ASN Television Information
Saturday's game will be broadcasted live on American Sports Network (checking local listings with cable provider). In addition to the ASN broadcast, the game will also be broadcasted on the following channels throughout the state of West Virginia: WSWP (PBS) Bluefield, WVPB (PBS) Charleston, WNPB (PBS) Clarksburg.

If the game is not listed in your local television listings, fans can also watch the live broadcast of the game on NCAA.com or WVMetroNews.com.

The Matchup
- For the second-consecutive week, Fairmont State will be part of a top 25 showdown in NCAA Division II. No. 17 Fairmont State will travel to No. 3 Shepherd for a key battle in the race for the Mountain East Conference football championship.
- In this Saturday's battle of unbeatens, the winner will earn at least a share of the 2016 Mountain East Conference football championship. With a win, FSU football will be the first FSU program to win a Mountain East Conference Regular Season Championship.
- Fairmont State's last conference championship in football was 16 years ago in 2000 when the Falcons claimed a share of the title in the old WVIAC.
- This Saturday's game will be a NCAA Division II Showcase Game and will be televised to a national television audience on American Sports Network. The game will also be streamed live on NCAA.com and WVMetroNews.com.
- In addition, the game will be broadcasted live on the home of Fairmont State radio, SKY 106.5 FM. The voice of the fighting falcons, Travis Jones and Duane Cochran will be on the call live from Shepherdstown.
- Fairmont State moved up three spots in the AFCA National Rankings this week and are now ranked No. 17 in country. The Falcons are also ranked fourth in the NCAA Atlantic Region and 21st in the D2football.com poll.
- Fairmont's No. 17 ranking this week is the highest in program history (since joining NCAA D2), topping its No. 19 ranking back on Sept. 15, 1997. This season's NCAA national ranking is the third in program history and the first since Sept. 4, 2001. 
- Fairmont State and Shepherd are two of eight teams in NCAA Division II to remain unbeaten this season.
- The Falcons have won 15 of their last 17 games dating back to last season.

Scouting the Offense
- Fairmont State senior wide receiver Fabian Guerra moved into second place in career receiving yards during FSU's 58-3 victory over UVa-Wise to week's ago. With his 33 receiving yards, Guerra passed Ed Coleman for sole possession of second. He now sits at 2,599 yards and trails record holder Todd Anderson by 486 yards (3,085). Guerra is the all-time school leader in receptions with 209.
- Ironically, Wendell Johnson, Fairmont State's all-time leading rusher with 3,745 yards, and Guerra, the school's all-time leader in receptions (209), both went to Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. 
- Guerra missed last Thursday's game against Notre Dame College but is expected to return to the lineup this week.
- Wide receiver and return specialist Laurence King, a freshman from Greenbelt, Md., is turning heads this season with his outstanding play-making ability. King is currently leading the team in receptions with 64 and is second on the team with 639 receiving yards. King has four touchdown receptions.
- In addition, King has also returned a kickoff for a touchdown in each of the last two games, including a 99-yard kickoff return for a score last week against NDC. King has 12 kickoff returns for 458 yards and a pair of scores this season.
- King currently leads the MEC in kick return average (38.2) and is third in receptions (7.1)
- King's 64 catches this fall are the most ever recorded by a freshman receiver in Fairmont State history.
- King's 10 receptions and 106 yards against Notre Dame were both career highs for the freshman. King has recorded at least 50-yards receiving in seven of nine games this season.
- King has recorded 146 all-purpose yards or more in each of the last five games.
- Quarterback Cooper Hibbs is currently third in the MEC in passing yards per game (250.9), third in passing efficiency (141.2) and third total offense (251.0).
- Hibbs ranks third in school history in nearly every passing category, including yards (8,067), touchdowns (60), and completions (677).
- Hibbs needs 514 more yards this season to move past Bryan Harman for second in school history in passing yards. The senior is also just five touchdown passes and nine completions from also passing Harman in both of those categories for second all-time.
- Senior quarterback Cooper Hibbs has hooked up with senior receiver Fabian Guerra 185 times for 2,325 yards and 15 touchdowns over the duos four-year career as teammates.
- Fairmont State has outscored its opponents 69-12 in the fourth quarter and hold a 120-35 scoring advantage in the second half of games this season.
- Fairmont State has four receivers with at least 28 receptions and 231 yards through the first nine weeks of the 2016 season. King is first on the team with 64 receptions for 639 yards and four scores, Guerra has 52 receptions for 643 yards and five touchdowns, Andre Hall has 32 receptions 395 yards and Brandon Boyd has pulled in 28 receptions for 231 yard.
- King (3rd) and Guerra (5th) are both ranked in the top 10 in the MEC in receptions per game this season. 
- Four different FSU receivers have recorded a 100-yard performance this season (Guerra, King, Hall, Jeff Iweh) and six different FSU receivers have hauled in a touchdown pass this season.
- Fairmont State has also had success running the football this season as starting running back Terrell Charles has recorded three 100-yard games and four multiple touchdown performances this season. Charles has 647 yards on 151 carries this season, averaging 4.3 yards per rush. Charles has also crossed the goal line nine times, which is tied for second in the Mountain East Conference.
- The FSU rushing attack was challenged last Thursday night against NDC, totaling just 46 yards on 25 carries as a team. James Oliver had a team-high 33 yards on nine carries for the Falcons as Charles left the game early due to injury. Charles is expected to return to lineup this Saturday against Shepherd. It was the first time this season FSU failed to record 100 yards rushing as a team.
- Two weeks ago against UVa-Wise, four different players recorded a rushing touchdown. Daniel Rodriguez, Charles, Hibbs, and Takwan Crews-Naylor all found the end zone for the Falcons in the 58-3 win.
- Nine weeks into the 2016 season, Charles is currently fourth in the league in rushing this season, averaging 71.9 yards per game.
- In addition to three 100-yard performances by Charles, James Oliver also rushed for over 100-yards in week five against Urbana, finishing the afternoon with 127 yards on 17 carries.

