Full Game Notes
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone College football team will head south on Saturday as they travel to Newberry, SC for a non-conference tilt with the Newberry College Wolves.
OFFENSE
The Blue Bear offense struggled to get going Saturday at Virginia State amassing only 109 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Curtis Edens and sophomore running back Miles Harris will have their hands full against a very experienced Newberry defense that was first in the conference and 26th in the nation in total defense in 2009. Livingstone must be able to convert their third-down attempts against the Wolves after converting only three of 15 attempts against Virginia State.
DEFENSE
The Blue Bear defense had an up and down day against Virginia State. Livingstone forced five fumbles, recovering four from the Trojans, but still allowed 334 yards of total offense. The Blue Bears allowed 148 passing yards and 184 rushing yards against Virginia State. Junior defensive back Shawntez Jones had a good game for the Blue Bears notching seven tackles, 2.5 for loss and forcing and recovering one fumble. His performance earned him the CIAA Defensive Back of the Week last week. Also solid on Saturday was junior linebacker Justin Johnson who also recorded seven tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Until the final minute of Saturday's game at Virginia State, the Blue Bear special teams hadn't succeeded. A missed field goal along with two blocked punts and an average of 23 yards per kickoff return wasn't getting it done for the visiting side. In the final minute, junior running back Jamel Moore provided a much-needed spark for Livingstone taking a Virginia State kickoff back 82 yards to the 8-yard line, setting up the only touchdown of the game for the Blue Bears. Moore's performance earned him the CIAA Special Teams Player of the Week.
NEWBERRY
Saturday's game will be the first for Newberry this season. Newberry returns a very experienced offensive line which will look to protect an inexperienced backfield starting with sophomore quarterback Bryan Ehrlich who played sparingly for Newberry last season. Two transfer student-athletes will start at running back and fullback for the Wolves. The defense for the Wolves will start a lot of experience. Newberry's defense last year ranked first in the South Atlantic Conference and 26th in the nation in Division II in total defense, allowing just over 300 yards of total offense per game.
THE SERIES
This is only the second contest all-time between Newberry and Livingstone. The only other meeting happened in 1999 and the Blue Bears came out victorious in overtime, 37-34.
THE LAST MEETING
In 1999, the Blue Bears defeated Newberry 37-34 in overtime. On Sept. 11, 1999, the Blue Bears jumped out to a 12-0 lead over Newberry, but quickly lost their advantage as Newberry scored 34 unanswered points to go up 34-12 with 12:17 left in the 4th quarter. Livingstone cut the deficit to 34-18 with 10:04 remaining. In the final five minutes of the contest the Blue Bears had two scoring drives of 91 and 89 yards respectively each capped with a successful two-point conversion to tie the game at 34-34 with only 45 seconds left. In overtime, Jim Terry kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the Blue Bears a big come-from-behind victory.
GAME UPDATES
Fans can follow live game updates from Newberry via Twitter at www.twitter.com/lcbluebears. Live stats will also be available through Newberry at http://newberry.athleticsite.net/live/fb/xlive.htm.
WEBCAST
A free video webstream will be provided by the Newberry College institutional advancement department. Pay close attention to the instructions below.
1. Follow this link to view streaming video http://www.newberry.edu/streamingvideo
2. On the Registration page enter your e-mail address
3. Enter the password: wolves (this is case sensitive)
4. Once the window opens and the video player appears, click the link at the top right hand side of the screen that says "Live Event"
RADIO
Fans can listen to Saturday's contest via Newberry's radio at www.wkdk.com.
WEATHER FORECAST
Saturday's weather in Newberry, SC is forecasted to be in the mid to upper 80s during the day with sunny skies. Temperatures will dip into the mid to upper 70s after the sun goes down.
GAME RECAPS
A full game recap with statistics will be available online at www.bluebearathletics.com following the contest.
