WISE - - Two teams coming off season opening losses will lock horns Saturday when UVa-Wise visits West Virginia State in a 12 p.m. kickoff. UVa-Wise dropped a 17-7 decision to Glenvile State last Thursday while West Virginia State was outlasted 35-31 by the University of Charleston in its season opener.

The Cavaliers lost two quarterbacks to injury against the Pioneers as the offense struggled to find a rhythm. UVa-Wise tallied 306 yards of offense and turned the ball over three times. A bright spot was senior wide receiver Kaian Duverger who hauled in six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. 

Despite the offensive woes, the defense kept UVa-Wise in the game. The Cavaliers tallied 10 tackles for loss and did not allow the Pioneers to reach the red zone while limiting the guests to 222 yards of offense. Redshirt sophomore Marcus Tarrer had a career-night with 16 tackles, including nine solo stops.

West Virginia State faced an opposite dilemma in its season opener. The Yellow Jackets posted 496 yards of total offense, including 217 on the ground but, allowed 580 yards in a 35-31 loss to the University of Charleston. 

Calil Wilkins gained 138 yards on 25 carries while posting two rushing touchdowns against the Golden Eagles. Quarterback Austin Hensley passed for 260 yards while completing 22-of-34 pass attempts before the West Virginia University transfer was injured and replaced by Faustino Saucedo. 

Saucedo, a 6-foot-2 graduate student who started his career at Pace University will be making his first career start for the Yellow Jackets after attempting just one pass in the season opener. 

An area to watch is the red zone, West Virginia State led all of NCAA Division II by scoring on 47 of 48 trips last fall and begin 2018 by reaching the area five times with three scores in the opener.

West Virginia State was susceptible to the big play on defense as Charleston passed for 303 yards on just 10 completions. The Golden Eagles started the game with a 59-yard touchdown pass on the team's opening play from scrimmage, it was one of 12 plays that went for at least 20 yards against the Yellow Jackets. 

The loser of Saturday's game will face an uphill climb in the Mountain East Conference standings.  UVa-Wise will play three of its next four games against schools that won their season opener while West Virginia State travels to Notre Dame College (who upset Shepherd last week) before returning home to face preseason favorite Shepherd on Sept. 22.

The Cavaliers have won back-to-back meetings against the Yellow Jackets and are a perfect 2-0 in Institute while holding a 3-1 all-time lead in the series.