Well, that was a nice start to the season.

If you told me in advance that Fairmont State QB Logan Moore would only complete five passes all night against Clarion, I woul have said the Falcons were in serious trouble.

Instead, RB Daniel Monroe stepped up in a big way, running for 161 yards and a pair of long touchdown runs, along with an assist from Matt Wilmer on the longest punt return in school history (for a touchdown, of course), and Fairmont State won 31-17, even if the game didn't look that close through much of the second half.

As for Glenville State, well, it's as if the story unfortunately hasn't quite changed yet: they're consistently inconsistent. QB Darold Hughes looked pretty decent in the first quarter but could not move the football at all in the second quarter, and it took backup quarterback Steffen Colon to put any points on the scoreboard for the Pioneers in the second half. Apparently, Carson-Newman's four turnovers in just the first quarter alone weren't enough for Glenville State, as they only put 13 points on the board as a result. But after that, when Johnny Foster came into the game at quarterback, Carson-Newman wouldn't turn the ball over again the rest of the game.

One thing to note with both of these teams: there's work to be done when it comes to stopping the run. Given that these teams were ranked preseason #3 and #4 in the conference (for what little that's actually worth), they'll have to do better than they did last night if they want to be able to keep with hard-running opponents like Shepherd this season.

But enough about the past. Let's look at what's happening Saturday:

Charleston at Mars Hill

Farewell to the Tony DeMeo era at the University of Charleston as Pat Kirkland and a swath of new faces come into the capital city to take over the Golden Eagels' program.

And with that change, you can also say farewell to DeMeo's triple gun offense, a uniqe style that was interesting and often effective. Instead, look for more focus on the passing game in a spread offensive style. Could this mean greater effectiveness from a good passing quarterback in Maurice Leak, who looked made for anything but an option style offense last season? Also, with plenty of change afoot, what will this mean for the much talked about RB Jordan Roberts, the transfer from West Virginia who came in with plenty of buzz last year but didn't see as much time on the field that fans would like? Nobody's saying much in Charleston, so we'll have to wait and see.

The Lions were somehow picked seventh in the eight-team SAC in preseason polls, but looking at their roster, which includes eight returning starters from 2010, I don't see it. Either the SAC is better top-to-bottom than ever before, the voters are wrong, or I'm missing something here. RB Jonas Randolph, an All-American, will be a huge part of Mars Hill's offense, which also sees the return of a solid quarterback in Jon Richt.

Road trips in the first week of the season are tough for new head coaches, especially ones who have only eight retuning starters and are overhauling the offense and defense (look for Charleston to run a 3-3-5 stack defense like Fairmont State often does). Mars Hill just looks more established and probably pretty ticked off that they were picked so low in preseason polls.

Prediction: Mars Hill 31, Charleston 14

Lenoir-Rhyne at Concord

At first over the summer, things weren't looking good for the WVIAC's southernmost football-playing member (for now, though adding Virginia-Wise looks like a very good move toward having a nice 16-team conference again with maybe 12 football programs too). Mike Kellar departed for California University of Pennsylvania, looking to eventually take over the head coaching job there when John Luckhardt retires, and even worse, he took the Mountain Lions' top receiver, Thomas Mayo, with him.

But that was where the bleeding stopped, and to quote the Black Knight, "It's just a flesh wound!" Concord promoted from within, and offensive coordinator Garin Justice moved up to the head role, plus he still had RB Brian Kennedy (and the depth at running back behind him), QB Zack Grossi, and TE Rashid Baker. There are new faces at wide receiver, but when you're getting transfers from D-I schools like South Carolina State (Randall Hawkins) and The Citadel (Dequan Coles) as well as one from California, PA (Tim Picard), it's hard to complain too much. The offensive line is largely intact, so the only real question is some uncertainty on defense.

Lenoir-Rhyne's offense may be unusual (the Bear Bone is another option run-based attack) but Concord has seen it before, having faced the Bears each of the last three seasons. So expect to see lots of quarterback keepers from Major Herron, who has a good arm when he needs to use it. When he does, he'll probably be looking for his top receivers from last year: Nick Stutts and Artis Gilmore. There isn't much experience at running back, but with an offense focused on misdirection, experience may not be quite as critical.

If Concord's front seven on defense can take charge of this game, the Mountain Lions will be in good shape. That could be a tall order, though, and the last two years, this matchup has been close. Expect that to continue again this year as Concord wins one that's lower scoring than people may expect.

