Charleston (9-2 in '09)
at
Tusculum (3-7 in '09)
Saturday, August 28---1:00 p.m.
Greeneville, Tennessee
Pioneer Field (3500, natural turf)
Listen Live in the Charleston area on 680AM or 95.3FM
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CHARLESTON "Golden Eagles"
Head Coach: Tony DeMeo (37-17 at UC, 6th season; 114-96-2, 22th season NCAA; 131-102-2 overall)
Offense: Triple Gun
Defense: Multiple
Returning Stat Leaders:
Rushing: Mike Drake (40 for 208 yds, 2 TD)
Passing: Blaine Wilson (2-2-0, 13 yds, 0 TD)
Receptions: Andre Higgins (35 for 706 yds, 9 TD)
Tackles: Austin McClain (63 TT, 9 TFL)
Schedule/Results: 8/28 at Tusculum; 9/4 Mars Hill; 9/18 WV State; 9/25 at Concord; 10/2 Shepherd; 10/9 Fairmont State; 10/16 Seton Hill; 10/23 at Urbana; 10/30 at West Liberty; 11/6 at Glenville State; 11/13 at WV Wesleyan.
TUSCULUM "Pioneers"
Head Coach: Frankie DeBusk (71-59, 13th season)
Offense: Spread
Defense: 8-Man Front
Returning Stat Leaders:
Rushing: Fred Jones (4 for 15 yds, 0 TD)
Passing: Bo Cordell (277-445-17, 3458 yds, 23 TD)
Receptions: Rashaad Carter (35 for 510 yds, 3 TD)
Tackles: Zachary Norman (69 TT, 3 TFL)
Schedule/Results: 8/28 Charleston; 9/4 at Findlay; 9/11 at Western Carolina; 9/18 Urbana; 10/2 at Mars Hill; 10/9 Newberry; 10/16 at Wingate; 10/23 at Lenoir-Rhyne; 10/30 Brevard; 11/6 at Catawba; 11/13 Carson-Newman.
THE SERIES:
Charleston leads 2-1.
Last Season's Meeting: Charleston raced to a 31-0 lead after three quarters as the Golden Eagles knocked off Tusculum 31-14...UC quarterback DaRante Hunter threw for 217 yards and rushed for 128 yards as he had a hand in three Golden Eagle touchdowns...Julian Johnson notched 102 rush yards on only five carries as Charleston rolled up a 328-to-minus 1 advantage on the ground.
Chris Almonte notched a pair of sacks for the Golden Eagles and recovered a second quarter fumble for a touchdown...Aaron Higdon contributed 59 rush yards and 63 receiving yards to the UC cause...Tusculum freshman quarterback Bo Cordell completed 37 of 66 passes for 442 yards and a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns...However, he was picked off twice and was sacked four times by a swarming Charleston defense...Nate Binder had a game-high 131 receiving yards on six catches for the Pioneers.
Series History: 2009: UC 31-14, 2008: TC 40-0, 2007: UC 27-23.
GAME NOTES:
Charleston will break in a new starting quarterback when they open the season at Tusculum, but 17 starters from last season's 9-2 squad are back on hand for the Golden Eagles...Junior Blaine Wilson takes over the signal caller position for UC...Expect plenty of points as Charleston averaged 39.2 points per game in 2009, while Tusculum accounted for 29.4 points per outing...
Golden Eagle WR Andre Higgins had nine of his team's 15 touchdown receptions last season...He led the squad with 35 catches for 706 yards...UC is picked to finish third in this season's WVIAC football race...UC has won both series meetings at home versus Tusculum, but fell 40-0 two seasons ago in their only trip to Greeneville, Tennessee...After the road opener, Charleston will play five of their next six games at home...The Golden Eagles are 24-9 in the past three seasons and ended last season ranked #23 by the American Football Coaches Association...
Tusculum has seven offensive and five defensive starters back from last season...The Pioneers slumped to a 3-7 mark last season against one of the toughest schedules in Division II football...However, TC finished 9-4 and was a post-season participant in 2008...Tusculum is forecast to finish fifth in the nine-team South Atlantic Conference...
QB Bo Cordell set an NCAA Division II freshman record by throwing for 3458 yards last season and was named the SAC Freshman of the Year...Pioneer kicker Gareth Rowlands owns eight school single-game, season, and career kicking records...TC gave up 39.2 points per game in 2009, allowing at least 27 points in each contest.
