Football | 10/7/2015 7:24:00 PM

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- The Fairmont State football team will host West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday night at Duvall-Rosier Field in the week six edition of the Mountain East Confernce Game of the Week. MetroNews radio will be broadcasting the game across the entire MEC Radio Network, starting at 7 p.m. with the Voice of the Fighting Falcons Travis Jones and Rasheed Marshall.

Fans attending Thursday night's game should be advised of a change in game day parking for the 2015 season because of construction on the Fairmont State campus. The white and maroon lots remain unchanged for this season and all fans parking in those lots must purchase a parking pass. A new general parking area will now be available beside the Fairmont State tennis courts, behind the scoreboard end of the stadium. Parking in the tennis court lot will be available at no charge and there will be a direct enterance into the stadium from the parking lot.

Fans choosing to park on the lower end of campus or behind the Feaster Center may take advatage of a free shuttle that will escort fans to and from the white lot before and after the game. For more game day and ticket information, visit the game day information page.

Tonight's Matchup
• Fairmont State will be looking to snap a two-game skid against the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday evening at Duvall-Rosier Field. A season ago, the Falcons fell to the Bobcats, 34-13, on a rainy, cool day in Buckhannon. Two seasons ago, the Falcons dropped a 40-37 loss in overtime to Wesleyan at home
• The Falcons have won two-straight games after starting the season at 0-2. Last Saturday, FSU picked up a 6-0 victory over Urbana on a rainy and windy day at UU Stadium. Prior to a week four bye week, FSU picked-up a home victory over West Liberty after forcing the Hilltoppers into seven turnovers in the game.
• West Virginia Wesleyan is 0-5 so far this season, with its opponents combining for a record of 17-7 through the first five weeks of the season.
• Although the Bobcats are averaging a respectable 25.4 points per game, their defensive unit is surrendering 51.2 points per game.
• Out of 169 teams in NCAA Division II, the Bobcats are ranked 168th in total defense, givining up 584.8 yards in total offense to its opponents. Wesleyan is giving up nearly the same amount of yardage in the rushing game (292.2) as they are through the air (292.6).
• WVWC is also 166 out of 169 in scoring defense this season (51.2).
• The Falcons and Bobcats have three common opponents this season, with both teams dropping games against West Virginia State and Concord. FSU defeated West Liberty, 36-30 in week three while the Bobcats fell 38-31 last weekend at home against the Hilltoppers.
• Before last weekends seven-point loss, Wesleyan had lost each of its first four games by at least 16 points.

Fairmont State Quick Hitters
• FSU receiver Fabian Guerra has hauled in a touchdown reception in four of the last five games dating back to last season. Guerra has caught 20 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns this season.
• Guerra was held without a reception last weekend at Urbana for the first time since week three of the 2013 season against Glenville State.
• After Gurerra pulled in a majority of the receptions for the first two weeks of the season, Brandon Boyd and LaChristopher Lee have each had big outings in the last two games. Boyd led the Falcons with eight catches for 77 yards against WLU while Lee pulled in a team-high seven catches for 49 yards vs. Urbana.
• Six different FSU players have recorded an interception in the last two weeks.
• After Terrell Charles' 100-yard rushing performance last weekend against Urbana (the first of the season for a Fairmont State running back), he now leads the Falcons with 242 yards on 66 rush attempts this season.
• FSU quarterback Cooper Hibbs is completing 57 percent of his passes this season and has thrown for 691 yards and five touchdowns this season.
• Hibbs needs just two touchdown passes to move past Logan Moore into sole possession of third place in school history for passing touchdowns. Hibbs currently has 30 career touchdowns passes in his three seasons with the Falcons.
• Hibbs also needs just 263 yards of total offense to pass Moore for fourth place in FSU history in total offense.

Scouting The Bobcats
• West Virginia Wesleyan College comes into Thursday's game with an overall record of 0-5 and a 0-5 mark in Mountain East Conference play.
• The Bobcats are coming-off a 38-31 loss to West Liberty last Saturday.
• WVWC is led by a pair of young quarterbacks, including Luke Casey and backup Ryan Deal.
• Casey, who is listed as questionable for the game, is 57-of-102 for 708 yards and has thrown six touchdowns and six interceptions. Deal is 26-of-48 for 404 yards and has thrown six touchdowns.
• Michael Anderson leads the Bobcat ground attack with 296 yards and three touchdowns.
• WVWC has converted 85% of their red-zone tries this year (11-13) including nine of them for touchdowns.
• De'Shaun Burgess leads the Wesleyan return game with 16 returns for 447 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown earlier this season against Glenville State. Burgess is 25th in the country in kickoff return average (27.9) and ninth in conbined kick returns (447).
• Burgess is also 19th in yards per reception (21.1) and 27th in all-purpose yards (159.3)
• The Bobcat defense is anchored by Mike Savage with 32 tackles on the season. He has also recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery that he returned 90 yards.
• Tarvarus Anderson is second in the country in blocked kicks this season with three. (Austin Ekeler from Western State has four blocked kicks this season.

A Look Inside The Rankings
• The Falcons are one of nine teams in NCAA Division II that have not thrown an interception this season. Shepherd joins FSU as one of two teams in the MEC without an interception.
• Fairmont State is 32nd in the country on coverting on third-downs this season.
• After not forcing a turnover in the first two weeks of the season, the Falcons have recorded nine turnovers in the last two games (including six interceptions). FSU is ranked fourth in the league and 51st in the country in interceptions.
• After giving up 59 points and 509 yards of total offense in week one, the Falcons are now first in the MEC and 24th in country in passing defense. The defensive unit is allowing just 157.3 passing yards per game.
• FSU also leads the conference in both turnover margin and turnovers lost through the first five weeks of the season. The Falcons are also eighth in the country in turnover margin and third in Division II in turnovers lost.
• The Falcons have also done in excellent job of keeping their defense off the field, ranking 22nd in NCAA Division II in time of possession (32:49).