Game Information
Southern Virginia University (0-6, 0-3 NJAC) vs. Morrisville State University (5-2, 3-1 NJAC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014
Kickoff: 12 p.m.
Location: The Fields (Buena Vista, Va.)
All-time vs. Morrisville State: First Meeting
Live Stats
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Preview
Southern Virginia University will play its second home game of the season this Saturday as it hosts Morrisville State out of Morrisville, N.Y. This will be the first ever meeting between the two squads.
The Knights are currently seeking their first victory of the season and first ever NJAC win as it faces the Mustangs. Last week, Southern Virginia fell in its road NJAC contest to Cortland State by a 35-0 score.
Quarterback Mitch Stevenson leads the passing attack for Southern Virginia, throwing for 1,068 total yards with eight touchdowns on 88 completions. Junior wide receiver Kyler Harris is Stevenson's go-to receiver and owns a team-best 380 yards receiving on 27 receptions, while tight end Michael Carroll has 12 receptions of his own for 213 yards.
Senior Jerry Washington leads the ground attack for the Knights, accumulating 300 yards on 99 rushes, while also earning 147 yards receiving on 16 receptions.
Defensively, senior defensive back Matthew Gregory leads all Southern Virginia players with 63 tackles—10.5 tackles per game—and also owns a team-leading two interceptions on the year. Linebackers Colter Evans and Robert Robbins have brought down 60 and 57 opposing players, respectively, through five games.
Traveling nearly eight hours south, Morrisville State is coming off a 31-0 loss to Rowan University, last Saturday in Glassboro, New Jersey. The Mustangs are currently ranked second in the NJAC standings.
Through the air, senior quarterback Lemar Johnson leads a strong Morrisville offensive attack with 1,608 yards passing (126-of-226) and 17 touchdowns with just six interceptions, for an offense averaging 34.6 points per game. Johnson also leads the ground game for the Mustangs with 656 rushing yards this season. Anthony Gray and Josh Powell are the main receivers for Morrisville, accumulating 39 and 33 receptions, respectively, for a combined 999 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns on the year
Defensively, Caleb Wright and Delroy Young each have 63 tackles on the season through seven games.
Walker on Morrisville State
"We will be trying to establish the running game again. We focused on that last week and improved on that, so I think we are going in with that focus as well. This will hopefully help Mitch be able to execute his throws.
"A strong running game opens up the lanes and gives the quarterback a small enough window to squeeze a ball in there. They go hand in hand.
"Their quarterback and running back are the two best players on their team. It's definitely going to be a challenge for our defense to be able to try and contain those two. Our game plan is to try to contain the quarterback, first of all. When he drops back to pass, he's a good thrower but he's looking for that opportunity to be able to crease the defense with his legs. We'll have to have guys keen in on him to try and take away the run. However, we can't lose track of their running back because he's very dangerous.
"They have run calls specifically for the quarterback on a number of occasions. They run the read option, and their quarterback directs it better than any we have seen this season."
Southern Virginia Head Coach Jason Walker
Jason Walker enters his first season as head coach of the football program after being named to the position in April. Walker served as a defensive graduate assistant the past four years at Brigham Young University, where he learned defensive schemes from head coach Bronco Mendenhall and some of the nation's top defensive assistants.
Morrisville State Head Coach Curt Fitzpatrick
Curt Fitzpatrick is in his second season at the helm of the Mustang football program. In his first season, Fitzpatrick guided Morrisville to a 3-7 overall record, while his hurry-up offense gained national accolades in offensive proficiency. Before coming to Morrisville State, Fitzpatrick coached at Utica College and his alma mater, St. John Fisher College of the Empire 8 Conference.
