UVA WISE FOOTBALL GAME NOTES STORYLINES—THE VUL GAME • Virginia University-Lynchburg will be making its first ever trip to MEDIA INFORMATION Wise. RADIO WAXM (93.5 FM) Steve Curran (play-by-play) • In the only other meeting between the two programs, UVA Wise Jacob Townsed (color) claimed a 65-0 win in 2017. AUDIO www.waxm.com VIDEO www.uvawisecavs.com • The Dragons are under the direction of first-year coach Tim Twitter @UVaWiseCavs/@UVWiseFootball Newman who came to Lynchburg after previously serving as a high #GoCavsGo school coach. Facebook Highland Cavalier Athletics • The Dragons are 4-63 in their last 67 games with all four wins Instagram @UVaWiseCavs coming in the last two seasons. • Football is one of five sports offered at VUL. The HBCU institution also competes in men's and women's basketball along with men's GAME WEEK MEDIA Interviews: All interviews with UVA Wise and women's track. coaches and players must be arranged through the athletic media relations office. Contact assistant athletic director for com- ABOUT UVA WISE munications Darrell Ely at (276) 328-0188 or by email at [email protected] for interviews. • UVA Wise is 3-2 under Dane Damron in season openers and 3-2 in The UVA Wise locker room and training room games against non-conference opponents. are closed to the media at all times. Phone numbers of student-athletes will not be re- leased to the media. • In an abbreviated spring season, UVA Wise ranked fifth in NCAA Division II in passing yards (356.7 ypg) per game earlier this year. Practices: All UVA Wise practices are closed. If you require practice footage or quotes following a practice, please contact • Caleb Martin hauled in 7.3 receptions per game in the spring to rank the office of athletic media relations. fourth among NCAA Division II receivers. His four touchdown grabs ranked sixth nationally. Credentials: Credentials are required for all UVA Wise football games. For credentials, please contact the athletic media relations • Saturday's game will be the first for Matthew White as the office by email at [email protected] at least 48 hours prior to kickoff. Media parking defensive coordinator at UVA Wise. The coach is in his second is limited at Carl Smith Stadium. Please park outside of upper lot behind the stadium. season overall at the school. QUICK FACTS ABOUT UVA WISE Location Wise, Va. 2021 UVA WISE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Founded 1954 Enrollment 2,065 Affiliation NCAA Division II DATE TIME OPPONENT LOCATION Conference South Atlantic SEPTEMBER 4 NOON VIRGINIA-LYNCHBURG WISE Colors Red and Gray SEPTEMBER 11 7:30 P.M. ETSU JOHNSON CITY, TN Nickname Highland Cavaliers SEPTEMBER 18 1:00 P.M. MARS HILL MARS HILL, NC Chancellor Donna P. Henry, Ph.D SEPTEMBER 25 NOON CARSON-NEWMAN WISE Faculty Athletic Representative Matthew Williams, Ph.D OCTOBER 2 2 P.M. LENOIR-RHYNE WISE Athletic Director Kendall Rainey, Ph.D Athletic Department Phone (276) 328-0206 OCTOBER 9 NOON NEWBERRY WISE Mailing Address One College Ave OCTOBER 16 1:30 P.M. TUSCULUM GREENVILLE, TN Greear Gymnasium OCTOBER 23 NOON WINGATE WISE Wise, Va. 24293 OCTOBER 30 4 P.M. LIMESTONE GAFFNEY, SC School Web Site www.uvawise.edu NOVEMBER 6 1:00 P.M. CATAWBA SALISBURY, NC Athletics Web Site www.uvawisecavs.com NOVEMBER 13 NOON BARTON WISE WWW.UVAWISECAVS.COM SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA'S TEAM GAME PREVIEW UVA Wise opens the 2021 season Saturday when Virginia University-Lynchburg visits Smith Stadium for a 12 p.m. kickoff. The visiting Dragons are under the direction of first- year coach Tim Newman while Dane Damron will begin his sixth season leading the Highland Cavaliers. Returning for UVA Wise is redshirt sophomore quarterback Lendon Redwine. The signal caller completed 71.4 percent of his passes in the abbreviated spring season while five different Cavaliers hauled in touchdown receptions. The receiving unit figures to be the strength of the Cavaliers. A year ago, Caleb Martin caught 22 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Keishoen Jarrett (16), Markel Harrison (15) and Dorian Goddard (15) all caught at least 15 passes. The group includes three of seven Cavs named to the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Watch List. Martin, Goddard and Jarrett were joined on the list by two defensive linemen Chavon Fields and Rondre Knowles-Tenner. Middle linebacker Deandre Williams and punter Drew Vermillion round out of the group of UVA Wise players to receive preseason recognition. First-year defensive coordinator Matthew White has been promoted to the position after serving as a position coach last season. The Montana native has had stops at Montana Tech, Los Angeles Valley, Kentucky Christian and West Hills Community College prior to arriving in Wise. The defensive coordinator plans to