CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Saturday’s UNC Pembroke football game at Charleston could have major Mountain East Conference implications, pitting the top two teams in the league’s preseason coaches poll against each other.

But after narrow defeats in their two nonconference games, the Braves aren’t thinking about a trophy at the end of the season. They’re looking for one victory.

UNCP will have another chance to get in the win column with Saturday’s 1 p.m. kickoff in Charleston, West Virginia.

“Obviously I know this is really important; Charleston is the champs, and if we want to take the next step you’ve got to beat the top team to take that next step,” UNCP coach Mark Hall said. “But in a weird way, with us starting 0-2, we’ve really focused a lot less on the ‘we’ve got to win this game to win the conference’ talk. I think things would’ve been different if we were 2-0, but us being 0-2, we really kind of looked inward on fixing ourselves and playing at the level we know we’re capable of, and we understand from here on out every conference game matters and they all count the same.”

Both teams enter the contest after a bye week last Saturday. The Braves took the chance to regroup after a 35-31 loss at Fayetteville State on Sept. 7, which followed a 17-12 season-opening loss to Wingate.

“Having the bye week was good and bad, coming off the way we lost to Fayetteville, and I think the competitive side of everybody wanted to get back to it,” Hall said. “But truthfully I think the bye came at a good time for us. It gave us a chance to kind of reset going into conference, but also get healthy and get some guys back that are really key to getting this thing going.”

Despite the tough start, Hall says the Braves remain upbeat and optimistic as they prepare to enter conference play.

“I think the spirit and the competitive drive and the faith in what we’re doing is still there, so I think the guys are ready to play, it’s just when we get out there Saturday we’re going to have to do it in the moment,” the second-year Braves coach said.

Charleston beat Livingstone 38-7 in Week 1 and defeated California University of Pennsylvania 23-19 at home in their last outing on Sept. 7. The Golden Eagles went 10-2 last season including an 8-1 mark in the MEC, which won the conference championship.

Charleston running back Chavon Wright was the 2023 MEC Offensive Player of the Year; the redshirt-junior has rushed for 280 yards and five touchdowns through the team’s first two games this season. Graduate quarterback Javonte Howard has passed for 370 yards and two touchdowns, with Marquon Herron (eight receptions, 119 yards, two touchdowns) and Shamarr Wright (six receptions, 115 yards) among his key targets.

“They’re big up front and they’ve got a good scheme with it as well,” Hall said. “There’s going to be a definite challenge that we’re going to have to be up to when we play defense on Saturday.”

Senior linebacker Willie Floyd leads the Charleston defense with 15 sacks and has two tackles for loss.

Charleston has outscored its competition 61-26 through two games despite outly outgaining its opposition by five total yards. One reason for this is the Golden Eagles’ red-zone defense: while Charleston has scored on all six red-zone trips its made offensively, including five touchdowns, their opponents have scored points on just three of six red-zone chances, with just one touchdown.

“I think that’s key every week; whoever can score points, and score touchdowns more importantly, when you get down there, I think that’s going to be the difference,” Hall said. “It’s going to be a battle between two tough teams and it’s going to come down to little things like the red zone, it’s going to come down to third down, who protects the ball. So I think that’s going to be huge.”

Charleston beat the Braves 37-29 last year in Pembroke and won 70-21 in 2022, marking the most points allowed by the Braves in program history. The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series 4-2.