Prediction: Concord 27, Lenoir-Rhyne 20

Slippery Rock at Seton Hill

Head coach Joel Dolinski has done well in season openers but not quite so well in week 2. But he's facing a tough challenge in a Slippery Rock team that sees 16 starters from last year return.

The Griffins return QB D.J. Lenehan, who should be even stronger than last year following a challenge in camp from Ryan Morris, who transferred from California, PA. A young group of running backs looks likely to be led by Daniel Butler, but there's depth and experience at wide receiver, particularly as Jeorge Valdovinos finished last season strong, as did Tyler McIntosh. On defense, there are leaders at each position: DL Patrone Wood, DB Danilo Bautista, and the biggest of them all, LB Nick McGahagan. But Seton Hill will need more help than that to get a win against the Rock.

Normally, a new quarterback would be cause for alarm, but when that quarterback is Connecticut transfer Cody Endres, things don't seem so bad. He'll get plenty of help from an experience Akeem Satterfield and top wide receiver Devin Goda.

The Rock don't really turn the football over, so Seton Hill will have to earn this one without much help from their opponents. The Griffins have reason to be excited and should look better than last year, and I expect them to start strong, but I think Slippery Rock just has too much talent not to win this game.

Prediction: Slippery Rock 28, Seton Hill 17

Shippensburg at #7 Shepherd

After the best season in Shepherd football's Division II history, the Rams will try to duplicate that feat as they come in with a lofty ranking. Then again, we all know how meaningless those can be.

Shepherd's offense starts, without question, with All-American RB Tommy Addison, who has made it clear he's shooting for a 2,000 yard season (he came up about 250 yards short of that last year). If that's going to happen in 2011, he'll need help from new starting quarterback Bobby Cooper, who has apparently looked good in practice and has more running ability than we saw last year from Kevin Clancy. There are plenty of familiar faces at wide receiver, but will there be one that will stand out as a go-to guy when the game is on the line? That could be a concern, and it may be up to the defense to help win games early on as the offense is coming together. LB Dominique Dixon returns, as does the dominant backfield of Corey Washington and Keon Robinson, but the defensive line will need some more help building back up.

Shippensburg, meanwhile, has a bigger rebuilding job ahead for itself. With Rocky Rees retiring, Mark Macijiewski takes over as head coach, and that could mean, among other things, the end to the Raiders' Wing-T offense. But that could also depend on who ends up emerging as the top quarterback: Steven Adams, Zach Zulli, or Jeff Tomasetti? The Raiders have only five seniors on the entire roster. Just let that sink in for a moment, and there's one message that comes out pretty clear.

No matter what retooling the Rams have to do, it's nothing compared to what Shippensburg is doing to start the season. Shepherd is far more experienced, but this rivalry is almost always a close game that's often lower scoring than people would expect. I won't diverge too far from that prediction, though Shepherd could win this one by more.

Prediction: Shepherd 23, Shippensburg 14

Millersville at West Virginia Wesleyan

So, apparently some people either place way too much stock in coaching changes or just didn't believe that West Virginia Wesleyan actually went 9-2 last year on the strength of its talent. Either way, they were voted 7th in the WVIAC, about five spots lower than I would have ranked them (I'll give you my rankings at the end of the column).

The short story is this: yes, Dennis Creehan has left West Virginia Wesleyan to join his brother at Alderson-Broaddus and be their first head football coach starting next year (as well as their athletic director starting this year). Eventually, the Bobcats go with Jonas Jackson as their new head coach, but at least 15 starters from last year are still around, including QB Adam Neugebauer; WRs Jon Meadows, LaVaughn Hughes, and T.J. Benners; DEs Jonas Celian and Brian Vukela; and DBs Ben Alalefu, Jr. and Ottis Scott. Yes, the offense may lose a step with offensive coordinator Gary Goff having left to become Tiffin's head coach (which I'm not sure is a step up, especially after they lost to Malone, a school still in the process of moving up to Division II that isn't known for a rich football tradition). But the fact remains: West Virginia Wesleyan still has the talent and enough depth to keep surprising opponents in the WVIAC.

