The Shepherd football team's dominance on defense is well chronicled. The 200 yards per game the Rams have allowed in this season's first two games ranks seventh best in Division II. The 12.5 points per game they've allowed ranks 19th.
Shepherd coach Monte Cater wasn't exactly tickled with the way his defense performed last week in the Rams' 45-25 win over the University of Charleston, but he gave plenty of credit for that to the Golden Eagles' offense.
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"We did not have a really good defensive team on Saturday," Cater said. "That's atypical of us, but I know our defensive coaches felt like we didn't tackle well, we gave up some big plays. ... I thought [Charleston] was a very physical team and was able to make some plays."
But Shepherd's effectiveness on defense isn't shown just in what it does to its opponents, but also in what its opponents do to other defenses. The Golden Eagles scored 25 points and gained 319 yards of total offense against the Rams. That was about half of what UC racked up the previous week against Notre Dame (Ohio). In that game, the Golden Eagles shredded the Falcons for 56 points and 623 yards.
Shepherd's first-week opponent, West Virginia Wesleyan, gained a grand total of 81 yards of total offense in a 43-0 loss. Against Glenville State last week, the Bobcats gained 431 yards and turned their game versus the Pioneers into a track meet, ultimately losing 64-48, but pulling to within 10 points with 6:53 to go in the contest.
Cater has been happy with the Rams' ability to create turnovers. They picked off four passes against Charleston, and their seven total turnovers are tied for ninth best in Division II. Cater has seen a lot of points on Mountain East Conference scoreboards so far - five MEC teams are in the nation's top 25 scoring offenses - but he maintains that defense will remain Shepherd's calling card.
"It's amazing how much scoring has been done in our league," Cater said. "A lot of people are scoring points. But defense wins championships, and if we want to stay in this thing, we're going to have to continue to play well. ... There's some physical football being played in the MEC."
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The Rams' win over UC moved them to 20th in the latest AFCA Coaches Top 25 poll, up from 25th the week before. Concord, which started the season ranked ninth then fell to 22nd following a season-opening loss to West Liberty, moved to No. 21 after beating Fairmont State 27-10. The Golden Eagles' loss to Shepherd knocked them out of the "also receiving votes" group.
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Fairmont State's area of improvement from its first game, a 59-34 loss to West Virginia State, was defense. After the Falcons' 27-10 loss last Saturday to Concord, it looks like FSU has some ground to gain offensively.
Though the MEC has been the home of high-octane offenses so far this season, Fairmont is ninth out of 11 teams, scoring 22 points per game. The Falcons are eighth in rushing offense (88.0 yards per game), 10th in passing offense (210.5 yards per game) and ninth in total offense (298.5 yards per game).
It's taken a little bit for the Falcons to light up the scoreboard in their first two games. FSU has scored a total of 10 points in the first halves of those contests - seven points versus West Virginia State and three points versus Concord. Falcons coach Jason Woodman said it hasn't been for lack of trying.
"I think the first game of the year, I think it was just catching up to the speed," Woodman said. "Last week, we came out and played pretty well early, we just couldn't cash in once we crossed the 50 or moved into the other side of the field. We've always preached that you've got to come out with a quick start and play hard early, and that hasn't changed."
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West Liberty will see a different but familiar face under center when it visits Fairmont State tonight at 7. Hilltoppers coach Roger Waialae said junior starter Dakota Conwell will miss two to three weeks with a high-ankle sprain, giving senior Dylan LaGarde the chance to make his 15th career start.
LaGarde came in for Conwell last Saturday in the Hilltoppers' 50-27 loss to McKendree and threw for 209 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 20-of-35 passing.
Waialae said sophomore Brent Colabella might see some snaps as well after completing 2 of 4 passes for 38 yards last Saturday, and he doesn't feel he'll have to limit the playbook with Conwell on the shelf.
"I think we can go the same way," Waialae said. "Dylan started for us some games as a freshman, started for us some games as a sophomore. Fortunately for us, we have some players that have experience. Colabella intrigues me with his poise. He came down in a big situation [versus McKendree] on a fourth-and-8, we went for it and he completed a pass that was a tough throw. We'll probably see both of them this Thursday."