CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Any momentum the University of Charleston may have picked up in last week's record-setting victory faded away quickly.
On their first play from scrimmage, in fact, the Golden Eagles fumbled and, from there, North Carolina-Pembroke scored the game's first 35 points and collected a 52-14 victory Saturday afternoon at UC Stadium. A crowd of 500 attended.
A week ago, UC amassed a school-record 714 yards of offense in a 49-35 success at Seton Hill to give first-year coach Pat Kirkland and his team their initial victory of the season - as well as hope their season had turned around.
But UNC-Pembroke hammered the UC defense for 539 yards of offense, scoring on each of its first five possessions, building a 29-0 halftime advantage and raising the suggestion that last week's UC breakthrough might have been deceiving.
"We had a lot of momentum coming into this home game,'' said Kirkland. "I was excited; the team was excited to get back and play a home game and show everybody how much we've improved. And we didn't get it done. It was disappointing.''
Likewise, UNC-Pembroke coach Paul Shinnick expected a more competitive game.
"We watched [on film] how they played last week and how they won that game,'' said Shinnick, "and we thought OK, we've got our hands full. So I'm proud of our defense for stepping up and making the plays they made.''
In the first half, the Golden Eagles (1-6) picked up only one first down and accumulated just 56 yards of offense. They finished the game with nine first downs and 306 yards.
With 6:16 left in the third quarter, UC's Jordan Roberts, who rushed for 139 yards on nine carries, broke free up the middle for an 88-yard touchdown run, cutting the Pembroke lead to 35-7, and the Golden Eagles' Marquis White scored on a 35-yard run against the reserves with 43 seconds remaining in the game.
Among other things, Kirkland said the Golden Eagles did not meet his expectations for physical play.
"We pride ourselves on being a physical football team,'' he said, "and that's the part that's frustrating. That's something I told the guys coming in: We have to be physical from the first snap, and we weren't. That's disappointing. We played poorly on both sides of the ball and on special teams. A lot of players gave good effort throughout the week and have been giving good effort. And to take a step back today is frustrating.''
The lack of physical toughness, said Kirkland, is unlike the Golden Eagles.
"We have to get that corrected because [being physical] is something we have been for the last few weeks,'' he said, "and to come out like we did today and be a little bit flat is extremely disappointing.''
Pembroke (5-2), an eastern North Carolina independent that defeated Glenville State earlier in the season, opened the game with a 67-yard, eight-play touchdown drive and quickly scored again on a 65-yard, four-play drive, helped by a 57-yard Luke Charles-to-Donald Britt pass to the UC 2.
Later in the first half, Pembroke's Elijah Williams returned an interception 45 yards for a TD. The Braves capped their scoring on Taylor Baskett's 55-yard field goal.
"We haven't played a whole game this year,'' said Shinnick, "and that's why a lot of our games have been kind of close. So we really pressed our guys this week to play a complete game. I think it was about as complete a game as we've played. I'm very happy for our team.''
Charles completed 22-of-26 passes for 297 yards with no interceptions and two touchdowns. UC quarterback Maurice Leak was 11-for-19 for 45 yards with three interceptions.
The loss was the first of four home games for UC, which will play host to West Liberty on Saturday at 1:00 pm.
