Box Score

ATHENS, W.Va. - Jeff Green (Johnson City, TN) saw plenty of "green" in front of him as he scampered into the endzone after recovering a fourth quarter fumble for what would be the game-winning points as the University of Charleston football team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 17-14 win over WVIAC contender Concord.

UC (3-0) opened the day's scoring as reigning West Virginia Conference Special Teams Player of the Week Puma Nuredini (Naples, FL) nailed his fifth field goal of the season from 32 yards out just four minutes into the contest. The scoring died off quickly after the opening drive score as the Mountain Lions and Golden Eagles each traded four punts apiece through consecutive possessions.

Charleston got a lift in the second quarter from its defensive unit as Isaiah Gibson (Hampton, VA) abruptly ended a Concord drive with an interception in the endzone to hand his offense the ball on the 20 yard line. John Knox (Salisbury, NC), getting his first career start for the injured Maurice Leak (Waxhax, NC), stepped into the spotlight for the University of Charleston to lead the offense on an 80-yard scoring drive. Knox highlighted the sustained drive with an electrifing 46-yard run, that combined with a 10-yard Jordan Roberts (Madison, WV) rumble to give the Golden Eagles the ball on their opponents 20 yard line. Knox completed a pass to Ryan Foster (Cincinnati, OH) for 17 yards to set up the scoring plunge by Roberts and give Charleston an early 10-0 advantage on the road.

The home team didn't stay quiet long as they proved that the standing WVIAC champions still had fight left in them. Concord ran the ball on 11-of-12 plays on their next drive with a hurry-up pace to keep the UC defense off balance and the game plan worked as CU worked their way down the field over the course of five minutes to pull within 10-7 just 1:23 before halftime.

Knox continued to work the ball around the field in the second half with his legs and his arm, but it was the only major mistake of the game that would nearly cost UC their perfect start to the season midway through the third quarter.

After eating up yards on the ground Knox connected with Foster for a 22-yard strike across the middle, but vicious hit dislodged the ball from before the receiver hit the ground with Concord taking control of possession at the UC 45 yard line. Through the air the Mountain Lions found success to land in the endzone eight plays and two minutes later for a 14-10 lead with points becoming harder and harder to come by as the contest wore on.

UC opened up the play book in the fourth quarter with Knox continuing to be multifaceted, even adding a reception to his tab on a first-down catch from Roberts yet it would be a holding penalty that derailed a promising drive nearly halfway through the final quarter. After Nuredini pinned the Mountain Lions deep in their own territory Charleston managed to earn the break they had been looking for.

On the first play of the ensuing Concord possession Gibson found a route to the backfield unobstructed to hammer CU backup quarterback Albert Rose from his blindside. The hit caused Rose to cough up the ball and with a timely bounce off the Callaghan Stadium turf Green found himself in control of the ball with nothing but artificial turf in front of him. Green secured the ball and rumbled 11 yards past the endline to put the Golden Eagles on the better side of the scoreboard, which was the perfect topping to his record-setting day.

The UC defense settled in for the final eight minutes of play with their sights set 100% on keeping Rose off balance with a full compliment of blitz packages. In the Mountain Lions final chance with substantial time to work with the Golden Eagles quickyl quelled any comeback thoughts with back-to-back sacks by Matt Kelly (Cincinnati, OH) and Green. Jeff Bryant (Cleveland, OH) registed the final pop of the pads for the afternoon with a slam of Rose as time slowely clicked under 15 seconds to play to seal the 17-14 win.

Green continued the 2012 tradition of taking down the University of Charleston record books by making it the third-straight game with an old school record taking a fall. Green now holds the UC single-game record for sacks after living in the backfield for much of the day to register four sacks and four tackles for loss to go along with his fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Knox starts his career with back-to-back 100 yard passing days as he booked 162 yards on 13-of-21 attempts, while also pacing the ground game with 93 total yards. Roberts ended the victory with 48 yards, but had the lone offensive touchdown in the game to pull him within 115 yards of breaking the school career rushing record which he will now have the chance at breaking within the friendly confines of UC Stadium.

Nuredini got Charleston off to a great start by lighting up the scoreboard first with his field goal, but for this weekend it was his work as a punter that proved to be a game changer. He punted the ball eight times on the afternoon with an average of 41.5 per attempt with two punts inside the 2o yard line, while booming a long on the day of 62 yards to keep Concord backed up for much of the contest.

Charleston now heads home for the WVIAC Game of the Week as they challenge their spotless record against perennial regional and NCAA playoff power Shepherd. The Golden Eagles host the Rams at 1:00 pm on Saturday, Sept. 22.