A preseason preview of the Catamount's seventh opponent of the 2011 football season, The Citadel Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs travel from the South Carolina low country to the mountains of North Carolina as Western's fifth conference opponent and seventh overall game of the 2011-12 football season. The cats & dogs have only played a total of 35 times, with the first game coming in 1972. The dogs currently own a 19-15-1 record over the Cats, but Western owns a two game win streak over the Citadel, and the Cats lead the series in games played in Cullowhee 9-8. Last season's final score was a 24-13 Catamount victory in Charleston. The Bulldogs only conference win came in the season finale at Samford by a 13-12 score.
Entering his seventh season as the Bulldogs' head coach, Kevin Higgins returns 40 letter winners, which includes 22 starters (offense, defense, & special teams) that ended last season with an overall 3-8 record (1-7 SoCon). The 2010 season brought many changes for the Bulldogs as they lost All-American wide receiver Andre Roberts, had nine coaching changes and switched to the triple option offense.
The Bulldogs are returning 10 offensive starters, including sophomore quarterback Ben Dupree, who will run the triple option for the Bulldogs. “Dupree has solidified himself as the number one quarterback,” said Higgins. “He was also interested in the Naval Academy. (He’s) very quick, excellent athlete and he was a 1,000 point scorer in basketball in high school. We think he is going to be a very good player if he gets more experience.”
In The Citadel, the Cats face the triple option offense for the third of four games this season. Last season the dogs fielded a not very productive offense, which was further troubled with problems holding on to the ball, having fumbled 44 times, losing 23 of those fumbles on the season. The Bulldogs only scored a total of 164 points on the season, for a total of 14.9 points per game.
Defensively, the Bulldogs return 8 starters for their 4-2-5 defensive scheme which gave up 296 points, or 27 point per game last season. Their passing defense was especially venerable, giving up almost 1900 yards passing on the season.
Prediction: WCU 21 - The Citadel 13
WCU Record: 5 - 2
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