BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College football team opens its home schedule as Southern Virginia comes to town on Family Weekend.
When: Saturday, September 14, 2024
Where: Bridgewater, Va.
Stadium: The Stadium at The Jopson Athletic Complex
Kickoff: 2:00 pm
Gameday Forecast:
Mostly Sunny
Temperature: 80F; Rain: 5%
Series Record: Bridgewater leads 5-0 (last meeting 2023)
Scouting the Knights: Southern Virginia looks to get its season back on the right foot after opening the campaign with a 44-9 loss at Apprentice on Saturday. The Knights offense found some success in the pass game totaling 173 on a 19-of-25 effort through the air compared to just 64 yards on the ground on 35 attempts. The SVU defense had just as much trouble with the Apprentice run game as the Builders bullied their way to 304 yards on the ground and averaged 6.8 yards per carry. MJ Laws had the lone SVU touchdown in the opener as Tucker McCormick found him on a trick play for the 51-yard score.
Southern Virginia Head Coach: Joe Dupaix begins his second season at the helm of the SVU program in his second stint in Buena Vista. Dupaix has a 5-26 record in his four total years with the Knights including a 1-9 record last season. DuPaix's coaching journey has seen stops at Navy, BYU and Cal Poly including being a piece of some of the Midshipmen's most successful seasons as of late including the 2019 season where they finished ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll.
All-Time Series: The Eagles and Knights have met five times dating back to 2010 with BC winning all five of those matchups. Bridgewater paid SVU a trip to Buena Vista in 2023 and made the trip back up I-81 as 35-9 victors. BC controlled the game from the jump including a 450-246 edge in total offense.
Jaicere Bateman had an afternoon to remember as he tossed for 249 yards in the victory. Oddly enough, none of the touchdown scorers from the contest a year ago are still at either institution.
That's Our Edge: Bridgewater's special teams unit has been a strength and a point of emphasis under head coach
Scott Lemn. The Eagles special teams unit has underwent new direction this fall with Kevin Barr taking over the third side of the game. The special teams unit showed its muscle last week in the most explosive way possible as
Brendan Robinson made a house call in the second quarter to get the Eagles on the board as he took a kick 96 yards for a touchdown. The junior leads the ODAC and ranks second nationally in kick return yardage as he totaled 179 yards in last week's loss to No. 12 Susquehanna. Robinson was named the ODAC's first Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts, but punter
Alex Solorzano also flexed his muscle as he sits 34th national in punting yardage as he's averaging 39.3 yards per kick. SVU ranks on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to the third side. The Knights defended just one kick last week and the return went for 55 yards to rank 213th out of 243 schools sponsoring football in Division III.
The Coaching Carousel: The college coaching landscape took a massive shift during the winter and spring following last season including the addition of Partick Hofmann to the Bridgewater coaching staff. Hofmann had spent nine seasons as an assistant at Southern Virginia prior to making the shift north to BC as he now currently works with the Eagles' offensive line.
Protecting the QB: Both Bridgewater and Southern Virginia had their hands full last weekend as each offensive line allowed five sacks in their season-opening loss. The big boys up front have been a strength for the Eagles as last season saw two members of the offensive front land All-ODAC honors highlighted by
Glory Nseka. Last season's matchup saw each side tally a sack each as
Jalen Cunningham and
Tucker Harris combined for the effort for BC.
Youth vs Experience: Southern Virginia's roster and two-deep is littered with underclassmen looking to prove themselves. The Knights have 11 rookies slated to start against the Eagles on Saturday including six positions with freshmen listed as both the starter and second string. Meanwhile, BC only has nine underclassmen listed on the depth chart with
Joe Flynn being listed as the only rookie projected to get the start at the long snapper spot. BC also has 16 seniors or graduate students slated to be in the starting lineup on Saturday compared to just three for SVU.
SAAC Tailgate: Calling all BC Student-Athletes! The Student-Athlete Advisory Comittee is hosting a tailgate in spots 11 and 12 in Mapp Field rior to kickoff on Saturday. Beginning at noon be sure to stop by their spot and register to win prizes including BC Gear. Raffle Winners will be announced end of the first quarter.
Tailgating Presented by Bojangles: Bojangles is the official tailgate sponsor of Bridgewater Athletics and is going to be giving back to YOU the fans all season long. Saturday will feature two different giveaways starting with free Bojangles Chicken Sandwiches to the first 100 Bridgewater Students to come to the Bojangles tailgate spot and present their BC Student ID. The second is Ernie's Luck of the Draw where one tailgate spot will be selected at random to earn a $100 Bojangles Gift Certificate. The winner will be announced at halftime.
