by Mike Whiteford, Staff writer , Charleston Gazette

But after back-to-back losses, the Golden Eagles not only must take care of business against West Virginia Wesleyan in today's season finale beginning at 1 p.m. at UC Stadium but must also look to the state of Pennsylvania for help to reach those playoffs.

UC (8-2, 5-2 West Virginia Conference) enters today's play ranked No. 8 in Super Region I and needs to move into the top six to regain any hope of qualifying for the postseason.

Five teams ranked ahead of the Golden Eagles - No. 2 California, No. 3 Shippensburg, No. 5 Bloomsburg, No. 6 East Stroudsburg and No. 7 Edinboro - play today in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

If UC defeats the Bobcats (2-7, 2-5) and two of those PSAC teams fall, the Golden Eagles might sneak in - but not necessarily.

"They don't control their own destiny,'' said Will Prewitt, associate commission of the WVC, "and that's never a comfortable place to be.''

California and Shippensburg face each other today, but the loser is not a sure thing to drop below the Golden Eagles.

A loss by either Bloomsburg or Edinboro today would be considered an upset, but Slippery Rock (6-4) plays host to East Stroudsburg after a 47-6 victory over Lock Haven.

In another game with Charleston implications, No. 4 Bentley (Mass.) of the Northeast 10 Conference will visit Stonehill today in Easton, Mass.

Wesleyan played respectably against UC last year, losing 24-17 in Buckhannon, and picked up its first shutout since 1996 with a 28-0 victory over West Virginia State last week.

UC quarterback DaRante Hunter, who's passed for 1,617 yards this season, needs 156 rushing yards today to finish the season with 1,000 yards running and passing, a feat achieved by only 17 other players in Division II history.

In last week's 14-12 loss to Glenville, UC collected just 274 yards of total offense, its lowest output of the season by 100 yards.

In other games today involving West Virginia Conference teams:

-Fairmont State (3-7, 3-4) at West Virginia State (2-7, 1-6), 1 p.m. - Among the Yellow Jackets' most glaring shortcomings this season was a lack of aggressiveness, said State coach Earl Monroe.

"We've got to get more physical as a team,'' said Monroe. "We're not a physical team right now. That's one thing that we like to pride ourselves on. No matter what the score is, no matter what happens, State's going to be physical and knock your head off, and we're not doing that. We've got guys who have not been as physical as we want them to be. We'll have to get that changed. We're going to try and get some of that fixed during the recruiting season.''

But toughness, the coach added, may not be something a player can acquire on the practice field.

"There are some things you can coach, but aggressiveness and physicality are part of a player's nature,'' he said. "And in this game, you have to enjoy contact. We've got some guys that will knock you in the dirt, but we need to be that way to a man, and we're not there.''

State's senior quarterback Kevin O'Brien enters play with 7,187 passing yards to rank 10th in West Virginia Conference history but is still recovering from a broken thumb and is not 100 percent healthy, said Monroe.

State linebacker Andrew Eggleton is 10th in Division II tackles and leads the conference with an 11.0 average. Teammate Valentine Bon is second in WVC tackles with 10.0 per game.

The Falcons' ground game ranks 31st in Division II with 183.8 yards per game.

-Concord (6-4, 4-3) at West Liberty (9-1, 7-0), 1 p.m. - The Hilltoppers are No. 1 in the region and seem safe for a postseason berth, regardless of today's outcome. A victory, however, probably would earn them a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the playoff opener. ... WL has won nine straight since losing its opener to Edinboro. ... Under first-year coach Mike Kellar, Concord has already wrapped up its first winning record since 1998. ... The Mountain Lions' Brian Kennedy leads the WVC in rushing at 127.1 yards a game and is seventh nationally. ... West Liberty quarterback Zach Amedro is third nationally in total offense at 364.2 yards a game.

-Urbana (4-5) at Seton Hill (1-9, 0-8), 3 p.m. - Seton Hill running back Antwarn Jones is third in WVC career rushing with 4,130 yards. ... In their first-ever football game, the Griffins played Urbana and suffered a 28-27 loss Sept. 3, 2005.

Thursday's game

-Glenville 21, Shepherd 10: - Quarterback James McCants passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Pioneers defeated the Rams in a game nationally televised on CBS College Sports.

Mid-South Conference

-WVU Tech (3-6, 1-6) at Pikeville (2-7, 1-5), 2:30 p.m. - The Golden Bears ended a six-game losing streak last week with a 26-14 home victory over Faulkner in which quarterback Michael Scott passed for 294 yards and two touchdowns to earn Mid-South honors as offensive player of the week. ... The sophomore from Nitro is third in the conference and ninth in the NAIA with an average of 260.6 passing yards, despite battling a shoulder injury that forced him to miss two games. ... Tech running back Jamel Shelton rushed for 102 yards last week. ... In last year's meeting in Montgomery, Pikeville edged Tech 17-14 on a 30-yard field goal with 10 seconds left.

Reach Mike Whiteford at 304-348-7948 or mikewhiteford@wvgazette.com

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