Oct. 11, 2008

Recap |  Final Stats |   

- Game Captains:
Offensive - Senior OL #52 James Singletary
Defensive - Red-shirt Freshman DL #81 John Julien
* Western Carolina won the toss and elected to defer; Furman received the opening kickoff.

Notes:
* Western Carolina trailed at halftime, 21-7 ... it is the third-straight game that WCU trailed after the opening 30 minutes;
* Western Carolina saw its Southern Conference losing skid extended to 18-straight games, tying for the third-longest such streak in conference history (Marshall, 18-straight 1977-79) ... the loss was also WCU's third-straight to Furman, and the 11th in the past 12 meetings;
* WCU dropped to 11-59-3 all-time against nationally-ranked FCS opponents including a 3-34-2 record on the road;
* 10 different Catamounts caught passes on Saturday including a career-high eight by tight end Andrew Rogers.

CAREER-DAY FOR Zack Jaynes: In his first career start, red-shirt freshman QB Zack Jaynes completed a career-best 33-of-48 for a career-high 302 yards and two touchdowns ... he also recorded his first career rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter to pull WCU to within a score, 28-21, scrambling up the middle from four yards out.

TURNOVER WOES: WCU missed a golden opportunity to capitalize on the game's first takeaway as Furman punt returner Adam Mims muffed a Blake Cain boot at the Paladin six-yard line ... However, WCU could not advance the ball on three plays from scrimmage, with kicker Blake Bostic missing a 26-yard field goal attempt ... On the season, WCU has nine takeaways defensively, but have only converted it into six points (two field goals).

THOMAS SNAPS TD DROUGHT WITH FIRST SCORE: Late in the first half, Jaynes hooked up with freshman Andrerius Thomas for his first career scoring reception ... the TD snapped a five-quarter drought for WCU reaching the end zone ... Thomas is the sixth different Catamount to record a first-time score this year.

GARLAND TALLIES FIRST CAREER SCORE: On Western Carolina's opening drive of the second half, junior Kyle Garland caught his first career touchdown pass from Jaynes, resulting in the seventh different Catamount to record a first-time score this year.

ROGERS GOES FOR EIGHT: Sophomore tight end Andrew Rogers hauled in a career-best eight passes at Furman for a career-high 80 yards receiving.

BY GEORGE: Junior Antoine George recorded a career-high 11 tackles in the loss at Furman ... he also forced a fumble in the first half.