INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University football team (4-3, 3-3 MEC) will have to bring its A game when Concord (6-1, 5-1 MEC) comes to Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 22 for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Mountain Lions are currently tied for first place with Notre Dame College in the Mountain East Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets are in a four-way tie for third place and have a chance to shake up the MEC standings with an upset.

PREVIOUS CONTESTS

• WVSU was defeated by UNC Pembroke (4-3, 4-2 MEC), 45-24.
• CU defeated Charleston (3-4, 3-3 MEC), 68-60.

LAST MEETING

West Virginia State battled back from a 17-point deficit in the first half to come away with a 34-32 win in Athens a season ago. The Yellow Jackets put up 20 points in the fourth quarter to turn the tables and go up by two touchdowns, 34-20. Concord was able to score two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the game, but tried and failed twice on two-point conversions to come up short.

 THE BUZZ AT STATE

After a pair of wins against Alderson Broaddus and West Virginia Wesleyan, WVSU stumbled on the road to UNC Pembroke last week. Senior quarterback Donovan Riddick completed 24-of-31 passes for 222 yards and a score in the face of constant pressure from the Braves. His longest completion was for 30 yards. He had the longest rush for the Yellow Jackets of 19 yards as State's run game was largely ineffective.

The WVSU defense struggled to slow down Pembroke's rushing attack, but came up with some big plays at crucial moments of the game. The Yellow Jackets came up with a pick six in the second quarter and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter when the Braves were in the red zone. Big plays on both sides of the ball will be needed to knock the Mountain Lions off the hill.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN LIONS

Concord may be worn out from a 68-60 shootout with Charleston last week. The 128 combined points scored in that game set a new MEC single-game record. On the other hand, West Virginia State had plenty of time to recover from its Thursday night game against Pembroke. Nevertheless, the Yellow Jackets are still tasked with preparing for the most prolific offense in the MEC.

Concord's 464.6 yards of offense per game and 306.4 passing yards per game ranks 10th and ninth, respectively, in the country this season. CU quarterback Jack Mangel ranks third in NCAA Division II with 21 touchdowns passes, while also ranking fifth in total passing yards with 2,145 thus far. His favorite target, Jarod Bowie, ranks first in the country in receiving yards (943) and second in the country in receiving TDs (9).