Millersville, however, won't sneak up on anyone. Their last winning season was in 2000. They lost to Cheyney last year for the Wolves' only win of the season. Sure, they have eight offensive starters returning, but none of them is a quarterback or a running back. Their offensive line allowed 47 sacks last year. Only three starters return on defense. They'll probably run the football more than they throw, and QB Dan Miller could be a legitimate dual threat passer.

But overall, West Virginia Wesleyan has too much talent and experience not to win this one comfortably. This won't be quite as ugly as the Bobcats' win over woeful Livingstone last season, but this won't be one of the better games to watch this weekend.

Prediction: West Virginia Wesleyan 42, Millersville 14

West Virginia State at Johnson C. Smith

The Yellow Jackets are on a ten game losing streak from last season. The Golden Bulls had only two wins last year: NAIA opponent West Virginia Tech and awful, awful Livingstone. This one won't be pretty, but someone has to win it.

West Virginia State will probably have the best player on the field in this game in QB Ricky Phillips. He'll still have Landon Johnson and Ben Kearse to throw the football to, but the big question is about the offensive and defensive lines, which were the reason the Yellow Jackets' closest loss last season was by 13 points. Then again, those lines were at least 50% freshmen, so they're bound to be better.

Johnson C. Smith returns ten starters but has uncertainty at quarterback, as Darryl Adams or Maleik McCall could be the starter. They aren't a great running team either (unlike most of their CIAA brethren): leading returning rushers Joshua Jones and Dedric Anderson combined for less than 500 yards last year.

The Golden Bulls aren't a strong offensive or defensive team (they only forced eight turnovers all year in 2010), and if they throw the football more, they're going right into the heart of the West Virginia State defense. This game looks like the kind of matchup a still-young Yellow Jacket squad needs to end their current losing streak, and I think they'll do just that.

Prediction: West Virginia State 35, Johnson C. Smith 27

Game of the Week
West Liberty at Edinboro

There are new faces all around for the Hilltoppers. The Fighting Scots return 19 starters. This looks to be the most intriguing matchup of the weekend.

For West Liberty, gone is Zach Amedro, Division II's second best player according to the closest Harlon Hill Trophy vote ever. Gone is Ryan Travis, an outstanding receiver who was Amedro's favorite target. Gone is top rusher Kevon Calhoun. What replaces them? Start with Central Florida transfer QB L.D. Crow, who won the starting job over Tyler Tucci as both players looked very good in fall practices. Joining Crow is another UCF transfer, RB Brandon Davis. WR Brandon Carver is back and will need to take over Travis's role from last season as the top receiver, though he'll get support from Brandon Schroeder and Tucci, who surprised coaches with his WR abilities. The defense is stable with leadership from DE Isaac Omaits and DB Alec Wood.

Edinboro returns plenty of experience from a team that went 7-4 last season. Key among those returnees are dual threat QB Cody Harris, RBs D'Andrea Vaughn and Drew Herrell, and CB Branden Williams. WR David Bostic will be a key target in the receiving corps. Despite that experience, Edinboro was picked sixth in the PSAC West Division in the preseason poll.

It's hard to know exactly what the Fighting Scots have in store for this game: the coaching staff and athletic department haven't released too much information. But West Liberty head coach Roger Waialae knows one thing: if the Hilltoppers turn the ball over in key situations like they did in last year's matchup, they won't win. Too many players on this West Liberty roster remember the sting of last year's opening loss at home, and they won't let that happen again this year.

Prediction: West Liberty 24, Edinboro 20


Byko's Preseason Conference Rankings

1. Shepherd - They're the best until someone can beat them.
2. West Virginia Wesleyan - The Bobcats have plenty of talent to overcome coaching turmoil.
3. West Liberty - There's ots of individual talent, but can it come together to win as a team?
4. Fairmont State - Confidence is higher, talent is better, and it's time for the Falcons to start winning games against better WVIAC teams.
5. Concord - I'm still not sure about the Mountain Lions' defense.
6. Charleston - It's very close between the Golden Eagles and #7.
7. Glenville State - I thought this seemed low before last night. Now, I'm not so sure.
8. Seton Hill - The talent is there for this team to move up a couple notches. Can they do what they couldn't the last two seasons and protect the football?
9. West Virginia State - They need to win a game first before they can move up. Ricky Phillips deserves a better fate.

Questions? Comments? Cheers? Jeers? Feel free to comment. Maybe I'll even respond! Or you can hit me up on Twitter @Byko.