Scouting the Defense
- The Fairmont State defense made a pair of defensive stands in the final 4:54 of last Thursday night's Mountain East Conference Game of the Week to pick-up a 23-19 victory in an entertaining top 25 matchup against Notre Dame College at Duvall-Rosier Field.
- FSU is second in the league and 15th in NCAA Division II allowing 295.0 yards per outing.
- The Falcons are 17th in the nation in rushing yards allowed (92.9), tied for second in points allowed (12.1) and tied for fourth in turnover margin (+15).
- Fairmont's nationally ranked defense is ranked second in the country in scoring defense (12.1) and third in forced turnovers (27). The Falcons are fourth in NCAA Division II in passes intercepted and are 17th in the country in red-zone defense.
- The Falcon defense continued its impressive play last Thursday against Notre Dame College by limiting their ninth opponent this season under 20 points in a game. FSU has held three opponents without a touchdown this season (Concord, Alderson Broaddus, and UVa-Wise).
- The defense has recorded at least one interception in twelve of their last fourteen games, including multiple picks in nine of those games.. The Falcons have recorded three interceptions in four of the last six games.
- Eleven different players have now recorded an interception this season with Stephen Turner and Trevon Shorts each returning one for a touchdown. In addition to Turner's four interceptions on the year, Emanuel Ivey, Jerry Iweh, Zack Hoover, and Michael Porter each have two for the Falcon defense.
- In addition to leading the conference in interceptions this season with 18, the Falcons have also broke-up 42 passes.
- Fairmont's Marcus Porter leads the Falcons this season with 68 total stops, including 38 solo and 4.0 for losses. Porter has also forced a fumble and recorded a safety this season from his middle linebacker position. Porter and Quincy Redmon's sack of Malik Grove last week helped to seal the game for the Falcons.
- Senior safety Emanuel "Manny" Ivey leads the Falcons this season with seven pass break-ups and is tied for second on the team with 44 total tackles.
- Fellow starting safety Stephen Turner is currently tied for third in the league with four interceptions this season and has a league-high 146 interception return yards and a pick-six this season. Turner is also tied for second on the team in tackles with 44 tackles and four pass break-ups from his safety position.
- Fairmont is first in the MEC in turnover margin at plus-15. The Falcons have a league-leading 18 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.
- Out of 12 forced fumbles this season, the Falcons have recovered nine of them to force a turnover.
- Eleven different players have recorded 20 tackles on the season and 14 players have recording a sack for the FSU defense. Quincy Redmon (9.0) and Josh Ballard (6.0) are leading the Falcons in sacks this season and Redmon and Dalton Inman are in the top 20 nationally in fumble recoveries with three and two apiece, respectively. The Falcons have 66.0 tackles for loss this season.
- The Falcons lead the MEC in scoring defense, turnover margin, sacks and pass-efficiency defense.
- Charleston and Notre Dame College are the only opponents this season to score a fourth-quarter touchdown against the Falcons defense, as FSU is outscoring opponents 69-12 in the fourth quarter of games this season.

Scouting the Rams
• Shepherd has dominated its series with Fairmont State the last 20 years. During that span the Rams hold a 17-3 lead in the series, including a current winning streak of seven straight against the Falcons. Ironically, all three of Fairmont's wins in the series the last 20 years have come in Shepherdstown. The Falcons won 27-26 in 1996, 25-23 in 2000 and 46-42 in 2008. FSU's last victory over Shepherd at home was in 1995, 36-29.
• In the last seven years the average margin of victory for Shepherd over FSU has been 23.1 points. The only real close game between the two teams in that span was a 19-16 Shepherd victory in Shepherdstown in 2010.
• Shepherd enters Saturday afternoon's top 25 matchup with an overall and MEC record of 8-0. The Rams are ranked third in the NFCA national rankings and are also third in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings.
• The Rams have won 21 of their last 22 games with their only loss being in the DII National Championship game last season against Northwest Missouri State.
• Shepherd's latest victory was against West Liberty last Saturday afternoon when they defeated the Hilltoppers, 38-27.
• The Rams are ranked in the top five nationally in several different categories including passing offense (fifth), team passing efficiency (second), team tackles for loss (third), and completion percentage (second).
• Shepherd also leads the MEC in scoring offense, passing offense, total offense, passing defense, rushing defense, total defense, net punting average, pass efficiency, third-down conversions, sacks, field-goal percentage, and fourth-down conversions.
• The Ram offense is led by Jeff Ziemba with 2,133 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
• Backup quarterback Connor Jessop has played in four games, throwing for 627 yards and six touchdowns. Jessop totaled 480 yards and five touchdowns against WV State in Week 7.
• The SU ground game is led by Brandon Hlavach with 561 yards and eight touchdowns. Deonte Glover and Ziemba have accounted for four rushing touchdowns while Jessop has recorded three.
• Billy Brown is the main target through the air with an MEC-best 949 yards and 13 touchdowns. Brown also ranks 14th nationally in receiving yards. The 13 receiving touchdowns for Brown are also the fifth best total in NCAA Division II.  CJ Davis has compiled 780 yards and five touchdowns through the air while Ryan Feiss has 650 yards and one touchdown receiving.
• The Ram defense is led by Octavius Thomas with 61 total tackles and four sacks. James King leads the team with 5.5 sacks.
• Nine different players have recorded at least 20 tackles on the season.