INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University football team (2-1, 1-1 MEC) will play No. 17 Notre Dame College (2-1, 2-0 MEC) on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.

PREVIOUS CONTESTS

• WVSU defeated Fairmont State (0-3, 0-2 MEC), 34-29.
• NDC defeated West Liberty (2-1, 1-1 MEC), 34-17.

LAST MEETING

The Yellow Jackets traveled to Notre Dame in week four of the 2021 season and suffered a 38-14 defeat to the Falcons. The separation in the scoreline came in the second half. NDC went up by a field goal in the first quarter before each team traded touchdowns in the second stanza. WVSU only trailed by three points, 10-7, at the break.

Two touchdowns by the Falcons early in the third quarter were answered by one touchdown off a turnover by State late in the same period, 24-14. Notre Dame then tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter without a response from the Yellow Jackets, 38-14. NDC racked up 574 total yards of offense in the game compared to 248 yards by WVSU.

THE BUZZ AT STATE

The WVSU offense sprang to life in week three of the 2022 campaign. The rushing game, in particular, found its legs for the first time this season and picked up 275 yards on the ground. Junior running back Tavis McAdoo rushed seven times for a career-high 153 yards and two scores. Meanwhile, sophomore DI transfer Joel Felder added 15 carries for 94 yards and took a screen pass 51 yards to the house.

The WVSU defense did not fare as well as the previous two weeks, but still came up with huge stops when it mattered most. On four occasions, Fairmont State was held to a field goal attempt after breaking into the red zone. The Yellow Jackets also recovered a fumble to halt a scoring drive by the Falcons towards the end of the first half and came up with a game-sealing interception with under two minutes remaining in the contest.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS

Notre Dame is the traditional powerhouse football program of the Mountain East Conference, but the Falcons proved they are beatable this season with a 31-14 loss to Ashland in week one. They are currently ranked ninth in the MEC in total offense and fifth in total defense which is far below their usual standards. Their bread and butter has always been a strong run game which is led by sophomore running back Idris Lawrence this season. Lawrence has gained 294 yards on the ground through three weeks with a five yards per carry average and three touchdowns.

The other two players to watch out for are senior quarterback Chris Brimm and senior linebacker Nathan Moore. Brimm is a four-year starter for NDC coming off a season in which he threw for 3,213 yards and 31 touchdowns while rushing for 212 yards and four scores. However, he's not on track for another monster season this year with 590 passing yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions thus far. Moore, on the other hand, is averaging 10 tackles per game this year and is on his way to surpassing the 117 total tackles he recorded in 2019.