BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Week 11 in the Mountain East Conference starts on Thursday night with Fairmont State on the road at West Liberty. The Fighting Falcons, currently 10th in the Super Region 1 rankings, need to a win and help for a shot at the NCAA Playoffs.
On Saturday, Charleston and Glenville State get things started with a noon kickoff, along with UVa-Wise at Shepherd and Urbana at Concord. West Virginia Wesleyan will take on Concord at 1 p.m., and 11th-ranked Notre Dame will try and complete an unbeaten regular season in a non-conference game at Seton Hill.
Notebook
• Marvelle Ross (NDC), Sha’haun Williams (NDC) and Brooks Parsons (WVSU) have earned Mountain East Conference Player of the Week honors for their play in the 10th week of the season.
• Scoring 30 points could be the key figure in MEC play in 2018. Teams are 34-12 this year when reaching the 30-point mark in a game. West Virginia Wesleyan has lost five times when scoring 30 points.
• Three MEC running backs have already gone over 1,000 yards with one week left to play in the season in Notre Dame’s Jaleel McLaughlin (1,736), Fairmont State’s Khalik Hamlin (1,167) and Mario Pender (1,036). Jimmy Wheeler (942) and Calil Wilkins (902) each need less than 100 yards this week to go over 1,000 for the year. The most 1,000-yard rushers in a season in MEC history was six in 2015.
• Week 10 saw five of the six games decided by 10 points or less in the league. For the year, though, 58 games this season in the MEC, 24 have been decided by 10 points or less (41 percent).
• Jaleel McLaughlin broke the MEC single-season rushing record last week eclipsing the mark set by Calivinaugh Jones in 2014. McLaughlin has 1,763 yards in just 10 games this year, while Jones needed 14 games to reach 1,732 yards.
• Three players in the MEC are ranked in the top 10 in the country in combined kick and punt returns in Lyrics Klugh (1st, 958), Jujuan Linzy (4th, 795) and Chaudlier Shepherd (9th, 704). Also, Marvelle Ross leads the country with three punt returns for a touchdown.
Matchups/Previews/Coverage
THURSDAY, Nov. 8
Fairmont State (8-2, 7-2) at West Liberty (3-7, 3-6) 7 p.m. West Liberty, W.Va. (West Family Stadium)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Series: The teams have split their last 10 meetings, but Fairmont State has won the last three … all three of those have been by six points or less.
Notes: Fairmont State’s Colin Harvath’s 48 consecutive PATs this season are a school record … FSU has established a new school record for points this year with 372 … Takwan Crews-Naylor is just the sixth QB to throw for over 2,000 yards at Fairmont State … WLU is 40-7 when holding opponents to under 21 points under Roger Waialae … in his last two games, Zach Phillips has completed 53-of-88 passes for 659 yards and six touchdowns and has two more rushing TDs … Osman Kargbo’s 1,553 career kick return yards are a new school record.
SATURDAY, Nov. 10
UVa-Wise (3-6, 3-6) at Shepherd (7-2, 7-2) Noon Shepherdstown, W.Va. (Ram Stadium)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Notes: Ryan Feiss needs 39 receiving yards to reach 3,000 for his career .. he needs 164 receiving yards to reach 1,000 for the season and needs one touchdown to reach 20 for his career … Tyson Bagent needs 216 passing yards to reach 3,00 for the season … No notes submitted by UVa-Wise.
Charleston (5-5, 5-4) at Glenville State (5-5, 5-4) Noon Glenville, W.Va. (IL & Sue Morris Stadium)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Series: Charleston has won two of the last three, but Glenville State has won each of the last two meetings at home.
Notes: Mike Strachan is now the single season receiving yards record holder at UC with 952 yards … CJ Bagwell tallied a career high 14 tackles against Shepherd and tallied his second career interception … UC has three of the school’s top five sack leaders playing in Khazin Daniels (1st), John Cominsky (4th) and Jalen Nelson (5th) … GSC LB Dominic Cizauskas’ 115 tackles are third-most in a single season for the Pioneers … Mario Pender went over the 1,000-yard mark rushing last week.
Urbana (4-6, 3-6) at Concord (2-8, 2-7) Noon Athens, W.Va. (Callaghan Stadium)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Series: Urbana has won three of the last five, including a 36-15 win last year.
Notes: A win Saturday would snap a five-game losing streak and match last year’s record… UU produced its second-highest point total this season in last week’s setback… RB Isaiah Young needs 134 more rushing yards to move up to fifth on the UU single-season rushing leaders chart … Kyle Akin has thrown a touchdown pass in eight consecutive games, the longest streak for any CU quarterback since the 2014 season … by rushing for 111 yards at Fairmont State, Josh Maxwell joined Isaiah Bowman and Kris Copeland as other Concord running backs with 100 yards in a game this season … only NDC and WVSU have three different backs go over 100 yards in a game this season.
W.Va. Wesleyan (1-9, 1-8) at W.Va. State (5-5, 4-5) 1 p.m. Institute, W.Va. (Lakin Stadium)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Series: West Virginia Wesleyan has the edge, 3-2, in the last five meetings … however, the Yellow Jackets won 45-28 last year.
Notes: The Yellow Jackets are going for back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2007 and 2008 … Aaron Ball’s 26 field goals are the most in a career at WVSU … Calil WIlkins is trying to become the first WVSU player to run for 1,000 yards in a season since Vince Powell ran for 1,066 in 1988 … Wilkins has 902 to date on the season … no notes submitted by WVWC.
#12 Notre Dame (10-0) at Seton Hill (1-9) 1 p.m. Greensburg, Pa. (Offutt Field)
Coverage: Watch | Live Stats
Series: First meeting.
Notes: Notre Dame will try to put the wraps on an unbeaten regular season on the road at Seton Hill … Mike Jacobs is 1-1 in non-conference games … the Falcons have not allowed a score on a team’s opening drive of the game this season … three of Seton Hill’s losses came by less than a touchdown, including one OT loss.
Article by the Mountain East Conference.