NEWBERRY – The Newberry College Wolves’ football plays the first of two consecutive road contests this weekend, traveling east to face off with the Braves of the University of North Carolina Pembroke.

WHO: Newberry College at the University of North Carolina Pembroke
WHERE: Grace P. Johnson Stadium on the campus of UNC Pembroke (Directions)
WHEN: 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 25
RECORDS: Newberry is 2-5 overall. UNCP is 1-5 overall.
LIVE AUDIO: http://www.NewberryWolves.tv, WKDK-AM 1240 in Newberry County
IN-STADIUM AUDIO: For the first time, Newberry’s radio broadcast will be able to be heard in the stadium via FM radio for road games. The frequency will be determined on gameday and announced on the official Newberry College Athletics Twitter account - @NewberrySports.
LIVE VIDEO and STATS: http://www.UNCPBraves.com
WEATHER FORECAST: 72 degrees and sunny

THE GAME

• Newberry College is in its 101st season of intercollegiate football.

• Today’s game marks the 988th game in school history, with Newberry carrying an all-time record of 407-544-36 (.431)

• Neither team is ranked or receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll or the D2Football.com poll

COMMON OPPONENTS

• The teams share Catawba, Limestone, Tusculum and Wingate as common opponents.

THE UNC PEMBROKE SERIES

• This game is the fourth meeting between the Wolves and the Braves.

• UNCP has a 2-1 lead in the all-time series.

• The Braves won the first two meetings in the series, with Newberry picking up its first victory last year.

• All of the meetings have been tightly contested, with the winner up by a touchdown in 2012 and a field goal in 2011 and 2013.

THE COACHES

NEWBERRY:  Todd Knight (Gardner-Webb, 1989) is in his sixth season as Newberry’s head coach. He has a 30-30 record and a record of 5-4 against teams ranked in the AFCA Divsion II Top 25. He has a 19-20 record against the South Atlantic Conference. In 2009, Knight led Newberry to a 6-4 record and became the first Newberry head coach to record a winning record in his inaugural season since Reed Charpia in 1978. In 2010, Knight led Newberry to a 4-6 record, as well as the 2011 season. The Wolves went 5-6 overall in the 2012 season and achieved a ranking as high as No. 25 nationally. In 2013, he led the Wolves to a 9-3 overall record, making the school’s second appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Newberry finished the season ranked No. 23 nationally. Knight is 1-2 all-time against UNC Pembroke.

UNC PEMBROKE: Shane Richardson (Northern Michigan, 2001) is in his first season as a collegiate head coach and of the Braves. He has a record of 1-5 (.167). This is his first game against Newberry. He was previously the Braves’ defensive coordinator since the program’s inception in 2006.

UP NEXT: BREVARD

• Newberry stays on the road but gets back into the loop of the South Atlantic Conference with a trip to take on the Tornados of Brevard College.

• Newberry is 7-1 all-time against the Tornados, and will meet as conference opponents for the seventh time.

• Kickoff at Memorial Stadium on the campus of Brevard High School is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 1.

ROLL OVER THE ODOMETER

• Newberry quarterback W.T. Murden became just the fourth trigger man in school history to pass for over 5,000 yards in a career with his 174 yards at CSU.

• He now has 5,975 yards passing, and needs just 25 yards passing to reach 6,000 yards.

• He ranks second in in TD passes, yardage and completions and third in attempts.

• Murden is also second in the career records in total offense, and has a chance to take over the all-time record. He would become one of just three QBs to rush for 1,000 yards in their career.

NEWBERRY IN THE NFL  - Week 8

Sunday, October 19

1 p.m. - St. Louis at Kansas City, Fox – Ron Parker, starting safety at KC

8:30 p.m. - Green Bay at New Orleans, NBC – Brandon Bostick, tight end at GB

New York Giants – idle – Corey Washington, wide receiver at NYG

ALL-AROUND A.J.

• Senior outside linebacker A.J. Booker from Spartanburg has racked up a slew of varied awards in the last few weeks.

• On Sept. 25, he was named a national semifinalist for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments®

• Booker has excelled in his academic pursuits as well, currently holding a 3.66 grade point average in Newberry’s nursing program, with a minor in biology. He intends to go into the pediatric nursing field following his graduation from Newberry.

• He is a two-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, and is eligible for that honor once again this season. He has been on the Dean’s List for every semester he has been enrolled at Newberry, was a resident advisor and is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

• Booker has also served the football team as a captain this season and was recently inducted into the Order of the Gray Stripe - the football team’s honor council.

• Booker earned AstroTurf SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday, September 15.

• Booker had a pair of interceptions to set up scores in the Wolves’ record-breaking 70-20 win over Limestone on Saturday/Sunday. He is now the only player in the conference with multiple interceptions.

• He totaled three tackles in the game, including a 14-yard sack which push Limestone out of easy field goal range. The Saints would attempt a 39-yarder which was blocked.

• Booker is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and was recently added to Newberry’s Order of the Gray Stripe.

• Booker added a fumble recovery for an 11-yard touchdown in the loss at Tusculum.

IT’S MILLER TIME

• Kevin Miller is standing out in his first season for the scarlet and gray, especially on punt returns.

• His efforts in the Wingate game were rewarded with SAC Player of the Week honors, and he currently ranks fourth in the nation and first in the SAC and Super Region II in punt return average.

NO FLY ZONE

• The Newberry secondary has been limiting opposing offenses to a paltry 135.4 yards per the game passing.

• South Atlantic Conference teams tend to have their stats in the category skewed because of the rushing offense at Brevard, Carson-Newman and Lenoir-Rhyne - but Newberry has played only one of these teams.

• Newberry has a chance to improve on this number even further, as the Braves rank 151st of 167 team in Division II in passing offense, advancing the ball on 148 yards per game on the forward pass.