UNC-Pembroke is in just its third season since returning to college football, and is already in the running for an NCAA playoff bid.
The Braves showed the formula behind their rapid rise in a visit to Concord Saturday afternoon.
UNCP ran the ball well, threw the ball efficiently, kept Concord’s playmakers in check and controlled the clock in a 27-9 victory on CU’s Senior Day at Callaghan Stadium.
“We just lost to a better team. It’s as simple as that,” Concord head coach Mike Kellar said. “There’s a reason they’re the 15th-ranked team in the country. They’ve got a good program going.”
The Braves rushed 51 times for 264 yards and two touchdowns against a Concord defense allowing 171 yards rushing per game.
UNCP QB Cory Smith completed 14 of just 20 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown.
“Their offense played just about mistake-free football and they’re good at making up for things if they would make a mistake,” Kellar said. “They’re so solid they could maybe get into a 2nd and 11 or something, but then they’d come back and get to a 3rd and short and put themselves in a good position.”
Pembroke had the ball for 38:01, or 16:02 more than Concord.
The Braves’ defense allowed Concord RB Brian Kennedy to rush for 107 yards – but only two in the second half – after Kennedy piled up 516 yards in his previous two games.
Pembroke also limited WR Thomas Mayo – the Mountain Lions’ All-American candidate who came leading the nation in receiving – to five catches for 55 yards.
Concord’s 315 total yards on Saturday were 173 under their season average.
Concord also hurt itself with frequent penalties and two lost fumbles that Pembroke converted into 10 points.
“You can’t recover from a sack, or a fumble or a penalty against that defense,” Kellar said. “As long we didn’t make mistakes, we were fine. But if we’d make a mistake we’d get behind, and it’s hard to get anything going against that defense.”
Concord took its only lead on a safety. Pembroke had the ball at its own 2, and a bad shotgun snap forced Smith to push the ball across the backline of the end zone and CU was by the unusual score of 2-0.
Justin Hinson’s free kick, aided by a strong west wind, flew more than 80 yards for a touchback, denying the Mountain Lions field position. Concord moved the ball to UNCP territory, but Dennis Cole lost a fumble at the Braves’ 42. Pembroke took advantage, going 58 yards in eight plays and taking the lead on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Jamal Williams.
On its next drive, Concord again drove into UNCP territory, but lost the ball on downs at the Braves’ 33. Pembroke then marched 67 yards on seven plays, extending their lead to 14-2 after a one-yard touchdown plunge by Keith Gore. The Braves would take that lead into halftime.
“Their kids on offense were more athletic than our kids on defense,” Concord Defensive Coordination Brian Hill noted after the game. “They didn’t do anything spectacular but they just did everything well. They’d get seven yards here, seven yards there, and we’d miss a tackle and they’d get something bigger.
Concord’s defense stopped Pembroke on their first possession of the second half, and the Mountain Lions embarked on their best drive of the day – seven plays, 87 yards, in only 2:46, capped off with a seven-yard TD pass to TE Rashid Baker. It was a misdirection play in which CU flooded the right side of the field; QB Steven Hearons bluffed to the right, then threw back to the left to a wide-open Baker.
“That was a play we put in last Monday night,” Kellar explained. “We set up an unbalanced look. We’d motion Mayo to the right side and hope to draw their guys over there, then sent Rashid to the other side. That’s a new look we wanted to try and it worked out pretty well.”
The score pulled Concord to within 14-9 with 7:12 left in the 3rd quarter. But UNC-Pembroke seized back the momentum on its next possession, a workman-like seven-play, 67-yard march that ended with a one-yard TD run by Travis Daniels and a 21-9 lead for the Braves.
On Concord’s next offensive play, Cole lost another fumble at the Concord 31. Pembroke would cash in the takeaway for a 24-yard field goal by Taylor Baskett with 14:52 left in the game. Baskett added a 42-yard field goal with 1:58 left to put the game out of reach.
“We had some shots in the first half against man coverage, and we just missed some throws,” Kellar said. “In the second half, we had to get into a total throwing game, and they knew that we had to pass a lot. We got some completions, but they could key on our passing game. It’s hard to do much against a defense like that when they know what you’re going to try to do.”
The win improved Pembroke’s record to 7-1 and boosted their chances for reaching the post-season. Concord fell to 5-4 after the non-conference defeat and remains 3-3 in the WVIAC.
“I told our guys after the game that those guys are the kind of program where we’d like to be,” Hill said. “We’d like to be where they are in our third year. The way they play the game, how they carry themselves on the field – if we can get to that level by our third year, we’ll be alright.”
The Mountain Lions return to WVIAC play next Saturday at Fairmont State. Kickoff at Duvall-Rosier Field is scheduled for 1:00 pm EDT.
The game will be broadcast on Classic Rock 102 The River (102.3 FM WMTD) and webcast at theriver102.com, beginning with the “Mountain Lion Preview Show” at 12:30.