Nov. 9, 2014
Recap |
Final Stats |
Post-Game Notes
Samford 34, Western Carolina 20
Seibert Stadium
Birmingham, Ala. - Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014
Att: 4,689
With the Loss ...
- Western Carolina has dropped 11-straight games against Samford in the all-time, head-to-head series - and winless in six trips to Birmingham, Ala. ... WCU is 0-7 all-time against the Bulldogs since Samford joined the Southern Conference in 2008 ...
- Western Carolina dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season;
- The Catamounts drop into a two-way tie for second place behind Chattanooga, which claimed the league championship and the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs with its home win over Wofford ... WCU and Samford are both 4-2, half a game ahead of third-place Wofford (3-2).
Post-Game Notes:
- For only the third time this year, Western Carolina's opponent scored the game's first points as running back Jeremiaha Gates scored on a 35-yard screen pass ... the other two times this year came at Presbyterian and at home against Chattanooga ... All three games were WCU losses, two coming on the road;
- Junior WR Karnorris Benson came up with a season-best seven receptions for a season-high 91 yards ... Benson now has 93 career receptions for 1,457 yards over three seasons;
- WCU redshirt sophomore WR Spearman Robinson caught his team - and Southern Conference - leading ninth touchdown pass with a third quarter, one-yard catch ... It was the sixth game this season that Robinson recorded a receiving TD, while also snapping a two-game drought for Robinson without a receiving TD;
- Catamount quarterback Troy Mitchell matched a career-high with two rushing touchdowns against Samford ... It was the fourth time in his WCU career - and the first time since his freshman season in 2012 - that he recorded two rushing scores in a game;
- Senior wide receiver Jeff Moore hauled in a career-long reception of 37 yards, setting up Mitchell's second rushing TD;
- October's Defensive Player of the Month in the Southern Conference - WCU sophomore Trey Morgan - was a part of two defensive takeaways at Samford, recovering a pair of fumbles against the Bulldogs ... Morgan has been involved in nine turnovers - a SoCon-high tying five interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries;
- Senior defensive back Ace Clark was credited with three tackles at Samford giving him 327 career tackles moving him into third place on WCU's all-time career tackles chart ... Clark moved past former Catamount standouts Eric Johnson (326, 1996-98) and Julius Grant (326, 1990-93) ... He is now just four tackles shy of second-place on WCU's all-time career list held by Kenny Banks (331, 1990-94).
Miscellaneous Notes:
- Western Carolina's team captains for Saturday afternoon's game were: junior QB #10 Troy Mitchell; senior QB #18 Garrett Brown; junior tailback #20 Darius Ramsey; senior DB #28 Ace Clark; and senior LB #37 K.P. Hicks ... Western Carolina won the opening coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff;
- Western Carolina redshirt sophomore tight end #41 Lee Pattillo carried out the American flag and junior defensive lineman #93 Caleb Hawkins carried out the "All You Got" flag during pregame.
