Two teams in dire need of a victory square off Saturday when Erskine's Flying Fleet visit UVA Wise's Carl Smith Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The Fleet are winless on the year at 0-7 while the Cavaliers have dropped six consecutive contests after opening the year with a 48-0 trouncing of NAIA member Union College.
The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Erskine Head Coach Shap Boyd. Boyd served as defensive coordinator at UVA Wise from 2016-to-2018 and was on the sideline when the Cavs scored their biggest win as a NCAA Division II program in 2018 when the school won 21-16 over perennial power Shepherd at Ram Stadium. Now in his fourth season with the Fleet, Boyd has been the program's only coach since the school brought football back in 2020 after it was discontinued following the 1951 campaign. The Fleet are 6-29 in their first 35 contests since returning to the gridiron.
The 2023 version of the Fleet has struggled to put points on the board. Erskine has yet to eclipse 17 points this season and has been held to 10 or fewer points in five of the season's first seven games. The team's inability to throw the football is a big reason for the struggle. The team ranks 159th nationally and last in the South Atlantic Conference in passing yards per game at 74.9. Thus far, the Fleet has yet to pass for more than 160 yards in a game and has been held to 30 or fewer passing yards in three games, including a season-low 12 passing yards in a 45-0 loss to Wingate.
UVA Wise has had its own offensive issues, Dane Damron's team is scoring 17.6 points per game, ranking 10th in the league and 129th in NCAA Division II. Like Erskine, UVA Wise has had issues throwing the football. The team is averaging 139.4 passing yards per contest and 8.2 yards per completion. The Cavs have yet to pass for 200 yards in a game this fall and over the last two weeks have averaged 106.5 passing yards per game.
Seth Fischbach could be a player to watch Saturday for the Cavs. The 6-foot-1 wide receiver is coming off the best performance of his career at Tusculum where the redshirt sophomore hauled in a career-high six catches for 83 yards while crossing the goal line for the first time in his collegiate career. Of Fischbach's 14 receptions this fall, eight have occurred over the last two weeks.
A year ago, UVA Wise overcame a 10-0 deficit to score a 28-13 win over Erskine. Defensive back Patrick Taylor had a pick six in the win while the Cavs rushed for 152 yards and held the Fleet to a 2-of-14 showing on third down to pick up the road league win.
With a win Saturday, UVA Wise would move to 2-0 all-time against Erskine while earning its first league win of the year. A win by the Fleet would be the first SAC win in program history and just the second road win ever over a NCAA Division II program.
Following Saturday's game, UVA Wise will head to Mars Hill next week while Erskine is back home to tangle with Tusculum University.
