I'll apologize in advance for this being so short and so late: it's been a busy week in the rest of my life, particularly with me wrapping things up with one job and starting a new one on Monday.

West Virginia Wesleyan (3-0, 1-0) at Seton Hill (0-3, 0-1)

These are two teams going in opposite directions. West Virginia Wesleyan looked dominant in a home win over West Liberty last weekend, though I'm still trying to figure out if the Bobcats are that good or the Hilltoppers are that bad. I'll give West Liberty the benefit of the doubt for right now and say that, between over 300 yards in the air (thanks again to Adam Neugebauer, T.J. Benners and Jon Meadows with an assist from Keith Dickens) and a swarming defense that sacked West Liberty quarterbacks SIX times, the Bobcats are the real deal. They can easily be considered a top 25 team nationally. Yes, most of the competition they've faced has been weak, and I feel like it's pretty much a certainty that, when Shepherd comes to Buckhannon in two weeks, the Bobcats will be undefeated. But when you're beating the weaker teams by margins that you should be, that's good enough for me right now.

Seton Hill's offense, meanwhile, is in disarray. I have no idea whom they should start at quarterback: D.J. Lenehan or Ryan Morris? From what I've watched, I'm not sure it makes any difference: the offense is not all on the same page, and the result is pure failure to move the football. Sure, Shepherd is an outstanding team whose weaknesses are more nits than anything else, but giving up 64 points to anybody is pretty terrible.

The Griffins' offensive line will have no answer for the Bobcats' swarming defense, who will get to whoever is under center multiple times throughout the day. Expect former starter turned backup Zane Zebrasky to see more playing time. Again.

Prediction: West Virginia Wesleyan 55, Seton Hill 6


Charleston (0-3, 0-1) at #4 Shepherd (3-0, 1-0)

This game won't sound too different from the one right before it. Charleston's offense isn't in as bad of shape as Seton Hill's, but they haven't put things together enough to sustain drives. Maurice Leak has the arm, but maybe the playcalling still isn't matching what this team is capable of. It seems that more of his passes are going deep down the field, which worked reasonably well in the old triple gun offense but may not be what they need now. Jordan Roberts has been a bright spot for this team, but the Golden Eagles need more than Roberts and Leak's legs to get yardage. As for the defense, I can only imagine how bad things would have been against Mars Hill (a mere 27-7 loss) were it not for the Lions' four turnovers in that game. The pass defense is shaky at best, and Charleston isn't getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

What more can we say about Shepherd? Maybe a #4 ranking seems too high to some, but to me, it's just right. Like West Virginia Wesleyan, Shepherd is dominating weaker competition, getting playing time for backups, and not showing weaknesses at any particular position. I'll be interested to see how things go later in the season when the competition improves, but once again, they're doing the two things that I see as most important against inferior competition: winning big and making halftime adjustments to play better in the last 30 minutes than in the first 30. Concord should provide a tougher test next week, but we'll talk about that later.

Prediction: Shepherd 41, Charleston 10


West Virginia State (0-2, 0-0) at Concord (1-2, 1-0)

Heartbreaking is about the only word that can be used to describe the Yellow Jackets' 17-14 loss to Virginia State two weeks ago. For the first time in quite a while, West Virginia State had the lead going into the fourth quarter, and even after giving up that lead, they had the ball in scoring position in the final minutes. But an interception ruined their chances. Ricky Phillips is one of the more talented quarterbacks in the conference, and given the lack of an offensive line that he has, he's doing some great things. But West Virginia State has some major hurdles to overcome. They need a better running game so that Phillips isn't the team's leading rusher. The defensive secondary needs to be stronger than they have been. And they simply need experience playing in close games so that they can learn how to win. Teams that aren't used to the fourth quarters of games even mattering aren't experienced in learning how to win, and tough losses like two weeks ago are going to be part of that learning process.

Concord, however, not only won last week but looked convincing doing it. I may be buying the Mountain Lions' abilities more after seeing Lenoir-Rhyne as a better team than I expected coming into the season. Zack Grossi finally got the passing game going and has found multiple capable receivers. Brian Kennedy didn't have that stellar of a game last week, so Concord's offense could look even better in the next few weeks. I'm still not sold on the defense right now (though the front line is looking like their strength right now), though that won't be as much of a concern this week. Concord's strengths are in most of the same places as the Yellow Jackets' weaknesses, and that will be trouble for the visitors in this one.

