Oct 18, 2001

Final Stats

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Before a Thursday-night, regional-television audience, Western Carolina turned consecutive punting miscues by the Mocs into 14 points to hand Chattanooga a 21-3 defeat at Finley Stadium.

The Catamounts' first score, a one-play, three-yard run by Fred Boateng early in the second quarter, was setup when Moc punter Travis Grubb mishandled the snap. He recovered his own fumble, resulting in WCU getting the ball on downs at the UTC three. Chattanooga was forced to punt deep in its own territory thanks to a pair of sacks by WCU defensive end Nick McNeil, backing the Mocs up a total of 17 yards.

On Chattanooga's following possession, Grubb rushed his punt, which only traveled 22 yards and gave the Cats the ball at the UTC 48. Three plays later, reserve quarterback Pat Cilento hit Michael Banks on a 32-yard post pattern for a touchdown. The reception was Banks' 15th career TD catch, moving him to a tie for fifth on the school's all-time list.

The Mocs came out inspired to start the second half, marching 63 yards on their opening drive and kicking a 29-yard field goal to make the score 14-3. The drive consumed over five minutes, but stalled inside the Catamount 15 after a one-yard run and back-to-back incomplete passes.

With starting WCU running backs sitting out the second half with minor injuries, reserves Manny DeShauteurs and Toren Gordon allowed WCU to preserve the lead with a solid rushing attack. DeShauteurs rushed for a game and career-high 72 yards on 18 attempts, all in the second half. He additionally carried the ball all but five of WCU's rushing attempts in the second half. On the Cats' final 10-play, 69-yard scoring drive, the Brevard native carried the ball seven times for 27 yards, including the final four yards for his second TD of the season. Gordon, who had his first carries of the season, put the Cats in scoring position with a career-long 22-yard run. The junior finished the game with four rushes for 37 yards, a 9.3 average.

Held in check for the first half, the Moc offense moved the ball better in the second half. However, the Catamount defense responded each time UTC threatened to score. On Chattanooga's last two possessions, it reached the WCU six before losing the ball on downs and the WCU five before losing the ball on a fumble. Of UTC's 11 drives, seven ended in punts, two ended on downs and one on a fumble.

Western's defense had many stand-out performers in holding the Mocs to only 38 total yards in the first half and an average of 1.8 yards per rush for the game. Justin Fryer led the way with a career-high 15 tackles, including two for losses, a caused fumble and a pass breakup. Pat Leach and Tyler Norman also tallied career-highs with 13 and 11 tackles, respectively. John Brashear, Jeff Chambers and Michale Spicer combined to eight QB pressures and three tackles for losses.