Halfway through the season, the Cats sit at 4-2 overall and are only 3 wins away from being playoff eligible. Unless the Cats ultimately win the conference championship and fill the auto bid, it's probably necessary to win 4, to ensure an at-large bid and that task starts this weekend.
For the seventh game of the season, the Cats return home to face the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State University in what is only their third home game of the season. Last year, Western and the Bucs revived a series that started in 1932 but abruptly ended in 2003 when the Buccaneers eliminated football.
Adding to the revival and newfound rivalry in the Blue Ridge Border Battle, the Bucs upset the Cats last season at the Bristol Motor Speedway, and of course, the Catamounts want revenge.
Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
-Talent - Gary Ayers (pxp), Greg McLamb (color), Jeff Bryson, Dan Gibson (sideline)
TV/video: ESPN3
-Talent - Daniel Hooker (pxp), Kyle Rush (color) & Katie Miller (sideline)
Game Notes: Western Carolina - ETSU - SoCon Weekly Release
Bucs Fan Message Board: Buccaneer Nation
Head Coach: Carl Torbush (Carson-Newman, ‘74)
Record at ETSU: 10-18 (2 yrs)
Career Record: 30-44 (6 yrs)
Basic Offense: Spread
Basic Defense: 3-4
Lettermen Returning / Lost: 62 / 7
Starters Returning / Lost (O/D/S): 23 (10/9/4) / 3 (1/2/0)
The Series: This series stretches back to 1932, with the Cats holding a slim 23-22-1 lead overall. In conference games, the Cats lead the series 18-10-0 and in games played in Cullowhee, the Cats lead 11-10-0.
The last game played vs. ETSU: Sept. 17, 2016 - Catamount Football Drops 34-31 Decision to ETSU - BRISTOL, Tenn. - Junior tailback Detrez Newsome scored a career-best four touchdowns on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Western Carolina dropped its 2016 Southern Conference football opener, 34-31, to East Tennessee State in front of an ETSU single-game record crowd of 13,863 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Newsome tallied two TDs on the ground to accompany a pair of receiving scores in the loss. The Raeford, N.C., native moved into a tie for ninth-place in school history with his 22nd career rushing score, matching David Mayfield (22, 1984-86). Newsome finished with a combined 172 all-purpose yards including 32 yards rushing, 86 receiving yards on four catches, and 54 yards on kickoff returns.
Games played by the Bucs this year prior to the WCU game: (6) Record: 3-3 overall, 1-2 SoCon, 3-1 home, 0-2 away
- Limestone (home) - The Bucs opened their season and new stadium with a 31-10 win over Limestone.
- James Madison (away) - The Bucs fell to the defending national champs by a 52-10 final score.
- The Citadel (home) - The Bulldogs escape Johnson City with a 6 point win, 31-25 over the Bucs
- Mercer (home) - The Bucs even their conference record to 1-1 with a one-point win over the visiting Bears.
- Furman (away) - Furman turns on the scoring as they pull off a 56-35 win over the Bucs.
- Robert Morris (home) - The Bucs go out of conference for a homecoming opponent and pick up a victory over the visiting Colonials, 16-3;
ETSU was picked to finish in 8th place by both the coaches and media polls, however, the Bucs were picked to finish ninth last season, but finished in seventh place. They pulled a couple of big upsets, beating Western Carolina and finishing the season with a major upset over playoff-bound Samford.
Top Returners: QB Austin Herink has started all 22 games for the Bucs, RB Jajuan Stinson has 5 career 100 yard rushing games
2017 ETSU Statistics (6 games):
Rushing Offense: 409 yards
Yards per game: 67
Yards per rush: 2.1 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 31
TDs rushing: 5
Passing Offense: 1459 yards or 243 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 8.1 yards
Passing 1st downs: 56
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 113-180-2
TDs Passing: 10
Total Offense: 1860 yards or 310 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 4 - 2
3d Down Conversions: 25 of 80 (31%)
4th Down Conversions: 1 of 5 (20%)
Field goal attempts: 10 - 14
PAT-Attempts: 13 of 13 (100%)
On-side kicks: 0-1
Red Zone Scores: 13 of 15 (87%)
Red Zone Touchdowns: 7 of 15 (47%)
Punts - Yards: 32 - 1285 - Avg per punt: 40.2
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