Airing It Out
• Fairmont State has turned to junior college transfer Bobby Vega to lead the team this year, and Vega has responded. • Vega is second in the WVIAC in passing and fourth in total offense. • With two games remaining this season, Vega ranks 10th in Fairmont State school history in touchdown passes with 14 and 12th with 1,698 yards. • He has gone the last three games without an interception. • Vega has two 300-yard passing games in seven games this year. He is the first FSU quarterback to have multiple 300-yard passing games in a season since Bryan Harman (2001) and the first FSU QB to have multiple 300-yard passing games in a career since Bryan Harman (199801). • Vega’s game vs. West Liberty was record-setting in a variety of ways. Vega set the school record for passing attemps with 67, surpassing the previous record by nine attempts. His 361 yards passing against the Hilltoppers were tied for the seventh-most in a single game by a FSU quarterback, and were the most passing yards by a Falcon quarterback not named “Harman” or “Furgason.” His 83-yard pass TD completion to C.J. Goodwin was tied for the third-longest passing play in school history. Vega’s 34 completions in the game were just three shy of the FSU single-game mark. • Vega had five touchdown passes against WV Wesleyan. • Vega has been held under 100 yards passing just twice this season (Glenville State and Concord).
Scouting WV State
• Earl Monroe is in his seventh season at the helm at West Virginia State. The long time assistant became the head coach in 2006 and has guided the Yellow Jackets to a 32-48 record in that time. • WV State is the least penalized team in the conference, averaging less than seven penalties per game. There 58.78 penalty yards per game ranks 49th in all of Division II. • Quarterback Ricky Phillips is second in the WVIAC in total offense, averaging 204.11 yards per outing. On the season, Phillips has completed 144-of-289 passes for 1,814 yards. He has thrown 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Phillips also has three rushing touchdowns this season. • Aubura Taylor is 21st in the country and second in the conference in all-purpose yardage, averaging 153.56 yards per game. He leads the Yellow Jackets with 508 rushing yards this season; this is also good enough for sixth best in the conference. Taylor is also first in the conference in kick returns, averaging 23.6 yards per return. • The leading receiver for the Yellow Jackets is Ervin Kent with 587 yards and four touchdowns this season. Kent and Josh Johnson both average four catches per game. • Freshman Cory Broughton leads the conference in punting, averaging 40.7 yards per punt. This is also good enough for 27th in the country. • Tyler Long anchors the Yellow Jackets defense with 85 tackles this season. His 85 tackles this season are the fourth highest total in the conference. Long is ranked 47th in the country, averaging 9.44 tackles per game. • Edward Blair is also a standout for the WV State defense; he has recorded 67 total tackles this season. • Wenly Beliard and Jerrod Zirkle lead the team with five sacks each this season.
Something Special
• Matt Wilmer put together a remarkable junior season as a return specialist for the Falcons. Wilmer led the country in yards per punt return with 23.0. He was named Super Region 1 Special Teams Player of the Year and second team All-America by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. He was a first team All-WVIAC selection and second team Daktronics All-Atlantic Region honoree. • This season he is 15th in the country in average punt return yards (14.50) and is 45th in average kickoff return yards (24.14). • In the opener against Clarion, Wilmer clearly had the attention of the Golden Eagles. Clarion’s five punts were angled away from Wilmer and went out of bounds. • The electricity showed up against Glenville State as Wilmer notched a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the first of his career. For his play, he was named WVIAC Special Teams Player of the Week. • Against Bowie State, Wilmer had 121 all-purpose yards (17 receiving, 58 kick return and 43 punt return). • He once again led the team in all-purpose yards against Charleston with 126. • Wilmer had his best day as a receiver at Fairmont State againstn West Virginia Wesleyan with seven catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns against the Bobcats. All of those were career highs. He was named WVIAC Offensive Player of the Week for his peformance against the Bobcats. • He leads the team and is fourth in the WVIAC in all-purpose yards with an average of 135.25. He is one of just six players in the league to have over 1,000 all-purpose yards this season (1,082). • Wilmer has accounted for 22 of Fairmont State’s 64 plays of 20 yards or more this season. • Twenty of his 27 catches have gone for either a first down or touchdown this season.
fightingfalcons.com
Wilmer’s Career Bests Game Punt Returns......................................6 (twice) Punt Ret. Yds..... 130 vs. WVU Tech (9/10/11) Punt Ret. TDs............................. 1 (two times) Kick Returns............................... 2 (five times) Kick Ret. Yards........ 112 vs. Glenville (9/6/12) Receptions.................. 7 vs. WVWC (10/13/12) Receiving Yards..... 163 vs. WVWC (10/13/12) Receiving TDs............ 3 vs. WVWC (10/13/12) Single Plays Long Punt Return.......93 vs. Clarion (9/1/11) Long Kick Return.......... 100 vs. GSC (9/6/12) Long Rush..........44 vs. Seton HIll (10/20/12) Long Reception.......47 vs. WVWC (10/13/12)
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