FROSTBURG — No. 22 Frostburg State prepares for arguably its biggest game since joining the Division II ranks in 2019, as the Bobcats host No. 13 Charleston on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“They got the leading rusher in Division II football, that’s the first thing you see,” FSU head coach Eric Wagoner said. “Charleston’s been Charleston for a while, they have a good offense, they score a bunch of points. Defensively, they’re always a team that can run and gang tackle.”
The Bobcats (6-0, 4-0 Mountain East Conference) are off to their best start since a 10-0 start in 2018.
Frostburg is among the best teams in Division II in numerous statistical categories.
The offense averages 41.5 points per game which is sixth-best while the defense averages 16.5 points allowed, 24th-best.
Frostburg averages 432.5 yards on offense which is 18th nationally while the defense allows 250.7 a game, the 13th-lowest.
While FSU ranks outside the top 50 nationally in third down offense at 29 of 72 (40.3%), the Bobcats are 10 of 11 on fourth down.
Of teams with at least 10 attempts, only Carson-Newman’s 11 of 12 success rate is higher than FSU’s 90.1%.
Defensively, the Bobcats rank sixth in the country on third down, holding opponents to 20 of 80 (25%) and are 16th on fourth down at 3 for 11 (26.3%).
FSU is also one of the best teams at blocking kicks, tied with five other teams for the Division II lead with six.
On the other sideline, the Golden Eagles (6-0, 4-0 MEC) enters with identical overall and conference record, with the Bobcats and Golden Eagles tied with West Virginia State atop the MEC.
“We can’t turn the ball over, their defense has 10 picks,” Wagoner said of the keys of the game. “We gotta take care of the football. On the other side, they’re not turning it over, so we gotta find a way to take it away. As much as they run the football, try and drain the clock, we gotta make sure we don’t give them extra possessions.”
Charleston enters Saturday averaging 38.7 points while allowing 18.1.
The Golden Eagles average 428.7 yards offensively against 307.8 allowed.
FSU has 21 sacks on defense, fifth-best, while Charleston has allowed 30.
Charleston’s defense has 10 interceptions which is tied for sixth-most.
The Golden Eagles are led by running back Chavon Wright.
Wright has 159 carries for 1,072 yards and 19 touchdowns through six games.
He leads the nation by nearly 200 rushing yards, and is the only player with over 1,000 yards this season.
“His balance is probably the most unbelievable I’ve seen against someone you had to play,” Wagoner said. “He doesn’t go down with the first hit. If you have one guy on him, he almost never goes down. I’m guessing he took a lot of ballet or yoga classes, he’s just deceptive when you see him.”
Wright also leads in rushing touchdowns by eight and rushing average by nearly 30 yards.
Last week against Wheeling, he ran 29 times for 170 yards and five touchdowns.
He’s rushed for at least 150 yards and three touchdowns in each of his last five games.
Charleston’s quarterback is expected to be Ean Hamric, who’s completed 65.4% of his passes for 464 yards and no interceptions in four games.
He’s rushed for 213 yards and two touchdowns, recording 14 carries for 77 yards and a score against Concord.
“We’re familiar with him, when Delane (Fitzgerald) was here, he was a quarterback recruit on our board,” Wagoner said. “He can run the ball, you can’t just sell out on Chavon or the other tailbacks because he can pull it down and run with it.”
Yves Bosmans is the leading receiver with 28 catches for 361 yards and five scores.
Aden Miller leads the Golden Eagles with 30 tackles while Andrew Chamblee has 28 with nine for loss.
No one on Charleston has more than two sacks, while Frostburg’s Yasir Holmes is at 5.5 with 10 tackles for loss, both top 10 in the country.
Saturday will mark the fifth meeting all-time between the teams.
While FSU enters 3-1 in the series, the last three have been nailbiters.
The 2021 game went into double overtime before the Bobcats won 30-24.
FSU won 34-28 in 2022 before Charleston took last year’s game 28-25.
“Every game over the last couple years has been pretty even,” Wagoner said. “In 2021, it goes to overtime, 2022 we jump out, get a good lead. Then Graham (Walker) gets hurt and we’re able to hold on with our backup quarterback. Last year, we’re up at halftime, don’t close out the game. If you look at the last three, how evenly matched up, it’ll probably be along the same lines,”
The Mountain East Conference hasn’t had more than one playoff team since 2016.
Frostburg hasn’t reached the playoffs since joining the Division II level in 2019, but a win Saturday would put the Bobcats in prime position to change that.
Not only is this game important for both teams, Wagoner said it’s also a chance to show the rest of the country the quality of MEC football.
“It’s very important, we’ve been a one bid league, I’ve got my own opinions on that,” Wagoner said. “When you watch some of the teams that get in, the MEC has been very deserving of two teams for a while. Having two ranked teams in the MEC is absolutely great for the conference on a national level.
“The PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) is gonna get in, then it filters down to one bid here and one bid there. The MEC is playing PSAC schools, we’ve beat them, there’s been some opportunities. We should not necessarily always be a one bid league.”