2018 Football Preseason Preview: Wofford

Throughout this preseason, Purple & Gold will preview all of Western's 2018 football opponents. For the tenth game of the season, the Wofford Terriers will visit Cullowhee.


The Cats remain in Cullowhee for the final home and conference game of the season.


In a series that started in 1952, The Cats & Terriers have played a total of 40 times, and Western has won 2 of the last 4 games against the Terriers, having dropped a road game in Spartanburg last season.






Wofford

When: Saturday, November 10 at 3:30 pm

Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee

Radio: Catamount Sports Network

TV / video: ESPN3/SoCon Digital Network

The Series: The Cats are 14-26 overall against the Terriers. having won two of the last four games played.

Games that will be played by the Bulldogs this season prior to the WCU contest:  (9 games) The Terriers open the season with two home games verses two SoCon opponents First up is the Citadel, then VMI pays a visit to Spartanburg the new Saturday.  In game three, the Terriers go out of conference for an FBS game at Wyoming, then travel to Boiling Springs, NC to face Gardner-Webb. In game five, Wofford returns to conference play at Chattanooga, followed by a trip to Furman.  ETSU then visits Spartanburg, followed by Mercer. The final game before coming to Cullowhee is against Samford in Birmingham.

The last game played vs. Wofford:   October 7, 2017 - No. 22 Western Carolina Falls at No. 5 Wofford in Overtime -  Spartanburg, S.C. -  Redshirt freshman tailback Donnavan Spencer scored an equalizing touchdown on a toss sweep with three minutes remaining in regulation to ultimately force overtime for No. 22 Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Gibbs Stadium. However, fifth-ranked Wofford scored on their second play of the extra session before sealing the win with a third interception - the second by George Gbesee - this one coming in the end zone as the Terriers held off upset-minded WCU, 35-28. Spencer capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard plunge around the right end with the Will Horton extra point knotting the game at 28 in the closing minutes of regulation. On the ensuing possession, Wofford moved down the field, but the ball-control offense stalled with a fourth-down pass play as time expired falling incomplete. In overtime, running back Andre Stoddard scored his second rushing TD of the game, finding the end zone from three yards out to push the Terriers ahead for the third-time in the game. The Catamount offense suffered a loss on the first play on its turn with the football before Tyrie Adams moved back into position with an 11-yard run. But on the next play, Adams' pass intended for Terryon Robinson was corralled by Gbesee as he undercut the route to end the game.

Head Coach:  Josh Conklin - Wofford College announced on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, the hiring of Josh Conklin as head football coach. Conklin, who spent the past three seasons as the defensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh, was an assistant coach at Wofford from 2007-09 working with the secondary. Conklin has additional experience at Florida International, Tennessee, The Citadel and South Dakota State University, serving as the defensive coordinator at Pitt, Florida International and The Citadel. He has worked with the 4-3, 4-2 and 3-4 defensive packages during his career.



Last Season's Record (Wofford): 10-3 overall, 5-1 home, 5-2 away, 7-1 in the SoCon  - Beat Furman 28-10 in the first round NCAA playoffs, lost to ND State on the quarterfinals 42-10

Offensive Formation:  Triple Option
Defensive Formation:   Multiple 50
Starters returning/lost:    11  /  11
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost:  5  /  6
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost:  6 /  5
Specialist - Returning/Lost: 5  /  5
Lost from 2-Deep Roster:  13    (6 offense,  7 defense, 0 specialists)

Top losses:
Offense: QB 14 Brandon Goodson; LG 72 Chuck Rouse; C 50 Roo Daniels; TE 81 Chandler Gouger; WR 19 R.J. Taylor

Defense: LDE 92 Tyler Vaughn; OLB 44 Daryl Vining; ILB 21 Colton Clemons; OLB 9 Terrance Morris; FS 31 Malik Rivera

At the end of the 2017 season, former Wofford head coach, Mike Ayers, announced his retirement after 30 years of leading the Terriers.  New HC Josh Conklin hired four new coaches, three on defense & one on offense. Sam Siefkes hired as the new DC;  Trey McCray as OLB coach; Allen Smith, as DL coach; and Trey Johnson for the OL coach. With the loss of 5 starters from the defensive side of the ball, and three new defensive coaches, there might be some letdown on that side of the ball.  Joe Newman was named Wofford's starting quarterback in fall camp.

2017 Wofford Statistics
Rushing Offense: 3483 yards
Yards per game: 244.8
Yards per rush: 8.6 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 157
TDs rushing: 38
Passing Offense: 1337 yards or 102.9 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 7 yrds
Passing 1st downs: 51
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 81-156-3
TDs Passing: 5
Total Offense: 4519 yards or 347.6 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 25 - 11
3d Down Conversions: 47%
4th Down Conversions: 57%
Field goal attempts: 17 - 23
PAT-Attempts: 42 of 43  (98%)
On-side kicks: 0-0
Red Zone Scores: 44 of 48
Red Zone Touchdowns: 33 of 48
Punts - Yards: 55 - 2253 - Avg per punt:  40.9
Touchdowns scored: 46

Game prediction: Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have a 42% probability of winning (27-30) over the Terriers.

According to Massey, Western Carolina should be 6-4 after this game. I'm going to disagree, the Cats are 9-1 after this game.


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