It's been a rough season for West Virginia State football coach Jon Anderson, but there is still a lot fight left in his Yellow Jackets.
That effort was evident even in State's 44-14 loss to No. 18 UNC-Pembroke Saturday afternoon in Institute.
"I'm proud of the effort, and that's something that we talk about," said Anderson. "But these are college football players. Effort should go unquestioned. It's the things we need to improve on, on the day-to-day basis, to get the score right. Effort is great, but effort doesn't change the scoreboard."
Pembroke drew first blood as Tra Chandler caught a short pass from quarterback Patrick O'Brien and turned it into a 46-yard score. Chandler appeared to be bottled up by the State defense on the play, but reversed his field and picked up a huge block to spring loose for the touchdown.
The Yellow Jackets answered with their own big play on the ensuing drive as Dionta Brown broke off a 65-yard TD run on State's third play from scrimmage to knot the score at 7.
Brown was the lone bright spot for the Yellow Jackets (1-8), finishing with 148 yards and a TD on 16 carries.
"My line was blocking for me, so that's all we needed," he said. "Guys were playing relentless every play and every time I got in I just tried to do my best.
Pembroke picked up another quick score just four minutes later when O'Brien found Quay Threatt for a 51-yard TD pass.
The Yellow Jackets defense dug in after that, holding the Braves scoreless for the next 18 minutes, but failed to generate any momentum on offense.
Facing fourth-and-6 on Pembroke's 36-yard line, State quarterback Matt Kinnick completed a 4-yard pass to A.J. Barrette, and the Yellow Jackets turned it over on downs.
The Braves took full advantage as Rontonio Stanley capped off a six-play, 68-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run and Matt Davis blasted a 58-yard field goal to give Pembroke a 24-7 lead heading into the locker room. Davis' kick was the longest field goal in Division II this season.
"There were three plays defensively that led to scores in the first half and shoot, a kid kicks a 58-yard field goal, you can't defend that," said Anderson. "We ran the ball well, but when we're going for it on fourth down at midfield, we've got to convert. We were close on some things, but we need to be able to come down with it."
State wasn't able to come down with much else, though, and Pembroke scored the next 15 points to take a commanding 41-7 lead after three quarters and put the game out of reach.
Kinnick, who completed 14 of 27 passes for 177 yards with one interception, scored on a 3-yard run with nine minutes left to stop the bleeding.
O'Brien finished 26 of 37 for 250 yards and two TDs, while Threatt had five catches for 105 yards and a score to lead the Braves (8-1).
Although the score didn't show it, there were some positives to take away from State's performance against its second top-25 opponent in the last three weeks.
The Yellow Jackets came into Saturday averaging just 85 yards per game on the ground and allowing 196 rushing yards per contest. Against the Braves, State churned out 168 yards on the ground and limited Pembroke to just 84 yards rushing.
"We ran the ball well this week and we've been struggling to do that," said Anderson. "Against a good front, too. That's probably a playoff-caliber football team, so for us to be able to do that, that's a real big positive. Defensively, I thought we tackled better than we have, so we'll continue to build on those things."
While State is in the midst of a seven-game skid, Brown said the attitude in the locker room is as good as ever.
"Everybody is still bought in to the program, and that's a good thing," he said. "That's what keeps my head up, that's what keeps me going. Next week, we've got to come out and play hard and play harder than we have been. If everyone comes together, we can be successful."
The Jackets host Concord next Saturday then close out the season Nov. 12 at West Liberty.