CHARLESTON, W.Va. - With the West Virginia Conference race heating up, the University of Charleston may get just what it needs this weekend - a break.
The Golden Eagles will venture out of conference to Urbana, Ohio, for a noon showdown today, ending a streak of five consecutive conference contests. UC sits at 3-2 in the league and in a tie for fourth place with Concord.
The Eagles' conference title hopes are technically still alive but in critical condition as both the Mountain Lions and conference-leading and undefeated Shepherd have both beaten Charleston already.
UC still has contests with the two teams tied for second, West Liberty and West Virginia Wesleyan, but coach Tony DeMeo refuses to look at anything but Urbana for the time being.
"We just take games one at a time and practices one at a time," said DeMeo. "Our total focus right now is on Urbana, and if it's not we won't beat them. We're not a good enough team to just go into a game lackadaisical and win. We've got to get in the habit of playing four quarters of good football. We've been sporadic all year, but when that day comes, we're going to be good."
Indeed, Charleston has shown flashes of what made it one of the best teams in the conference last season, including in last week's 24-20 win over Seton Hill. The Golden Eagles scored on four of their first five possessions but had to hang on late for the victory.
While the Eagles will get a vacation from the grind of the conference slate, DeMeo points out that a game at Urbana will be anything but a pleasure cruise. Despite its 2-5 mark, Urbana has been more than respectable, losing three of its first four games by a combined seven points, including a 17-14 loss at Wesleyan, a 39-36 loss at No. 24 Tusculum and a 34-33 loss at No. 8 Walsh. The Blue Knights also own a 44-13 blowout win over Seton Hill.
"They are a good team without a good record," said DeMeo of Urbana. "They've got one of the best linebackers I've seen this year in Travis Brisco, who just has some amazing stats. They spread the ball around, they have a really good quarterback [D.J. Mendenhall] and a good running back in [Boise] Moon. They also have a massive offensive line which will be the biggest offensive line we've seen since Mars Hill."
Some of Brisco's "amazing stats" include at least a share of seven school records, including sacks in a game (five), season (13) and career (441/2), as well as career tackles for loss (711/2). But Brisco is just the most important cog in what DeMeo says is an impressive defense overall.
"They've got a very good defense, a very fast defense," DeMeo said. "And Brisco is just going to be a handful."