Prediction: Concord 48, West Virginia State 21


Fairmont State (2-1, 0-1) at West Liberty (0-3, 0-1)

Let's get one thing straight: Fairmont State should have won last weekend. What happened in the final seconds of regulation of last week's triple overtime loss for the Falcons was, at a minimum, a great injustice. Still, top-notch teams either overcome bad breaks like that or put themselves in positions in games where those breaks don't matter. All of that isn't important anymore, though. What IS important is how Fairmont State bounces back from last week's game and builds on the positives that came from it. Logan Moore looked much better under center last week, and he has two good receivers in Chris St. Hilaire and Tim Orange who need to be spread to opposite sides of the field to make opposing defenses have to work harder. I'm still concerned about the defense, though: giving up over 400 yards when your offense is somewhere around the middle of the conference is going to make wins harder to come by. The strength of the defense appears to be the defensive line with Luke Black (who didn't have his best came last week) and Devin Johnson, along with a strong presence from David Pack. Those players need to win the battle at the line of scrimmage to beat West Liberty.

Simply put, the Hilltoppers look like a mess right now. I have no clue who will start under center: L.D. Crow, Chris Kiedaisch (who looked okay in mop-up time last week), or maybe even converted wide receiver Tyler Tucci? If all of these guys looked so good in the preseason, what has happened since then? And why is the ground game not getting going? I have to admit that I didn't see Scott Victorio fitting into West Liberty's system all that well, but I did expect more from Brandon James. Are all of these struggles because of the offensive line? That definitely doesn't help, but I'll give more credit to West Virginia Wesleyan's defense on that part. What is still a problem is the poor play (and turnovers) on special teams. Without improvements there, it's hard to see West Liberty winning more than about three or four games this season.

Fairmont State looks ready to bounce back from a disappointing finish last weekend, and I just don't have confidence in West Liberty yet. This won't be a pretty game, but it will be a pretty close one.

Prediction: Fairmont State 24, West Liberty 19


Game of the Week
Glenville State (1-2) at UNC Pembroke (2-1)

No matter what last week, this much can be said: Darold Hughes and the Glenville State Pioneers looked much better last weekend than they did just three weeks ago. That's not to say that there isn't room for improvement, but the Pioneers are looking more like a team that has a chance to pull an upset of either of the WVIAC's top contenders. But this week, they go out of conference to a surprisingly difficult place to play and face a team coming off an overtime disappointment at the hands of Wingate, the SAC's preseason favorite (and a team that has looked good early on this season).

When the Braves came up to Glenville last year, it was a defensive struggle for about three quarters before UNC Pembroke took advantage of several late mistakes by the Pioneers to come away with a 28-14 win. This year, don't look for quite as much defense, as the Braves have a lot of new faces on that side of the ball (though LB Fred Williams is still around and can cause problems all over the field). Sophomore quarterback Luke Charles is getting the starts now, but he has a very reliable go-to guy in the running game in Travis Daniels as well as key passing targets Donald Britt and Jamelle Banks. Still, the book has been pretty clear on the Braves so far: slow down Daniels and make Charles throw the football more, and you have a better chance of creating turnovers. Fayetteville State and Chowan, the Braves' two wins so far, don't look any better than Glenville State right now, though they both put up plenty of yards and, for a while, made their games interesting by throwing the ball successfully.

If Glenville State is to win, Hughes has to find Jordan Griffin, Antwan Stewart, and Kareem Alexander (a very nice looking third option in the passing game right now) early and often. Then they can use those successes to set up opportunities for Joe Mesadieu. Unlike last year, Glenville State will get plenty of yards, but will they be able to find the end zone? Sometimes. I can easily see this game going either way, and a win for Glenville State will really set the tone for the Pioneers for the rest of the season. But in a stadium where the home team doesn't often lose, I just can't call for a Pioneer win.

Prediction: UNC Pembroke 28, Glenville State 24