BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – West Virginia Wesleyan College will hope a favorable crowd will help propel them to their first win of the season when they host 4-1 Charleston for their Homecoming game on Saturday.
Here’s the MEC report on this week’s game:
Charleston (4-1, 4-1) at W.Va. Wesleyan (0-5, 0-4) | Saturday at Noon | Buckhannon, W.Va. (Cebe Ross Field)
Series: UC has won three of the last four … the last two games have been decided by 10 points total … UC won 15-7 last year with a third quarter safety and a fourth quarter TD run by Mason Olszewski.
Notes: UC’s Jimmy Wheeler is 21st nationally for rushing yards with 513, with five of the top 30 rushers in the country coming from the MEC … John Cominsky is ranked 7th nationally for TFLs … Kahzin Daniels is 10th for sacks … Kane Roush’s 34 career punt returns are second most in UC history (Tori Wagner, 41) … WVWC is looking for its first win of the season … after averaging 35.3 points in the first three games, WVWC has scored just 13 total in the last two … Kenny Lewis Jr. is averaging a league best 32.5 yards per return … Lewis had 191 return yards last week with a long of 57.
The rest of the MEC slate:
Week six gets underway in the Mountain East Conference as NCAA Division II shines its spotlight on the matchup between No. 20 Notre Dame College and Fairmont State.
The game will be featured on a multitude of platforms with fans being able to watch the game on the NCAA Division II Twitter and Facebook pages, WVMetroNews.com, West Virginia Public Television, as well as the MEC Digital Network and associated OTT apps.
NDC comes into Thursday night’s game with a perfect 5-0 record, while Fairmont State is 4-1 and trying to avoid falling two games back in the conference standings.
Two games will kick at noon on Saturday with Shepherd at West Liberty and Charleston at West Virginia Wesleyan. Glenville State will travel to Athens to take on Concord at 1 p.m., and UVa-Wise visits Urbana at 1 p.m. as well. West Virginia State will play a non-conference contest at home against Kentucky State.
Notebook
• Jaleel McLaughlin (Notre Dame), Bozton Sanders (Urbana) and Tanner Harding (Notre Dame) have earned Mountain East Conference Player of the Week honors for their play in the fifth week of the season. (Full release)
• In 29 games this season in the MEC, 13 have been decided by 10 points or less (45 percent). Since the start of the 2017 season, 46.2 percent of MEC games were decided by 10 points or less (43-of-93).
• Seven of the 10 games played on Thursday nights have been decided by 10 points or less. Home teams are 6-4 this year on Thursday night.
• A pair of MEC freshmen lead the NCAA in key categories. Notre Dame’s Jaleel McLaughlin leads the country in both rushing yards (1,068), rushing yards per game (213.6) and all-purpose yards (248.0). Shepherd quarterback Tyson Bagent leads the country in passing yards per game (394.5) and total offense (408.3).
• McLaughlin (three times) and Bagent (twice) have earned every MEC Offensive Player of the Week honor through five weeks this season.
• There have been 25 100-yard rushing performances in the MEC in the 2018 season. Teams with at least one 100-yard rusher are 17-4 this season.
• Notre Dame owns the longest winning streak in the league at five. Both Urbana and Shepherd are on three-game winning streaks.
THURSDAY, Oct. 4
#20 Notre Dame (5-0, 5-0) at Fairmont State (4-1, 3-1) | 7:10 p.m. | Fairmont, W.Va. (Duvall-Rosier Field)
Series: Fairmont State leads the all-time series, 3-2 … the last four games between the two teams have been decided by 10 points or less … NDC scored the first 16 points in the game and held off FSU in a 19-14 win last year.
Notes: NDC leads the MEC in turnover margin at +9 with 14 takeaways this year … Notre Dame has not allowed a sack in the last two games and has given up just five this year … NDC leads the league in rushing yards (317) and rushing defense (68) … Fairmont State has doubled its rushing output (978) through the first five games compared to the first five games from last year (409) … Stephen Turner’s 10 career interceptions are tied for the most in MEC history … FSU is 5-3 at home in the last two years.
SATURDAY, Oct. 6
Shepherd (3-1, 3-1) at West Liberty (2-3, 2-3) | Noon | West Liberty, W.Va. (West Family Stadium)
Series: Shepherd has won the last four, including a 51-14 win last year … WLU’s last win in the series came in 2012.
Notes: West Liberty junior CB Josh Ojo leads the nation with six interceptions, five of them coming in the last three games … the West Liberty defense leads the MEC and is tied for No. 5 nationally with 10 interceptions in its first five games … QB Brenton Colabella’s 32 completions at Notre Dame last week are the most by a Hilltopper since current WLU quarterbacks coach Zach Amedro did it vs. Concord in 2010 … Tyson Bagent leads NCAA II in passing yards per game (394.5) and total offense (408.3) … he had a career-best four TD passes last week … Ryan Feiss had a career-high 211 yards receiving and three touchdowns last week.
Glenville State (1-4, 1-3) at Concord (1-4, 1-4) | 1 p.m. | Athens, W.Va. (Callaghan Stadium)
Series: Glenville State has won three of the last four, including a 48-28 win at home last year.
Notes: GSC’s Dominic Cizauskas ranks third in the country in forced fumbles, solo tackles and total tackles … the Pioneers lone win this season came on the road … QB Jaylen McNair has thrown a TD pass in six-straight games dating back to last season … Concord’s Zach Malone needs 10 more tackles for 300 in his career … he is currently eighth among active players in tackles … after 432 yards of total offense in week one, Concord has been held to under 300 in each of the last four.
UVa-Wise (1-4, 1-4) at Urbana (4-1, 3-1) | 1 p.m. | Urbana, Ohio (UU Stadium)
Series: UVa-Wise has won three of the last four matchups, including a 51-41 win last year.
Notes:UVa-Wise RB Jamorya Cousin leads the team and ranks third in the MEC in rushing yards per game at 103.6 … freshman Alonzo Brown caught the first touchdown of his collegiate career last week as he posted four catches for 54 yards … UU is off to its best start since 2007 … it’s only the fourth 4-1 start in school history … Urbana is holding opponents to 89.4 yards per game … the program is looking for just the fifth four-game winning streak in program history.
Kentucky State (0-5) at W.Va. State (2-3) | 1:30 p.m. | Institute, W.Va. (Lakin Field)
Notes: WVSU has scored 30 points or more in all but one game this season … the Yellow Jackets have gone over 400 yards of total offense three times this season … Faustino Saucedo is completing 63 percent of his passes and has 1,070 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions after stepping in for injured starter Austin Hensley … Kentucky State has lost three games by less than a touchdown.
