Welcome to the Darkside

Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations     

 

Happy Thanksgiving

7 win season - WCU Catamounts

 

Courtesy WCU Football Video     

WCU 2-Deep Roster vs. Samford

 

Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations       

Game #12 - Samford

In Western Carolina's final regular season and conference game, the Cats will travel to Homewood, AL to face the Samford Bulldogs. At stake is a possible share of the SoCon crown (with a Mercer loss) and a possible trip to the NCAA playoffs. 

Game #12 - Samford Bulldogs

The Bulldogs finished the 2023 season with an 6-5 overall record, finishing the season with a 4-4 conference record, and tied with VMI for fifth place in the standings. Currently the Bulldogs are 4-6 overall and 3-3 in SoCon play, with wins over Mercer, Chattanooga, and VMI.

   

When: Saturday, November 23, 2024

Time: 3:00 pm (ET)  (2:00 Central)
Where: Pete Hanna Stadium, Homewood, AL
Radio: Catamount Sports Network

   -Play-by-Play: Gary Ayers • Color Daniel Hooker • Producer: Jeff Bryson

TV / video:    ESPN+
Live Stats: SU Live Stats

Game Notes:  Western Carolina   -   Samford    -   SoCon Notes

Colors: Red and Blue

Bulldog Message Board: The Dog Pound 

The Series: The Cats are 4-17 overall against the Bulldogs since winning the first outing back in 1969. Samford owned an eleven-game winning streak against Western until 2015 when the Cats broke that streak in Cullowhee with a 56-36 win over the Dogs. The Cats brok another 5 game losing streak last season in Cullowhee, with a 30-7 win over the Bulldogs. The Cats are 1-10 against Samford in games played in Homewood.  

Last game played vs. Samford: Sep. 24, 2023 - Catamounts Upset No. 7/8 Samford to Open SoCon Play - Sophomore QB Cole Gonzales threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns while classmate Desmond Reid rushed for 170 yards and a score as a part of a balanced offensive attack as Western Carolina outlasted and upset defending Southern Conference champion No. 7/8 Samford 30-7 on Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field in the league opener for both squads. 

Chris Hatcher's record vs. Western Carolina: 9-3

Kerwin Bell's record vs. Samford: 1-2

Head Coach: Chris Hatcher. Chris Hatcher was named Samford’s 36th head football coach on Dec. 11, 2014. Entering his tenth season at Samford in 2024, Hatcher boasts a career record of 178-100 in 24 years as a college head coach, having previously coached at Murray State, Georgia Southern, and Valdosta State. 

Hatcher's Record at Samford (Years): 51-38 (9th season)
Hatcher's Record vs. WCU:  9 - 3

Last Season's Record - 2023 (Samford): 6-5 overall, 4-2 home, 2-3 away, 4-4 SoCon

This Season's Record - 2024 (Samford):  4-6 overall, 3-2 home, 1-4 away, 3-3 SoCon

Offensive Formation: Multiple
Defensive Formation: 4-3

In SoCon preseason polls, the Bulldogs were picked fifth in the coaches poll.  Samford placed two players on the preseason All-SoCon squads, LB Noah Martin a senior and OL -Chris Noble, a graduate player.

Samford has easily become the portal transfer capital of the SoCon, with 13 FBS transfers and 7 FCS transfers this season.  Coming from the FBS are: Jonathan Bennett (RB) Alabama; Samuel Willoughby (WR) Alabama; Vance Nicklaus (TE) Florida State; Jaylon Barden (WR) Georgia Southern; Corey Warren (DL) Georgia State Samford Rayf Vinson (WR) Ole Miss Samford Micah Kelly (RB) Toledo Samford Xavier Lainer (DB) Tulsa; Teddy Davenport (WR) UAB; Damon Miller (DB) UAB; Stephen Martin (WR) UCF; Mack Howard (QB) Utah; Gumbo Gaskins (DB) Vanderbilt. Picked up from the FCS is: Malik Gaither (LB) Alcorn; Conroy Cunningham II (DL) Bethune-Cookman; Seth Parker (DB) Columbia;  Jaylin Rainey (DL) Dartmouth; Edwin Dearman Jr. (DB) Northern Iowa; Nazir Sy (DL) Northwestern State; and Ryan Skinner (RB) The Citadel.   

