Wesleyan football looks to keep up momentum against U.Va.-Wise

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Week seven in the Mountain East Conference will take place entirely on Saturday for the first time this season with six games.
Three games kick off at noon, including a key matchup between Fairmont State and Shepherd. The 17th-ranked Notre Dame Falcons welcome in-state rival Urbana and Findlay visits Charleston in a non-conference tilt in the other two games that kick at noon. Concord will try to snap its five-game losing streak on the road at West Virginia State at 1 p.m., and West Liberty travels to take on Glenville State at 1 p.m. The week wraps up at 2 p.m. with West Virginia Wesleyan looking for its second win in as many weeks at a UVa-Wise team that is fresh off a 17-0 shutout last week.

Notebook
• Mario Pender (Glenville State), Marquis Hamilton (UVa-Wise) and Carl Garmon (WVSU) have earned Mountain East Conference Player of the Week honors for their play in the sixth week of the season. (Full release)
• Road teams in conference play were 4-1 last week.
• Scoring 30 points could be the key figure in MEC play in 2018. Teams are 18-7 this year when reaching the 30-point mark in a game. West Virginia Wesleyan has lost three times when scoring 30 points, and West Virginia State has a pair of defeats despite getting to 30 points.
• Notre Dame owns the longest winning streak in the league at six. Shepherd is on a four-game winning streak.
• West Virginia State’s Carl Garmon provided the first kickoff return for a touchdown in the league this season. The GLIAC is the only conference without a kickoff return for a touchdown in 2018.
• Notre Dame has moved up to 17th in the country in the AFCA poll. This marks the highest ranking in school history. It is the third-straight week NDC has been ranked and it is just the fourth national ranking in the AFCA poll. The Falcons are ranked 20th in the D2Football.com poll — the second week the school been ranked in that poll.

Matchups/Previews/Coverage
SATURDAY, Oct. 13

W.Va. Wesleyan (1-5, 1-4) at UVa-Wise (2-4, 2-4) 2 p.m. Wise, Va. (Carl Smith Stadium)
Series: WVWC is 5-0 against UVa-Wise since the formation of the MEC … the Bobcats scored 10 points in the first quarter which ended up being enough in a 10-7 victory … it was the closest game in the series between the two schools.
Notes: The Bobcats won for the first time last week downing Charleston, 27-26 … WVWC has played in four games this year that have been decided by three points or less … … QB Luke Casey had his third, three-touchdown game of the year last week vs. UC … WVWC has been held to under 100 yards rushing in all but one game this year … the Cavs forced a season-high five turnovers last week en route to the school’s first ever shut out of a NCAA Division II opponent … a win Saturday would allow UVa-Wise to win back-to-back games for the first time since the start of the 2017 season

Fairmont State (4-2, 3-2) at Shepherd (4-1, 4-1) | Noon | Shepherdstown, W.Va. (Rams Stadium)
Series: Shepherd has won 19 of the last 22 vs. Fairmont State … FSU’s last win in the series came in 2008 at Rams Stadium.
Notes: Fairmont State averaged 41 points in its first three games (3-0), and is averaging 20.6 in its last three (1-2) …the Falcons have had 28 penalties in their two losses this season … Fairmont State is second in scoring defense (20.0) against a Shepherd team leading the MEC in scoring at 37.6 … after giving up 35 points in the opener to Notre Dame, Shepherd is allowing just 16.5 points in its last four games … QB Tyson Bagent has had multiple TD passes in each of his first five games … Shepherd has had 25 TFLs in the last three games.

Urbana (4-2, 3-2) at #17 Notre Dame (6-0, 6-0) | Noon | South Euclid, Ohio (Mueller Field)
Series: NDC leads the all-time series, 4-3 … the Falcons are 4-1 since both programs joined the MEC.
Notes: UU is tied for the NCAA lead with 10 fumbles recovered … the Blue Knights are off to their best start since 2013 … Mikal Toliver has 17.5 sacks in 16 career games for UU … NDC has had to come back from a halftime deficit in each of its last three games … the Falcons are 4-1 in Saturday games after a Thursday night the previous week … Jaleel McLaughlin needs just 196 more yards to set the NDC single-season mark (1,457).

Findlay (3-3) at Charleston (4-2) | Noon | Charleston, W.Va. (UC Stadium)
Notes: Tyreik McAllister’s 10 receptions last week were the second-most for a UC receiver since the program was reinstated in 2003 … De’Andre Brooks is one catch shy of 100 for his career … UC leads the league in total defense allowing 259.7 yards per game … UC is a league-best 42.4 percent on third down conversions … Findlay dispatched of Shepherd last year in the NCAA Playoffs … the Oilers have scored 69, 58 and 70 points in their three wins this year.

Concord (1-5, 1-5) at W.Va. State (3-3, 2-3) | 1 p.m. | Institute, W.Va. (Lakin Field)
Series: WVSU has won the last two matchups and has scored 99 points in those two games … CU is averaging 43.4 points in the last five games vs. West Virginia State.
Notes: Isaiah Bowman rushed for 100 yards for the first time in his career against Glenville State after only running for nine yards on three carries in the first six games of the season … CU had two players record 100+ yards rushing in the same game for the first time since 2015 … WVSU’s 61 points last week were the second-most in school history … the Yellow Jackets had a kickoff return for a touchdown, but also allowed a kickoff and punt return for a TD … Aaron Ball has made five of his last six field goal attempts, four of which have been over 40 yards … WVSU allowed just 27 passing yards last week, its lowest total since joining the MEC.

West Liberty (2-4, 2-4) at Glenville State (2-4, 2-3) | 1 p.m. | Glenville, W.Va. (I.L & Sue Morris Stadium)
Series: GSC has won two of the last three, including a 17-13 win last year … it was the fewest points to win a game in the series since 2013 when West Liberty won 16-13.
Notes: WLU is looking to snap an eight-game road losing streak … Cliff Clark is averaging 15.5 tackles in his last four games … the Hilltoppers have committed fewer penalties then their opponent in each of their last nine games dating back to last season … GSC is 2-1 when rushing for over 100 yards in a game this season … the Pioneers were 6-for-6 in red zone scoring last week producing 34 points in a win over Concord … GSC’s three picks last week vs. Concord were a season-high.

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