West Virginia Wesleyan Football will travel to Athens on Saturday to take on 0-8 Concord. This is a great opportunity for the Bobcats to keep improving, and begin turning hard work into victories. Last Saturday, Wesleyan took the 5th ranked team in Super Region One to the final whistle. In the words of Coach Testa, "there are no moral victories," but the performance from his team was undoubtedly the best of their season so far, and likely the best of the last few seasons in the program. If the team can turn that disappointment into motivation, and come out hungry for a win on Saturday, there will be a football buzz back in Buckhannon.

Wesleyan will enter Saturday's game with the offensive advantage, averaging more yards and points per game than Concord, and featuring a more dynamic passing attack. Concord has the last-place scoring offense in the Mountain East Conference, averaging only fifteen points a contest. Their starting QB Kyle Akin also averages the least amount of yards through the air out of all MEC signal-callers. However, the Mountain Lions do have a play-making WR in Brandon Plyler, and Akin has been able to get him the ball enough to collect the fourth most receiving yards in the MEC. Wesleyan QB Jarrett Northrop is sixth in passing, with 217 yards per game, and he was dialed in with talented WR Kenny Lewis Jr. last Saturday against WVSU.

Even though both defenses come in giving up 38 points per game, they feature two of the top tacklers in the country. Wesleyan Sophomore S John Merica ranks second in the NCAA in solo tackles, and is also second in the MEC in total tackles. Concord's Junior LB Dwain Porterfield is seventh in the NCAA in solo tackles, and fifth in the MEC in total tackles. Whichever defense can play above their record coming in will give their team a chance to win, and allow their respective QB-WR combo an opportunity to make a difference on the other side of the ball. There will likely not be a lot of pressure forced on each quarterback, as both Wesleyan and Concord rank at the bottom of the MEC in sacks. However, the Bobcats were successful in putting pressure on WVSU's offense early last Saturday, which allowed them to hold the lead for most of the game. 

A win on Saturday at Concord would give Wesleyan their second win of 2019, which would be an improvement over last season's one win campaign. Concord has struggled all season on both sides of the ball, and are coming off a tough loss at Urbana last Saturday in which they scored just seven points. The Mountain Lions should not be taken lightly however, as they will be playing on their home turf and they should be just as motivated to get a victory.

Kickoff is slated for 1 PM from Callaghan Stadium in Athens. Live video of the contest will be available through Mountain East TV, and live stats through Concord's athletic website.