The Bulldogs have become very unpredictable this season, from opening the 2024 season with a loss to FCS newcomer West Georgia, to knocking off top 10 Mercer and top 25 ranked Chattanooga. 

2024 Samford Statistics (10 games)

Rushing Offense: 894 yards
Yards per game: 89
Yards per rush: 2.5 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 61
TDs rushing: 9
Passing Offense: 2486 yards or 249 yards per game
Passing 1st downs: 113
Passing Att-Comp-Int: 364-257-9
TDs Passing: 17
Total Offense: 3380 yards or 338 yards per game
Fumbles - Lost: 18 - 4
3d Down Conversions: 47 of  149 (32%)
4th Down Conversions: 10 of 16 (63%)
Field goal attempts: 6 - 13
PAT-Attempts: 23 of 27
Red Zone Scores:  26 of 35 
Red Zone Touchdowns: 20 of 35 
On-Side Kicks: 0 - 1
Penalties-Yards: 39 - 361

WCU Player of the Game (vs. VMI) Taron Dickens

Purple & Gold's "Catamount Player of the Game" for final regular season home game verses the VMI Keydets on November 16th  in Cullowhee is redshirt freshman quarterback Taron Dickens.

The Catamount Player of the Game, in his third start at QB for the season, Taron Dickens threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.  

Dickens completed 30 of 37 passing attempts for a total of 294 yards in the air, and rushed for  total of 15 yards leading the Cats to a 58-28 victory over the Keydets.

2-Deep Roster vs. VMI

Courtesy WCU Athletic Media Relations    

 

WCU 2-Deep Roster vs. ETSU

 

Courtesy WCU Athletics media Relations      

WCU Game #10 - at ETSU

For the tenth game of the season, the Cats return to the road for the annual grudge match, the Blue Ridge Border Battle with the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. 

                                                                                                                                                        Eight seasons ago, the Catamounts and the Bucs revived their series that started back in 1932, and abruptly ended in 2003 when the Bucs eliminated football. The Cats own a 4-4 record against the Bucs since their return to the Southern Conference.

Game #10 ETSU Bucs

    

When: Saturday, November 9, 2021

Time:  12:00 pm (EST) 

Where: Greene Stadium, Johnson City, TN
Radio: Catamount Sports Network

   -announcers:  Gary Ayers,  (play-by-play); Daniel Hooker (color)

TV/video:  ESPN+

Live Stats:  ETSU Live Stats

Fan Message Board:  Buccaneer Nation

Enrollment: 13,378

Nickname: .Buccaneers (Bucs) 

Colors: Navy Blue and Old Gold 

Stadium: William B. Greene, Jr. Stadium (7,694)

The Series: This series stretches back to 1932, and Western owns a 27-25-1 record overall in the series. Since the return of football at ETSU, the Cats are 4-4 going into the 2024 contest. Adding to the rivalry between the two mountain teams, the Bucs pulled off a 2-point, 3 overtime win, 43-45 in the initial Blue Ridge Border Battle trophy contest held in Johnson City in 2018. The Cats are 12-14-1 in games played in Johnson City overall.  This game also marks the seventh showdown of the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" with the Bucs capturing three of the first six games in this trophy game.

The Trophy: The two campuses are separated by just 112 total miles and share a common border through the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 2018 the mountain rivalry was dubbed the “Blue Ridge Border Battle”, consisting of a trophy that includes a two-tiered wooden pedestal adorned on opposite sides by the two school’s respective logos and the moniker of the football rivalry series. Atop the trophy is a rock that was taken from the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina – Tennessee border in the heart of the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains. This will be the fifth battle for the Blue Ridge Trophy.

The last game played vs. ETSU:  Nov. 11, 2023 - ’Rock the Boat! Catamounts Dominate ‘Blue Ridge Border Battle’ - Cole Gonzales passed for 363 yards and five touchdowns as No. 21/17 Western Carolina amassed a season-high 687 total yards of offense including 513 yards through the air to cruise past mountain-rival East Tennessee State 58-7 in Southern Conference action at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. With the win, the Catamounts retained possession of "the Rock" traveling trophy in the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" rivalry series for a second straight season.

