The University of Charleston and West Virginia State will, once again, try returning to the win column this weekend, hoping to break their current losing streaks against a pair of Mountain East Conference foes.
The Golden Eagles (2-5) want to avoid their second three-game losing streak of the season as Urbana comes into town for a 1 p.m. kickoff at UC Stadium.
The Blue Knights have also had their fair share of struggles, also sitting at 2-5 and coming off a one-point loss to West Virginia Wesleyan last week. UC knows that among the major keys to getting on track with a win are starting fast and building a lead early.
"It's really important because, when you haven't been playing as well as you could be, you need to get that momentum as soon as the game starts," UC running back Marvin Elam said. "If you get off to a good start, it gets you some confidence and you start to believe in yourself more, you think the game can go your way. We need to execute so we can do that."
In order for Charleston to regain momentum, that will likely call for success in the run game like it saw early in the season. Through the first five games of the season, the Golden Eagles were the best rushing team in the MEC - averaging more than 230 yards per game on the ground during that stretch. Yet since Tevion Cappe dislocated his hip and was sidelined for the season, things have been a bit tougher.
UC has averaged just 110.5 rushing yards in back-to-back losses to West Liberty and Fairmont State while averaging 3.4 yards per carry. In the season's first five games, Charleston picked up nearly 5 yards per rush.
Urbana comes into the game ninth in the MEC in rush defense and has allowed more than 200 yards on the ground in two of its last three games.
"They've gotten better up front than they have been in the past, but they're having a little bit of a roller-coaster season right now too," Charleston coach Pat Kirkland said. "They've played some good football, but right now we're focusing on us correcting the things we need to be better at. We aren't going to change our plan from the last couple of weeks, we just have to do it better."
n West Virginia State will hit the road with a difficult task against a talented Glenville State team at 1:30 p.m.
After starting the season with three straight wins, the Pioneers have hit a bit of a midseason snag, dropping their last four contests. Even though Glenville State has struggled at times recently, West Virginia State still knows the challenge in store.
"They're traditionally one of the best offensive teams in this conference and they have a good mixture of run and pass this year," West Virginia State coach Jon Anderson said. "They have weapons all over the field, on both sides of the ball, that you have to be aware of on every play. We'll have to have a good plan and get the job done if we want to beat them."
When the Yellow Jackets (1-6) have been at their best this season, it's been when they have been able to throw the ball around the field to the number of dangerous receivers they have. But, as they have learned at times, in order to do that they have to give their quarterbacks time to throw.
That will be a crucial thing to watch against Glenville State as WVSU, the MEC school that has allowed the most sacks in the league this season, will be going up against a Pioneer team that has a league-best 24 sacks.
And one of the most important things to make sure the pass rushers won't be as much of a factor, Anderson said, is making sure they can get back to a steady balance in the running game.
"We need to run it better than we have. When we can mix it up and keep them from teeing off on the pass rush, we usually have a better game," Anderson said. "For us that's where it starts. We have to consistently be able to gain yards on the ground to help open things up more in our passing game, which has been pretty good most of the year."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.