Wise, Va. —- The Catawba College football team looks to build momentum heading into league play on Saturday, as it hits the road to UVA Wise for its South Atlantic Conference opener on Saturday afternoon.
THE MATCHUP
Who: Catawba (1-1, 0-0 SAC) at UVA Wise (1-1, 0-0 SAC)
Where: Carl Smith Stadium, Wise, Va.
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 2 p.m.
How to Follow: Watch on FloSports ($) | Follow with live stats
THE HISTORY
- UVA Wise leads the all-time series 2-0
- The Catawba Indians are 0-1 in their lone trip to Wise
- UVA Wise earned their first-ever SAC victory in that game, a 21-14 win in November 2019
LAST TIME OUT
- Catawba earned its first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Shaw on the road, 37-28
- Preston Brown went 24-for-29 with 295 passing yards and four touchdowns, earning WePlayed Sports SAC Football Offensive Player of the Week honors
- Kobe Christian topped the 100-yard mark, hauling in six passes for 101 yards
- Deuce Linder recorded six catches for 82 yards and a score; Mike Geter joined him as recording his first career Catawba touchdown
- LJ Turner led Catawba on the ground again, going for 64 yards and a score
THAT'S OUR QUARTERBACK
- Brown earned SAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career
- Catawba's signal caller set a school record with 11 consecutive completions during the game
- The game was Brown's fifth career with at least 295 passing yards in 13 career starts at Catawba
DOUBLE-DIGIT DENO
- Deno Wardlow recorded his second straight game with double-digit tackles on Saturday
- The Winston-Salem native currently leads the SAC with 20 tackles on the season
- Wardlow ranked second on the team last year with 66 tackles
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
- Like Catawba, UVA Wise bounced back with a week two win on the road after falling short in their opener to an FCS opponent
- The Cavs blanked Concord, 28-0, on Saturday; East Tennessee State won 61-0 in UVA Wise's opener
- Jake Corkren is UVA Wise's quarterback, having completed 27 of 39 pass attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns in the team's win on Saturday
- Dorien Goddard hauled in a team-high nine catches at Concord, going for 78 yards
- Jalen Pickens had a team-best nine tackles
- The Cavaliers were picked 11th in the SAC preseason poll
FAMILIAR FACES
- Despite both head coaches taking the sidelines for the first time against each other, both share a decent amount of familiarity with their opponent
- Gary Bass, UVA Wise's first-year head coach, is an '04 graduate of Catawba along the offensive line; Bass played 32 games for the Catawba Indians
- On the other side, Tyler Haines has four previous meetings with the Cavaliers at Mountain East member Urbana; Haines is 0-4 in his first four matchups with UVA Wise
TRAFFIC NOTE
- Due to events around the Town of Wise's 100th birthday celebration, East Main Street through downtown Wise will not be accessible on Saturday. Fans coming in via US 23 are urged to turn onto West Main Street at the West Main Street red light north of town, turn left on Lake Avenue, follow it to Hurricane Road and turn right, and then turn left onto Darden Drive (VA 646) to reach the campus. GPS may try to route you via Tacoma Mountain Road, but that is a narrow steep and winding road.
UP NEXT
- Catawba wraps up its season-opening, three-game road trip on Saturday before making its home debut on Saturday, Sept. 28 vs. Carson-Newman at 6 p.m. over Family Weekend