stick to a multiple look for the defense with a base 4-2-5 alignment. Second-year offensive coordinator Zach Lewis is looking to build off a breakout campaign that saw his unit rank 10th nationally in yards per game this spring (470.7 ypg). The bulk of the offense came through the air as UVA Wise averaged 356.7 passing yards per game. The number ranked fifth nationally and included a 485 yard passing performance against perennial SAC power Carson-Newman. That day, UVA Wise quarterbacks completed 47 passes while not throwing an interception across 73 attempts. The Cavs’ special teams unit will be anchored by Vermillion who is in his third season as the team’s punter. Thus far, Vermillion has booted eight punts of 50 yards or longer during his first two seasons while having 16 punts downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. The season opener will be the first of 11 games over 11 consecutive weeks for Damron’s squad. Next week, UVA Wise will travel to East Tennessee State University to take on the FCS Buccaneers before opening up SAC play in two weeks at Mars Hill. Overall, the Cavs will play eight consecutive league games before wrapping up the regular season at home Nov. 13 against Barton College for Senior Day 2021. BY THE NUMBERS UVA Wise15 has players from 15 Quarterback71.4 Lendon Redwine Defensive5.5 lineman Chavon Five different5 Cavaliers caught different states on this year’s completed 71.4 percent of his Fields posted 5.5 tackles for at least one touchdown pass in roster. passes last spring. loss in the spring. the spring. WWW.UVAWISECAvs.COM SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA'S TEAM PRESEASON SAC POLL Lenoir-Rhyne has been voted as the conference favorite by the South Atlantic Conference football head coaches, the League an- nounced today. The Bears collected five first-place votes and 69 points in the poll. UVA Wise was picked eighth in the poll with seven players being named to the Preseason Players to Watch List. Dane Damron's team saw a pair of wide receivers along with two defensive lineman, a linebacker, a tight end and the team's punter named to the Preseason Players to Watch List. Eastern Kentucky University transfer Caleb Martin made the list after leading the team with 22 catches for 261 yards and four touch- downs in the abbreviated spring season. University of Virginia transfer Dorian Goddard also made the list after finishing with 15 catches for 101 yards earlier this year. At tight end Keishoen Jarrett made the successful transition from defense-to-offense in the spring and his success did not go unno- ticed. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end grabbed 16 balls for 150 yards to finish second on the team in receptions and receiving yards en route to the Preseason Watch List. On the defensive line, fifth-year senior Rondre-Knowles Tenner received recognition. The nose tackle accumulated seven sacks in 2019 and has tallied 10 sacks over the last two full seasons of play. Fellow defensive lineman Chavon Fields is also on the list. Fields led the Cavaliers with 17 tackles this spring while adding an interception to his stat ledger. Middle linebacker Deandre Williams received preseason recognition. The Richmond, Virginia product has amassed 88 stops in his col- legiate career, including 13 tackles for loss. Third-year punter Drew Vermillion rounded out UVA Wise student-athletes on the Preseason Watch List. The steady punter has booted eight punts of at least 50 yards during his first two seasons while landing 16 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line. The Gate City, Virginia product launched a 68-yard punt at Carson-Newman as a freshman. The Bears took home their ninth SAC Football Championship in program history in 2019, finishing the season with a record of 13-1 overall and 8-0 in conference. The Bears then went on to finish the 2021 spring season with a 3-1 overall record, with their lone loss coming against Tusculum in the SAC Spring Football Championship game. In addition to winning the 2019 SAC title, the Bears advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Bears are a preseason No. 2 pick according to Lindy's Sports and they are a No. 7 pick according the College Football America Yearbook Preseason Poll. The Bears had one of the most potent offenses in all of Division II in 2019, as they ranked eighth in the nation in scoring (42.0 points per game) and seventh in the nation in rushing offense (269 yards per game). Quarterback Grayson Willingham returns to lead the offense. In just four games during the spring of 2021 he threw for 951 yards, seven touchdowns and had a 163.8 QB efficiency rating. Running back Dwayne McGee also shined for the Bears in the spring as he racked up 511 yards in four games, averaging 127.8 yards per game with four touchdowns.