As the University of Charleston and West Virginia State University football teams prepare for their 2016 season debuts, the surprises they were connected with in their respective 2015 openers are no longer around.
The 59 points the Yellow Jackets scored in a win over Fairmont State last year, introducing a new look and more potent State offense? The Falcons know that's coming at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lakin Field.
The exploits of Notre Dame College quarterback Malik Grove, who dazzled in his first career start and kept NDC in striking distance of the Golden Eagles? UC will be ready in its noon showdown in South Euclid, Ohio.
Both Charleston and State are trying to take a step further in their football journeys. The Golden Eagles made the Division II playoffs for the first time in 2015, but want to advance past the first round. The Yellow Jackets came close to their first winning record since 2008. This season, they want to clear that hurdle.
State, which finished 5-6 last year, should resume its offensive growth. The Yellow Jackets scored just 13.1 points per game in 2014, totaling just 144 points all season. They shocked the Falcons in the 2015 opener, scoring seven touchdowns and leading by as many as 37 points before finally prevailing 59-34.
The Yellow Jackets aren't a group to overlook, and head coach Jon Anderson said that's a testament to the work the players and coaches have put in since Anderson arrived on campus.
"Overall, it means we're making progress and doing what we need to do as a team, when people need to prepare for us," Anderson said. "That's a good feeling, and that's a credit to the team from last year. Those guys did a great job and were able to score points.
"But this is a new team," he added. "There are a lot of people back, but we still need to go out there and prove that we can still be a good offense, a good defense and good special teams."
WVSU won't discount Fairmont State at all when the two tussle Saturday. After losing their first two games in 2015, the Falcons went 6-2 the rest of the way. There are plenty of players returning from that FSU roster, and Anderson figures the Falcons will be excited to see if they've made further strides in the offseason.
"I think they'll be coming in with a lot of confidence based on the second half of their season," Anderson said. "I expect to see them hoping to pick up right where they left off. They're coming in on a high note with a lot of confidence."
UC's historic 10-2 season began with a 56-44 win over NDC that had looked like a breeze before Grove got rolling. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 lead and led by as many as 27 points before Grove led a furious rally with three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Grove ran for 251 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 142 yards and a score.
"We're making sure we know where he's at and what he's going to do on every snap," UC coach Pat Kirkland. "We're going to have someone to account for him. Even after last year, you go back and look at the film and we just had missed tackles, first-game woes where we had really bad missed assignments that created really big plays for him."
Charleston has plenty of talent back on defense to keep an eye on Grove, who led the MEC in total yards last year. That includes a trio of 2015 all-Mountain East Conference first-team selections - defensive lineman James King, linebacker Rhakeem Stallings and defensive back Zaire Lewis.
"We're a year older and I think we've got a good group on defense," Kirkland said. "If we can keep them healthy, we'll be OK."
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.