This Week: Notre Dame College football heads to Buckhannon, W.Va. for a meeting with West Virginia Wesleyan College, on Oct. 15. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame enters the week with an overall record of 4-2, while going 4-1 in the Mountain East Conference, after falling to Frostburg State last week. The Falcons are now tied with Concord at the top of the MEC standings. West Virginia Wesleyan fell to W.Va State last week and is winless in 2022, starting the season 0-6 (0-5 MEC). 

Coaches Corner: Garrett Mack is in his first season as the head coach of the NDC football program. He had been on the staff for two seasons, prior to 2022. Dwayne Martin is in his second season as head coach and has been on the WVWC staff for seven seasons. He holds a coaching record of 0-17 (0-15 MEC).

Rankings: Notre Dame is receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25.

Series History: The Falcons have gone 7-1 all-time against W.Va. Wesleyan. They have dominated the series with Wesleyan since 2018, winning by an average of 41.7 points per matchup over the last three games. In the last three matchups, the Falcons have scored at least 41 points and have not allowed more than 14. However, the two teams played some close games when the MEC first formed in 2013. NDC won the first four matchups, but aside from a 60-20 win in 2015, none of the games were decided by more than nine points. The Bobcats were able to grab a 20-13 victory in 2017.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame suffered its first loss in conference play last Saturday, in Frostburg. NDC grabbed an early lead with two field goals by Cameron Shirkey. After the FSU Bobcats took a 7-6 lead with a late second quarter touchdown, Shirkey hit a program-record 46-yard field goal to give NDC a 9-7 lead heading into the halftime break. The second half became a game of runs. Frostburg State got the ball after recovering an onside kick to start the second half and went down to kick a field goal. After an interception, Frostburg State's offense scored a touchdown and led 17-9. NDC stopped the bleeding and scored on back-to-back drives to grab a 23-17 lead with 9:40 remaining. FSU tied the game with two field goals and scored a TD in overtime. The Falcons scored to tie the game at 30, but then a missed field goal gave Frostburg the chance to win and Dayne Koontz hit a 39-yard FG for the upset victory.

Following regular season losses since 2019, NDC has bounced back right away. Over the last four years, Notre Dame has only lost four regular season contests. In the games immediately following the previous three losses, NDC has won by an average of 10.7 points per game. The Falcons have not lost back-to-back games since 2015.

In the first three games of the season, NDC's defense averaged 6.3 quarterback hurries, but totaled just six sacks. Over the last three games, Notre Dame has actually reached the quarterback with a total of 11 sacks, including five against Charleston. Over the last four contests, the defense has totaled at least seven tackles for loss each game.

Chris Brimm is now the career leader at NDC in passing yards (10,588), passing touchdowns (97), pass efficiency (146), average yards per pass (8), yards per completion (13.5), pass attempts (1,319) and completions (787). He is second in passing yards per game (207.6). In the Mountain East Conference career rankings, Brimm is first in touchdown passes, total offensive yards and passing yards. He is second in completions and pass attempts and fifth in completion percentage (60).

The NDC defense still leads NCAA Division II with three defensive touchdowns and ranks 23rd in passes intercepted with eight. NDC is also 17th in total takeaways, with 14, 22nd in opponent passing efficiency, at 103.1, and 22nd in fumbles recovered, with six. The NDC offense ranks 21st in the country with 137 first downs, and 27th by averaging 33.7 points per game. Nate Moore is tied for eighth with 38 solo tackles and tied for ninth with 62 total tackles. Idris Lawrence is now 15th in D2 with 618 rushing yards and he ranks 21st with 103 rush yards per game. Wendell McClain and Antoine Holloway are tied for 11th in Division II with nine passes defended, each.

Noting the Bobcats: West Virginia Wesleyan is looking for its first win since Sept. 28, 2019 (33-19 victory over Wheeling). However, the Bobcats have had some impressive performances this season. In back-to-back weeks against Concord University and West Liberty University, WVWC lost by a combined four points. On Sept. 17, W.Va. Wesleyan led Concord 14-13 after one quarter. The Mountain Lions, who have lost just one game this season, had a 21-point second quarter to take the lead, but then were shutout in the second half by the WVWC defense. Concord snuck by with a 34-32 victory. The next week, against West Liberty, Wesleyan led 7-6 after the first quarter. The Bobcats reached the endzone, twice, in the fourth quarter to lead 21-20, with 6:05 remaining. The Hilltoppers won the game with a 48-yard field goal with just 10 seconds to go. Last week, against West Virginia State, W.Va. Wesleyan scored three touchdowns in the first half, including two rushing TDs by Javian Tomlinson. At halftime, WVWC led the Yellow Jackets 21-17, but W.Va. State scored 29 unanswered points in the second half to win 46-21. Quarterback Nathan Payne threw for 312 yards on 26 completions for the Bobcats.