By Wesley Evans
Game Information
Southern Virginia University (0-8, 0-5 NJAC) vs. The College of New Jersey (2-6, 1-4 NJAC)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014
Kickoff: 12 p.m.
Location: The Fields (Buena Vista, Va.)
All-time vs. The College of New Jersey: 0-2
Last Meeting: The two teams last met during the 2013 season, with The College of New Jersey taking a close 7-2 victory in Ewing, New Jersey
Live Stats
Video
Preview
Southern Virginia University will host NJAC opponent The College of New Jersey this Saturday as it seeks its first victory of the 2014 season.
Last week, the Knights fell in their road NJAC contest to Rowan University by a 25-6 score.
Quarterback Mitch Stevenson leads the passing attack for Southern Virginia, throwing for 1,427 total yards with nine touchdowns on 118 completions. Junior wide receiver Kyler Harris is Stevenson's go-to receiver as he owns a team-best 471 yards receiving on 34 receptions, while tight end Michael Carroll has 16 receptions of his own for 246 yards.
Senior Jerry Washington leads the ground attack for the Knights, accumulating 385 yards on 138 rushes, while also earning 160 yards receiving on 18 receptions.
Defensively, senior linebacker Colter Evans leads all Southern Virginia players with 73 tackles—9.1 tackles per game—to go along with nearly eight tackles for loss on the year Defensive back Matthew Gregory and linebacker Robert Robbins have brought down 72 and 65 opposing players, respectively, through eight games.
After dropping five straight, The College of New Jersey enters this contest coming off a 20-10 victory over Kean University last week as it earned its first conference win of the 2014 season.
Through the air, sophomore quarterback Michael Machesano leads the Lions' offensive attack with 795 yards passing (84-of-193) and two touchdowns with five interceptions. Jeff Mattonelli and Ryan Baranowsky are the main receivers for The College of New Jersey, accumulating 27 and 20 receptions, respectively, for a combined 538 yards receiving and three touchdowns on the year.
The ground attack for the Lions is a strong point as running back Khani Glover has gained 409 yards rushing on 77 attempts and a team-best four touchdowns.
Defensively, Sean Kley and Matthew Fleck have recorded 63 and 62 tackles on the season through eight games. The College of New Jersey defense owns nine interceptions and 11 sacks on the year, while holding opponents to 345 offensive yards per game.
Walker on The College of New Jersey
"They are in a similar situation as we are except with one conference win. William Patterson beat The College of New Jersey and then The College of New Jersey turned around last week and beat Kean. They are similar to Kean, which we fought right down to the end and it was unfortunate not being able to come away with that win.
"They are trying to break through and get some wins just like we are. Hopefully our kids can see these games as opportunities to put themselves in the middle of the pack of the conference at the end of the season.
"On offense we have to establish the run and take care of the football. That is the main thing that I've stressed with them. I've been stressing that all year, but I've really hammered it this week.
"That is what cost us last week and it's what has cost us a bunch of games throughout the season. Playing at home these next two weeks, we can put ourselves in a position to win both games if we can take care of the football."
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.
The College of New Jersey Head Coach Wayne Dickens
A native of Orange, New Jersey, Wayne Dickens is in his second season as head coach of The College of New Jersey football program.
Dickens has over 20 years of coaching experience with stints at the Division I and Division II levels, as well as experience in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
He gained his first collegiate coaching experience at Division I University of Washington, where he helped the Huskies reach the 1993 Rose Bowl as he assisted with the defensive line, linebackers and special teams. From there, he moved on to the University of San Diego for one season, then coached wide receivers at San Diego State University from 1995-2001. Since then, Dickens has had stints with the CFL, Morehouse College, Norfolk State University and most recently Kentucky State University.
