moore (1)
Tackles:
Xavier Ellison (10),
Nehemiah Scott (10),
Taurin Kemp (8),
Corey Radcliff (8)
Tackles for Loss:
Ar'Terrian Godfrey (1.5),
Nehemiah Scott (0.5)
Interceptions:
Ar'Terrian Godfrey (2),
Corey Radcliff (1)
Bluefield State Leaders
Passing Yards: Wesley Thompson (205)
Passing Touchdowns: Wesley Thompson (2)
Rushing Yards: Gregory Mango (27)
Receiving Yards: Brandon Wiley (167), Johnny Mathis (33)
Receiving Touchdowns: Brandon Wiley (2)
Tackles: Michael Riley (10), Eric King (7), Amir Powell (7)
Tackles for Loss: Eric King (1.5)
A TRIO OF RECEIVERS
In Concord's win at UVa.-Wise Saturday, three new receivers for the Mountain Lions made strong debuts. Redshirt freshman
Dom Collins, a Princeton native and transfer from West Virginia, lined up alongside a pair of Limestone transfers, redshirt freshman
Keyon Concepcion and sophomore
Que Moore. Collins hauled in seven catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns—the 186 yards were the second most in Division II during week 0 of the season. Concepcion finished with three receptions for 79 yards, top five in the Mountain East Conference. Moore caught the final touchdown from sophomore quarterback
Tyler Mizzell as he finished with four receptions and 67 yards. It was the first time three pass catchers went over 60 yards in the same game since October 2022 at West Virginia State.
MIZZELL MAGIC
Mizzell was also impressive in his debut as he completed 24-of-35 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns. Like Collins, Mizzell ranks second in Division II in passing yards after week zero. Additionally, Mizzell's 389 yards are the most for a CU quarterback making their first career start in the Maroon and Gray in program history. The previous record was held by Jack Mangel who threw for 310 yards in the spring of 2021 at West Virginia Wesleyan. Mizzell was the only quarterback in the MEC to go over 300 yards passing this weekend, and just one of 13 in Division II. While the three receivers mentioned above garnered the most attention from Mizzell, the Denver, North Carolina completed passes to eight different receivers while also rushing for a score in the contest.
SWAT TEAM
The Mountain Lions showed up in all three phases of the game Saturday at UVa.-Wise as the special teams blocked two kicks, a Cavaliers' field goal try on the first possession of the game and a point after try that was returned for two points by sophomore defensive lineman
Jayden McCurdy. Senior defensive lineman
Ethan Rennels was credited with the blocked field goal while sophomore linebacker
Xavier Ellison batted down the extra point that turned into points for the Mountain Lions. CU was one of three teams in Division II—along with Livingstone and Missouri S&T—to record two blocked kicks on opening weekend. And it was the first time that Concord had two blocks in the same game since October 9, 2021 versus West Liberty. Ellison added a career-best 10 tackles on defense to go with his play on special teams.
BACK END BOYS
The Concord secondary shined in the win at UVa.-Wise as the Maroon and Gray defensive backs came up with three interceptions while also registering 14 pass break-ups. Sophomore defensive back
Ar'Terrian Godfrey became the first CU player with a two-interception game since Jeremiah Johnson in 2017, also against UVa.-Wise. In program history there have been nine two-interception games, and three have been done against UVa.-Wise—Johnson as well as Josh Clark in 2014. Senior defensive back
Corey Radcliff recorded the third interception which turned into a pick six—Concord's first defensive touchdown since the final game of the 2023 season at UNC Pembroke. Junior defensive back
Nehemiah Scott led the secondary with a career-best five PBUs while Radcliff added four and senior defensive back
Stanley Horn Jr. notched three PBUs. Saturday marked Concord's first game with double-digit PBUs since 2023 at Wheeling.
RIVALRY RENEWED
Concord and Bluefield State play each on the gridiron for the 19
th time Saturday afternoon. BSU owns a 10-8 advantage as it was able to snap a five-game Concord winning streak with a 22-13 win last year in Athens. The all-time series took a 35-year hiatus as the Big Blues did not field a football team after the 1979 meeting. The schools are separated by just 20 miles, making it one of the closest geographical matchups in all of Division II. After picking up a win against his alma mater in week 0 of the season, head coach Cody Edwards is seeking to become the first Concord coach to start 2-0 in his first season on the Campus Beautiful since Mike Kellar won his first three games in 2009. Additionally, Edwards grew up just 80 miles away from the BSU campus in Haysi, Virginia.
RUSHING RHYTHM
While Concord's passing game flourished at UVa.-Wise, the ground game was not nearly successful as the Mountain Lions ran for just 23 yards. Likewise, Bluefield State's rushing game was stuck in neutral as BSU mustered just 56 yards on the ground versus Tusculum last week. CU looks to get back on track this weekend against a Big Blues defense that gave up 468 yards on the ground against TU. Additionally, Bluefield State allowed nearly eight yards per carry to the Pioneers in week 0. For Concord, junior running back
Maurice Jones ran the ball 13 times at UVa.-Wise while graduate running back
Rashad Luckey-Dowdy toted the ball 12 times. Defensively, Concord gave up 181 yards on the ground, and surrendered 5.7 yards per rush to UVa.-Wise. CU was only held below 50 yards on the ground once last year, at Frostburg State.
LIFE IN THE BACKFIELD
The Concord defense rose to the challenge in last year's game in Athens as the Mountain Lions recorded nine tackles for loss which was one shy of the season high set later in 2024 at West Virginia Wesleyan. CU held Bluefield State to 88 yards on the ground on 33 attempts, less than three yards per carry. Scott had 1.5 tackles for loss while graduate defensive lineman
Jaylen Dollar and sophomore defensive lineman
Chris Williams each had 0.5 TFLs. The Mountain Lion defense only allowed one offensive touchdown to Bluefield State last year as the other touchdown came on a pick six in the first half. Of the 10 drives for BSU last year in Athens, six drives ended either in a turnover or a punt with three more going for field goals.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
37- Points scored by Concord at UVa.-Wise was the most in a season opener since 2014.
130- Rushing yards for CU versus Bluefield State last season.
186- Receiving yards by Collins was the most for a Concord pass catcher since Jarod Bowie in the final game of the 2022 season.
SCOUTING THE BIG BLUES
Wesley Thompson threw for 205 yards on just nine completions in his Bluefield State debut Saturday against Tusculum. The Wingate transfer threw four passes to Brandon Wiley for 167 yards and a pair of scores. BSU did have two takeaways in Saturday's game with both being fumble recoveries. In last year's game at Concord, the Big Blues had three interceptions with one going back for a touchdown. BSU's only win of the 2024 campaign was at Concord as the Bluefield State offense only averaged 9.8 points per game.
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