Sept. 11, 2010

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Post-Game Notes
Tusculum 54, Western Carolina 30
E.J. Whitmire Stadium - Cullowhee, N.C.
Sat., Sept. 11, 2010

With the loss . . .
- It was WCU's first-ever loss to Tusculum with the overall record dropping to 4-1-1 all-time ... It was also the first loss to a current South Atlantic Conference member since 1968;
- The second time in as many seasons the Catamounts have opened a season 0-2;
- Since winning 11-straight home openers from 1998 through 2008, WCU has dropped consecutive home-opening contests, falling to Gardner-Webb in 2009 and Tusculum in 2010;
- Western Carolina is now 66-67-5 against South Atlantic Conference members.

Post-Game Notes:
- Redshirt junior quarterback Zac Brindise threw the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career, connecting on a 20-yard strike to wide receiver Deja Alexander with 10 seconds left in the second quarter ... It was Alexander's second receiving touchdown in as many games for the Purple and Gold;

- Brindise opened the third quarter the way he ended the second - with a scoring pass, the second touchdown connection of his career. The 28-yard strike was to redshirt junior Josh Cockrell for his second career receiving score - and the first for Cockrell since the season-opener in 2008;

- Brindise entered the game at quarterback in the second quarter and threw for a career-high 304 yards including four touchdowns on 23-of-39 passing - both of which were career-bests;

- The four touchdown passes by Zac Brindise marks the first time a Catamount QB has thrown four our more TD passes in a single-game since Brian Gaither tossed four against Johnson C. Smith back in September of 2003.

- Josh Cockrell racked up a career-high 110 receiving yards while teammate Jacoby Mitchell finished with a career-best career day with 116 yards receiving and one touchdown ... It was the first time since the Eastern Kentucky game last year that WCU had a receiver go over 100 yards, and it was the first-time that the Catamounts had teammates eclipse the century mark in receiving in the same game since Eddie Cohen (124 yds) and Marquel Pittman (124 yds) did it against Wofford back in 2007;

- Tusculum scored its first touchdown of the game on a 90-yard fumble recovery, and came back in the third quarter to score a second TD off of a WCU fumble ... The last time a WCU opponent scored on a Catamount fumble was against Wofford on October 24, 2009;

- Converted quarterback, redshirt freshman DB Randy Pressley, led the Catamounts with a career-best nine tackles including 1.5 sacks, the first of his WCU career ... Classmate Brian Johnson tallied his first career sack with junior Trey Selby recording 1.5 sacks as WCU got to the Tusculum quarterback four times ... Selby finished with a game-high three tackles for loss, matching his previous career total;

- Quarterback Zack Jaynes finished 4-of-10 for 92 yards ... He moved into eighth-place on WCU's career pass completions chart, currently with 313 to by-pass Todd Cottrell (1987-89) and move within 37 of seventh-place Don Dalton (1966-69);

- Kicker Blake Bostic missed his first field goal inside of 39-yards since 2008 in the loss to Tusculum ... Bostic was 6-for-6 from 39-yards out and in, and connected on 8-of-10 from the same distance in 2008 ... Bostic is on the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List for this season.

Miscellaneous Notes:
Western Carolina's team captains for Saturday evening's game were junior #20 Nate Harris; #58 Zak Warner; #93 Charles Johnson, #96 CJ Johnson ... Western Carolina won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.