43 Days 'till kickoff - #43 Marcus Stokes

It's now 44 days until kickoff of Catamount football at Floyd Stadium, home of the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State on August 29th in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

To help pass those long summer days until football season starts, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, we'll continue with the 100 day football countdown to kickoff.

#43 Marcus Stokes

Class: Senior
Hometown: Roswell, Ga.
High School: Lassiter HS
Height / Weight: 6-2 / 220
Position: LB




2012 (Junior): Saw action in all 11 games as a defensive reserve at linebacker ... Recorded 21 tackles on the season including 12 solo stops and half a tackle for loss ... Made a season-high eight tackles against eighth-ranked Georgia Southern ... Suffered a knee injury during spring drills and was sidelined the remainder of the spring ... Returned one kickoff four yards as an up-back ... Named to the 2012 Southern Conference Fall Academic All-Conference team and to the 2012-13 Southern Conference Honor Roll..

2011 (Sophomore): Appeared in all 11 games making three starts at linebacker at mid-season ... Made his first collegiate start against Furman, collecting nine tackles ... Finished seventh on the team with 48 total tackles including 23 solo stops and one tackle for loss ... Posted a tackle in all 11 games ... Forced a fumble and tallied his first career interception to go along with five tackles against Elon ... Recorded a career-high 10 tackles against Wofford ... Returned four kickoffs as an up-back for 35 yards including a long of 11 yards ... Named to the 2011 Southern Conference Fall Academic All-Conference team and to WCU's Dean's List.

2010 (Freshman): Played in seven of the 11 games on the season but did not record any official stats ... Recorded a pass breakup during the short scrimmage segment of the team's final spring practice.

Prior to Western: Played for head coach Chip Lindsey at Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga. ... Earned second team All-County both his junior and senior seasons accumulating over 200 tackles during that same span ... Garnered Defensive Player of the Week plaudits four times between his junior and senior seasons ... Helped guide Lassiter to a Region 6AAAAA Championship in 2009 as a senior captain with an undefeated, 10-0, season ... Returned an interception for a touchdown in a win over South Gwinnett HS during his senior season.

Personal: Is the son of Gary and Sarah Stokes ... Has two sisters, Brittany and Alyssa ... His youngest sister, Alyssa, plays collegiate basketball at North Georgia Univ.


Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations