Sept. 27, 2008

Final Stats |  Notes

Charleston, S.C. - Western Carolina's offense was unable to get rolling, nor could it capitalize on a trio of turnovers including the first two interceptions of the season as it dropped its Southern Conference opener Saturday afternoon, 34-14, to No. 13/24 The Citadel at Johnson Hagood Stadium. Bulldog quarterback Bart Blanchard accounted for three touchdowns and wide receiver Andre Roberts tallied 135 yards receiving and a score to lead The Citadel.

The loss for Western was its 16th-straight in conference play spanning the past three seasons. It was also the Catamounts fifth-straight loss to The Citadel which represents the longest streak for either side in the all-time series.

"There is a lot from today that we need to work on," said WCU head coach Dennis Wagner. "We had no consistency from our offense; poor reads by our quarterback, receivers dropped passes. Defensively, we only played in spurts. We did not have the performance today to be able to win games in the Southern Conference."

He added, "It is time for this program to stop accepting losing."

The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0 SoCon) opened the game with 31-straight points, including a pair of Blanchard TD runs, before the Catamounts were able to scratch the scoreboard late in the third quarter. Capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive, red-shirt senior quarterback Andy Horn found red-shirt sophomore receiver Adam Hearns from eight yards out for the score, the first receiving TD for Hearns.

Horn finished 15-of-28 for 115 yards with a long pass of 33 yards to senior Donald James, which is his career-long reception.

Western (2-3, 0-1 SoCon) pushed across a second touchdown late in the fourth quarter as red-shirt freshman QB Zack Jaynes found freshman Nate Harris over the middle for a 10-yard strike to provide the final tally. The score was the first career TD pass for Jaynes and both the first career reception and touchdown for Harris.

All told, Western was outgained offensively 541-to-207 in total yards with the Bulldogs racking up 28 first downs to the Catamounts' 15.

Defensively, the Catamounts forced a trio of turnovers, but were unable to capitalize on any of the takeaways. Late in the first quarter, junior Chris Collins forced his third fumble of the season, stripping Bulldog back Asheton Jordan at the WCU 45. Sophomore Mitchell Bell pounced on the loose football giving WCU possession trailing, 7-0. However, the offense went three-and-out and was forced to punt.

Midway through the second quarter, junior Antoine George picked off his fourth career pass, intercepting Blanchard in the Bulldog end zone to give Western possession at the 20-yard line. Yet, three plays and a holding penalty later, the drive stalled and the Catamounts were forced to punt again.

Senior defensive lineman Jeff Bradley helped set-up the third turnover as he tipped a Blanchard pass at the line of scrimmage early in the fourth quarter with Bell laying out to snag the ball out of mid-air for his first career interception. But much like its first two takeaways, WCU was limited to a three-and-out and forced to punt.

Junior transfer Adrian McLeod led the Catamount defense with nine tackles, including six solo stops and one for loss. Bell and freshman Brandon Vaught - who left the game late with an injury - each tallied eight stops with Bell accounting for two of WCU's three takeaways.

Western Carolina returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 4 as it hosts SoCon newcomer, Samford, for Homecoming at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 pm.