Oct. 26, 2007

Final Stats |    |  WCUvsWofford Post Game Notes

Cullowhee, N.C. - Outscoring the 11th-ranked Wofford Terriers 41-to-10 in the second half, Western Carolina mounted a monstrous comeback after intermission for the third-consecutive week before falling by three, 47-44, Thursday night in front of a national television audience on ESPNU at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field.

The WCU receiving tandem of senior Eddie Cohen and red-shirt freshman Marquel Pittman each eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark with 124 yards and two touchdowns apiece to lead the second stanza charge. Of the combined 248 yards between the duo, 210 of it came in the second half as Pittman was limited to just 23 yards on a pair of catches and Cohen had just one reception for 15 yards in the first 30 minutes of play.

It was the first time since 2004 that two Catamount receivers had surpassed the 100-yard plateau in the same game. For Cohen, it was his fifth-straight game with 100-or-more yards receiving.

"I am very proud of the way we came out in the second half and the way we fought," said Western head coach Kent Briggs. "We put things together and started executing. Offensively, we caught fire; both quarterbacks did some good things and Eddie (Cohen) and Marquel (Pittman) had big nights."

He added, "The score was not the issue; the issue was whether we were going to lie down or were we going to fight? And we kept fighting and I was real proud of that."

For WCU (1-8, 0-5), the loss kept it winless in SoCon play this season and was its 13th-straight in league play. It also snapped a perfect 6-0 record in games played on Thursday night dating back to 1988. Wofford (7-2, 4-1 SoCon) kept itself in a share for the conference top-spot tied with The Citadel and Elon, pulling a half a game ahead of the Bulldogs and Phoenix who are both in action this Saturday.

Of the three aforementioned teams currently vying for the top-spot in the SoCon, Western has lost by just 11 combined points, or an average of 3.7 points per game.

Western again employed the dual quarterback system with both senior Todd Spitzer - who earned the starting nod - and red-shirt freshman Adam Hearns seeing ample playing time. Spitzer completed 13-of-20 passes for a game-high 234 yards and three touchdowns while his counterpart, Hearns, was 10-of-16 for 107 and two scoring strikes. Hearns also made his first career reception in formation, hauling in a six-yard screen pass from Spitzer late in the third quarter.

After watching Wofford score on each of its first six possessions - which translated into surrendering 21 first quarter points and 16 in the second - Western trailed at intermission, 37-3, only mustering a 31-yard field goal by junior Jonathan Parsons with under a minute to play in the half. But after the break, Western scored twice for every one Terrier score during its comeback.

The Catamounts' first defensive takeaway since recovering a Georgia Southern fumble late in the going in Statesboro four games ago sparked things early on. With Wofford backed up on a third down and 10 to go situation, senior Mordy Ornguze burst through on a blitz, sacking Terrier QB Ben Widmyer and jarring the ball loose. Junior defensive end Jeff Bradley scooped up the bouncing ball and rumbled 23 yards to set up the offense with perfect field position at the Wofford 18-yard line.

Three plays later, two of which were rushes by sophomore tailback Willie Harper including a 15-yard scamper, Hearns found senior tight end Shamar Allen from four yards out for his first career touchdown reception, trimming the deficit to 37-10.

Western forced the first Terrier punt on the ensuing possession with Spitzer orchestrating the shortest drive of the evening. After an incomplete pass on first down, Spitzer found his classmate Cohen over the middle and he did the rest, weaving 61 yards for the score to pull Western within 20, 37-17, midway through the third. It was the second, 60-yard pass play for Spitzer this season as he connected with senior Mike Malone at Eastern Kentucky for a 69-yard strike which continues to rank as the second-longest pass-and-catch in the SoCon this season.

Seemingly still in control of the game, Wofford did not back down. The next time they touched the ball, the Terriers moved 70 yards in a grueling 13-play drive before Adrian Young tallied his second rushing score of the night to push the advantage back to 44-17.

Late in the third quarter, with both Spitzer and Hearns in the game, WCU moved 63 yards in seven plays with Pittman making a diving stab of a Hearns' pass over a Terrier defender in the near end-zone for six points. Hearns would also pilot the next possession driving 79 yards in 11 plays with Malone plunging in from two yards out for his fourth rushing score of the season to claw the Catamounts to within 13, 44-31.

The Terriers would add a second Patrick Mugan field goal from 32 yards out to lengthen its lead to 16, 47-31, before the quick-strike offense of Western again emerged. After a 20-yard kickoff return by sophomore Marcus Brown, which was sprung by normal return man, Malone, around the left end, Spitzer needed just three plays to find pay-dirt. The senior signal caller again went to Cohen for a long gain - 42 yards - and a score to shrink the deficit to just 10 points, 47-37.

After the ensuing on-sides kick attempt failed, the Catamount defense, aided by a clipping penalty on the Terriers, stiffened to get the ball back after Wofford faked a punt attempt but were dropped for a seven-yard loss. A dead-ball personal foul penalty gave the Catamounts perfect field position at the Terrier 27 yard line with Spitzer again making short work of the Terrier secondary as two plays later, he hooked up with Pittman for the score to close within three points.

However, that was as close as the Catamounts could pull as the on-sides kick attempt was smothered by Justice Joslin and Wofford was able to survive to run out the remaining seconds on the game clock.

All told, Western held a 298-to-142 yardage edge in the second half over the Terriers.

Junior Quinton Phillips, who is a two-time SoCon Defensive Player of the Week this season, led the way for the Catamount defense with his fourth double-digit tackles outing of the season finishing with 17 stops, including five solo hits and one tackle for loss. Ornguze posted a career-high 16 tackles including a sack and a forced fumble.

Wofford was not without its highlights, though, as the Terriers amassed 513 yards of total offense, including 397 yards on the ground alone in the win. Running backs Kevious Johnson and Adrian Young combined for 243 yards and three scores on the ground, gaining 128 and 115, respectively. Michael Hobbs also rushed for a pair of scores with just 28 yards, while Dane Romero rushed five times for 48 yards and a score.

"I know that anyone who watched this game on TV will say they saw the best college football game they'd ever seen if you like scoring," said Wofford head coach Mike Ayers. "A lot of credit goes to Coach (Kent) Briggs in keeping those kids together. It takes a special guy to keep those kids fighting, and they've had hard luck - and they've been there in the end where they've had chances to get it done, and they didn't do it. But to their credit, they fought their brains out."

The Terriers capitalized on an early WCU fumble and blocked punt inside the opening six minutes of the game to stake itself to a 14-point lead in which it would never relinquish. Also, Western had a goal line situation midway through the second quarter, but was stopped on four-consecutive plays to keep the game scoreless, 28-0. Wofford responded to the fourth-and-goal stop with a 12-play, 98-yard drive to go up 34-0 before the Parsons' field goal snapped the Terriers' consecutive scores.

Having played Playing on Thursday night, Western will now have a few extra days added to its bye week next weekend before traveling to nationally-ranked Appalachian State in Boone on Saturday, Nov. 10 in the annual "Battle for the Old Mountain Jug" at Kidd Brewer Stadium. WCU has not won in Boone since a 34-7 victory over its arch-rival back in 1984.