10 Days 'till Kickoff - #10 Troy Mitchell

It's now 10 days until kickoff of Catamount football against the Mars Hill University Lions in E.J. Whitmire Stadium on September 5th in Cullowhee.

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

Utilizing the 2015 Preseason Football Roster, #10 is assigned to Troy Mitchell

#10 Troy Mitchell

Class: Senior
Hometown: Houston, Texas
High School: Cypress Falls (Texas) HS
Height / Weight: 6-0 / 195
Position: QB





2014 (Junior): Started at quarterback in all 12 seasonal games ... Completed 231-of-352 (65.6%) passes for 2,541 yards and 20 passing touchdowns ... Was intercepted nine times ... Ranked second in the SoCon with a 211.8 passing yards per game average ... Was second on the squad with 555 rushing yards on 127 carries, scoring six touchdowns ... Named second team All-Southern Conference by both the coaches and media ... Set the WCU single-season record for total offense in a season, amassing 3,096 yards to surpass the previous benchmark of 2,984 set by David Rivers in 2000 ... Ranked second in the SoCon with an average of 258.0 total offense yardage per game ... Earned Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week plaudits and weekly honors from College Sports Madness after tallying career-highs with 374 yards passing on 46-of-66 passing at USF (Aug. 30) ... Matched a career-high by rushing for a season-best 131 yards on 15 carries against The Citadel (Oct. 25) ... Collected a second Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor after the win over VMI (Nov. 15), amassing 448 yards of total offense and throwing five touchdown passes ... Playing for the Purple squad, completed 12-of-22 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown while unofficially rushing 10 times for 36 yards in WCU's annual Spring Game.

2013 (Sophomore): Played in 11 of the team's 12 games making nine starts in the offensive backfield ... Finished with a team-high 1,614 yards passing, completing 131-of-227 (57.7%) of his passes on the year with 12 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions ... Rushed 133 times for 565 yards, ranking second on the team in total rushing yards and average per game (51.4 yds/gm) ... Ranked fifth in the Southern Conference in both passing (146.7 yds/gm) and total offense (198.1 yds/gm) ... Additionally ranked fourth in the league in passer efficiency (126.1) ... Opened the season with touchdown passes in each of the first three games ... Threw for a then career-best 350 yards and a then career-high three touchdown passes in the come-from-behind victory over Mars Hill, matching a career-best with 20 completions ... Tallied a then career-best 414 yards of total offense against the Lions ... Rushed for a season-high 106 yards against The Citadel - his two, 100-yard rushing games have both come against the Bulldogs ... Credited with a solo tackle ... Completed 15 of his 26 pass attempts for 156 yards and two TDs, carrying the ball nine times for 29 yards on the ground in WCU's annual Spring Game.

2012 (Freshman): Saw action in all 11 of the team's games, making five starts at quarterback ... Became the third true freshman quarterback to start at WCU since 1991, joining Chad Greene (1991) and Brandon Pechloff (2010) ... Named to the 2012 Southern Conference All-Freshman team ... Rushed 112 times for 433 yards, second on the squad ... Led the team with eight rushing touchdowns, the most by a Catamount QB, surpassing Josh Brook's five rushing scores in 1996 (research back to 1967) ... Finished the season with a team-leading 50 points, adding a two-point conversion rush ... Completed 85-of-142 pass attempts for 862 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions ... Led WCU in total offense, amassing 1,295 yards - a mark which ranked him eighth in the SoCon ... Tossed his first career touchdown pass to Jacoby Mitchell at Elon, coming on his 66th career pass attempt ... Twice named SoCon Freshman of the Week ... Picked up his first honor after completing 20-of-29 passing (both career highs) for 149 yards and rushing for 38 yards and a pair of scores in the season-opener against Mars Hill ... Was the fourth WCU freshman or redshirt freshman QB to earn SoCon honors after first career start (Adam Hearns, 2007; Zack Jaynes, 2008; Brandon Pechloff, 2010) ... Again earned SoCon and SouthernPigskin.com Freshman of the Week honors after guiding WCU's second-half comeback at Elon with 175 yards passing and two touchdown passes ... Threw for a then career-best 176 yards on 18-of-30 passing against Chattanooga.

Prior to Western Carolina: Was a three-year starter who threw for over 2,400 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior at Cypress Falls High in Houston, Texas ... Earned Texas 5-A All-District 17 honors following his senior season ... Dual-threat QB who tossed seven touchdown passes in a single-game against Elsik in bi-district playoff meeting in Nov. 2011 ... Earned the Marine Corps Elite Warrior of the Week honor following a 331-yard, six TD performance against Jersey Village ... Was named second team all-district as a junior.

Personal: Full name is Troy Lavaughn Mitchell ... Is the son of Troy and Shanita Mitchell ... Has two siblings, Raybon and Zurie ... Was born in Mobile, Ala., before moving to Texas.

Career Notes: Enters his senior season having amassed 6,565 yards of total offense and is just 267 yards behind WCU's all-time career leader, Lonnie Galloway (1990-93) who finished with 6,832 yards of total offense ... Is also closing in on WCU's passing records, entering the season just 1,143 passing yards and seven passing TDs shy of WCU's all-time leader in both categories, Mike Pusey (1977-79) ... Mitchell already holds WCU's scoring record for the most career touchdown responsibilities with 52 -- 36 career TD passes and 16 career rushing scores.



Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations

Join the conversation and leave a comment below