CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Last week, West Virginia State broke its 13-game losing skid against Seton Hill.
Charleston coach Pat Kirkland hopes the Griffins will stop another streak this week.
UC limps into today's 1 p.m. contest at Seton Hill with a 0-5 record and has lost six straight games dating back to last season. Kirkland, the Golden Eagles' first-year coach, is still seeking his first victory.
While youth is a factor on his team, Kirkland said it's time to notch that first win.
"Obviously we know we're young," he said. "But we're at a point now where we've got to get this thing turned down. We're still working hard and we've continued to work hard and grind. But this is not a week-to-week thing with us; it's got to be day-to-day. That means getting better from Tuesday to Wednesday and from Wednesday to Thursday."
Kirkland hopes that day-to-day improvement culminates in a win today. But despite the Griffins' poor record - 0-4 overall, 0-2 in the West Virginia Conference - Kirkland admits the team does pose problems.
"They're extremely diverse," Kirkland said. They're about as diverse as anyone we've played thus far, but I told the guys, 'It's not as much about what they're doing, we've got to make sure we execute.'
"Their defense changes week to week with their front. Offensively they're pretty balanced with the run and the pass. We've just got to take care of the football."
Wins and losses aside, UC (0-5, 0-3) has had to progress with some pretty drastic changes on both sides of the ball as the team makes the transition from former coach Tony DeMeo to Kirkland and his philosophies.
With that in mind, Kirkland said he has seen improvement and a win is all that's left to get.
"The thing I can say is that I'm seeing progress," Kirkland said. "The frustrating thing is I'm seeing progress, it's just not in the left-hand column [wins] where you want it to be. We've made drastic schematic changes, yeah, but football is still blocks and tackles and moving the sticks and that's what we've got it down to. We have gotten better from each week, we've just got to get over the hump."