Head Coach: Tre Lamb -Tre Lamb was named ETSU football head coach on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Lamb, the 20th head coach in Buccaneer history, comes to ETSU after spending the last four seasons as the head coach at Gardner-Webb where he led the Running' Bulldogs to back-to-back conference championships and FCS playoff appearances.

Trey Lamb's record vs. WCU:  1 - 0  (at GWU)

Kerwin Bell's record vs. ETSU:  2 - 1

Basic Offense: Air Raid 

Basic Defense: 3-4

Last Season's Record (ETSU):  3-8 overall,  3-2 home,  0-6 away,  2-6 SoCon. 

This season's Record (ETSU):   6-4 overall,  2-2 home,  3-2 away,  3-2 SoCon.

 

In preseason voting  the Bucs were picked to finish sixth in the coaches poll. ETSU's Chris Hope a senior defensive back, Nate Brackett a redshirt junior punter and Luke Smith a grad student offensive lineman were named to the Preseason All-SoCon First Team. William McRainey is entering his first season on the Buc roster, has been named a Preseason All-American by both FCS Football Central and Stats Perform FCS ahead of his first season with ETSU. McRainey comes to ETSU after transferring from Gardner-Webb.

Head coach Tre Lamb brough 21 transfers from Gardner-Webb into the ETSU program, and eight transfers from the FBS: Jaden Woods (DB) Akron; Seth Williams (OL) App State; Micah Sumpter (OL) Charlotte; Steven Johnson (QB) Charlotte; Parker Self (WR) Georgia Southern; Ezra Sexton (RB) New Mexico; Devontae Houston (RB) UConn; Derrell Bailey (OL) USF, so the Bucs will be loaded with talent. 

In addition to playing well late in games, the Bucs have also been very balanced offensively in league play. ETSU has gained 785 yards rushing and 762 yards passing so far in four conference games. They also nearly have the same number of first downs rushing (37) as they do passing (34) in those games.  

2024 ETSU Statistics (10 games)

Rushing Offense: 1761 yards

Yards per game:  196
Yards per rush:  5 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 82
TDs rushing: 19
Passing Offense: 2049 yards or 228 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 14 yards
Passing 1st downs: 85
TDs passing: 19
Passing Att-Comp-Int: 264-142-13

Total Offense: 3810 yards or 432 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 7 - 4
3d Down Conversions: 38 of 122 (31%)
4th Down Conversions: 14 of  27 (52%)
Field goal attempts 9 - 14
PAT-Attempts: 33 of 35
On-side kicks: 0 - 1
Red Zone Scores: 29 of 33 
Red Zone Touchdowns: 21 of 33 
Punts - Yards: 37 - 1569 - Avg per punt: 42

WCU Player of the Game (vs. UTC) Taron Dickens

Purple & Gold's "Catamount Player of the Game" for Homecoming 2025 verses the Chattanooga Mocs on November 2nd  in Cullowhee is redshirt freshman quarterback Taron Dickens.

The Catamount Player of the Game, getting his first start at QB for the season, Taron Dickens threw for a career high 5 touchdown passes & 431 yards to upset #18 Chattanooga 38-34 in a key Southern Conference game on Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.  

Dickens completed 34 of 48 passing attempts for a total of 431 years in the air, and rushed for  total of 58 yards.  Dickens connected with 11 different receivers in the air

2024 SoCon Football Power Rankings - (after week #10)

November 4, 2024

Welcome to Purple & Gold's 2024 SoCon Football Power Rankings.

Each Monday throughout the season, we'll release that week's Power Rankings.  Here are this week's power rankings, after week #10.  Last week's ranking are in parentheses.

1. (1) Mercer (8-1)
Next:  at VMI  (1-8)

2. ( 3) Western Carolina (5-4)
Next: at ETSU  (5-4)

3. (2) Chattanooga (5-4)
Next: at The Citadel  (4-5)

4. (4) ETSU (5-4)
Next:  Western Carolina  (5-4)

5. (4) The Citadel (4-5)
Next:  Chattanooga (5-4)

6. (7) Wofford (4-5)

Next: at Furman  (2-6)

7. (6) Samford (3-5)
Next: Tenn Tech (4-5)

8. (9) VMI (1-8)
Next: Mercer (9-1)

9. (8) Furman (2-6)

Next: Wofford  (4-5)

1.