For the sixth game of the season, the Cats travel to the South Carolina low country to face the Bulldogs of The Citadel. Western Carolina faces the Bulldogs for the forty-fourth time since 1972.
Game #6 - The Citadel
When: Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 pm
Where: Johnson Hagood Stadium (11,332), Charleson, SC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
-Radio announcers: Gary Ayers (PBP), Daniel Hooker (color), Greg McLamb (sideline)
TV/video: ESPN3
-TV announcers: Kevin Fitzgerald (PBP), Dominique Allen (color)
Live Stats: Citadel Live Stats
Game Notes: WCU - The Citadel - SoCon Notes
Fan Message Board: The Citadel Independent Sports Network
The Series: Western trails The Citadel 17-25-1 overall in the series, after winning on the road in Charleston in 2017, breaking a two-game skid to the Bulldogs. The Cats dropped the homecoming game to the dogs in 2018 in Cullowhee. Coach Speir is 2-5 against the Citadel.
Last Season's Game vs. The Citadel (Nov. 3, 2018) - Second Half Surge Pushes the Citadel over WCU Cullowhee, N.C. – The Citadel used a pair of third-quarter blocked punts to erase a 14-point halftime deficit and a defense that pitched a second-half shutout, forcing three turnovers as the Bulldogs upended the Western Carolina Catamounts, 38-24, to spoil Homecoming at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Back-up quarterback Brandon Rainey, who earned the starting nod for The Citadel on Saturday afternoon, rushed for 188 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs (3-5, 3-4 SoCon) while Clay Harris scored twice in rushing for 126 yards in the winning effort.
Games that will be played by the Bulldogs this season before the WCU contest: (6 games) Picked to finish seventh in the SoCon, The Bulldogs kick off the season by playing back-to-back CAA Football opponents. First, at home against Towson (L, 21-28), followed by a road trip to former SoCon member Elon (L28-35). The dogs then traveled to Atlanta to meet Georgia Tech, winning 27-24, before returning home to meet cross-town Big South member Charleston Southern (W. 22-13). The Citadel opened conference play in Birmingham against Samford (L, 55-61), then returned to Charleston to face arch-rival VMI with won the Military Classic of the South, 21-34.
Last season's Record (The Citadel): 5-6 overall, 2-3 home, 3-3 away, 4-4 SoCon
This season's Record (The Citadel): 2-4 overall, 1-2 home, 1-2 away, 0-2 SoCon
Offensive Formation: Triple Option
-2018 Offense 29.8 ppg. (43rd in FCS)
Defensive Formation: 3-4 (new defensive formation)
-2018 Defense: 30.3 ppg. (76th in FCS)
Starters returning/lost: 20 / 7
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost: 10 / 3
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost: 7 / 4
Specialist - Returning/Lost: 3 / 0
Lettermen - Returning/Lose: 30 / 16
The Bulldogs enter the game on a two-game skid, losing to both Samford and VMI, going 0-2 in conference play.
The #7 pick in the SoCon polls has a total of six members selected for preseason All-Southern Conference honors. Joseph Randolph II, Willie Eubanks III, and Matthew Campbell were selected to the first team, while Haden Haas, Drew McEntyre and Jacob Godek were named to the second team. Eubanks was the top tackler last season as he finished with 80 tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss, and 4.5 sacks. He also added two interceptions and recovered a pair of fumbles.
The Bulldogs returned 20 starters from last season's 5-6 squad that finished 4-4 in the SoCon. Before rising junior Brandon Rainey took over as starting quarterback in the eighth game of the season, the Bulldogs’ triple-option offense averaged 264 rushing yards and 26.8 points while going 2-5, all against FCS teams. In their final three games against FCS teams, with Rainey at quarterback, the offense averaged 331.3 rushing yards and 41 points per game in victories over Western Carolina, Samford and Charleston Southern.
Citadel slotback Keyonte Sessions, who has not played in the last four games, is currently suspended for a violation of team rules. The junior from Myrtle Beach had seven carries for 34 yards in the first three games. Starting fullback Clay Harris is out with a shoulder injury, true freshman Logan Billings got the start against VMI and carried 13 times for a team-high 51 yards. He also lost a fumble that set up VMI’s first TD. Quarterback Brandon Rainey went 19-for-34 for 233 yards against VMI. It is a career-high in all three categories and the most passing yards since Jordan Black threw for 223 yards against Furman in 2017. Redshirt freshman fullback Emeka Nwanze, who had 34 carries two weeks ago against Samford, carried just four times against VMI. The Citadel threw for 233 yards against VMI. - Raleigh Webb had 110 receiving yards against VMI.
Last season, the Bulldogs averaged 283.6 yards per game, but due to this season's increased use of the passing game, the dogs rushing average has decreased to 224.8 witch will still present major problems for the Catamount defensive unit.
2019 The Citadel Statistics (thru 6 games):
Scoring: 29
Points on turnovers: 23
Rushing Offense: 1349 yards
Yards per game: 224.8
Yards per rush: 4,7 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 80
TDs rushing: 17
Passing Offense: 633 yards or 105.5 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 10.2 yards
Passing 1st downs: 23
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 36-62-3
TDs Passing: 6
Total Offense: 1982 yards or 330.34 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 9-4
Time of Possession/Game: 39:24
3d Down Conversions: 41 of 97 (42%)
4th Down Conversions: 11 of 17 (65%)
Field goal attempts: 4 - 6
PAT-Attempts: 22 of 22 (100%)
On-side kicks: 1 - 1
Red Zone Scores: 19 of 24 (79%)
Red Zone Touchdowns: 17 of 24 (71%)
Punts - Yards: 29 - 1318 - Avg per punt: 45.4
Game prediction: Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have only a 15% probability of winning (24-38) over the Bulldogs.
According to Massey Rankings, Western Carolina should be 1-5 after the Citadel game. I have to agree.
--------------------------------------
Join the conversation and leave a comment below
No comments:
Post a Comment