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Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Junior quarterback Troy Mitchell set a Western Carolina school record for total yards in a single-season, finishing with 204 combined yards on Saturday afternoon to eclipse the 3,000-yard plateau as the Catamounts closed the regular season with a 48-14 road loss at No. 1 Alabama.

Mitchell, who finished the year with 3,096 total yards, delivered two first half touchdown passes to redshirt sophomore Spearman Robinson as the Catamounts from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) played the top-ranked Crimson Tide close midway through the second quarter.

Robinson's second TD reception pulled WCU to within three points at 17-14, but the Crimson Tide scored 31-unanswered points to pull away for a Homecoming victory in front of 101,325 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama running back Derrick Henry rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while adding a third score on a nine-yard, second-quarter reception for Alabama. Quarterback Blake Sims tossed a pair of scoring strikes among his 17 completions for 222 yards to pace the Crimson Tide (10-1). Receiver Chris Black led 11 different Alabama receivers with six catches for 101 yards.

"First of all, congratulations to Alabama; what a first-class organization," said WCU head coach Mark Speir during post-game comments with members of the media. "I'm so proud of our football team. This has been a program that the last 20 years has been at the rock bottom. We have a group of seniors that have stuck it out through coaching changes and all."

He added, "I'm proud of our guys to be able to come and battle the way our guys did in the first half and take that opening drive and score. There's a point where you look up in the second quarter and you're at the No. 1 school in the country, and it's 17-14. But I'm proud of our football team. I wish the University of Alabama luck; they're classy people."

Mitchell completed 23-of-39 passes for 221 yards and the two touchdowns to Robinson who hauled in five passes for 45 total yards. Redshirt junior Karnorris Benson finished with 118 yards on a career-high tying nine receptions, closing the season with back-to-back 100-yard receiving outings - the sixth of his career.

Originally from Mobile, Ala., before moving to Houston, Texas, Mitchell guided Western Carolina (7-5) down the field on the team's opening possession, capping the nine-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to Robinson to give the Catamounts the early lead. It was the second-time this season that WCU had led an FBS school, also leading in the season-opener at South Florida.

WCU's opening-drive touchdown was the first allowed by the Alabama defense this season.

The Catamount lead lasted for nearly five minutes before the Crimson Tide got on the board as Blake Sims completed a TD pass to Cam Sims from four-yards out to knot the game at seven apiece. Alabama would eventually take the lead for what proved to be for good with four minutes remaining in the second quarter as Gunnar Raborn connected on a 20-yard field goal to make it 10-7 Tide.

Trailing by 10, 17-7, WCU capitalized on one of the two Alabama turnovers. Senior linebacker Christon Gill punched the football loose from Henry's grip with John McBeth pouncing on the ball giving the Catamount offense possession at the Tide 12-yard line. On the ensuing play, Mitchell found Robinson for their second scoring connection of the game, pulling the Catamounts back to within three, 17-14.

Gill and sophomore DB Trey Morgan combined for a game-high 10 stops with Morgan coming up with his team-leading sixth interception of the season, snapping Blake Sims' streak of 158 pass attempts without an interception - the third-longest streak in Alabama school history. Fred Payne added nine stops for the WCU defense.

Western Carolina closed the 2014 season with seven victories, the most for the Purple & Gold since 2001. The Catamounts also secured a share of second place in the Southern Conference, the highest finish for WCU since 1986. Saturday's game was the final game for eight Catamount seniors - RB Shaun Warren, LB Christon Gill, QB Garrett Brown, DB Terrance Green, DB Ace Clark, PK Richard Sigmon, LB K.P. Hicks and WR Jeff Moore.