Cullowhee, N.C. – Looking to finish the 2019 home schedule in style and claim a third-straight seasonal victory, Western Carolina returns home this Saturday, Nov. 16 to host the Samford Bulldogs in Southern Conference football action at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. WCU will honor its seniors as well as the 30th induction class into its Athletics Hall of Fame in special pregame and in-game ceremonies.
Tickets for Saturday's home finale are on sale now through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (800) 34-GOWCU or locally at (828) 227-2339, or online at www.CatamountSports.com.
Weekend festivities get underway Friday night as Catamount volleyball hosts Samford at 6:00 pm in the Ramsey Center where it'll honor its three seniors prior to the game. WCU looks to avenge a five-set loss in Birmingham from earlier this year in a battle between two of the top three teams in the SoCon. On Saturday, the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies get underway at the Blue Ridge Conference Room with breakfast at 8:30 am followed by the ceremony at 9:30 am. The weekend culminates with the football game at 2:00 pm.
Western Carolina (3-7, 2-5 SoCon) has won back-to-back games in league play as the each of the three phases of the game have found ways to make plays. WCU's defense has created six takeaways in the two victories, the first consecutive-wins for the Catamounts since winning three-straight to open the 2018 season – a feat WCU looks to duplicate when Samford comes to Cullowhee on Saturday. On offense, the Catamounts have posted two of their best seasonal outputs with a season-high 539 yards at VMI and cresting the 400-yard plateau last week against ETSU with 402 yards.
While WCU has won consecutive league games, Samford (4-6, 3-4 SoCon) has suffered back-to-back losses and has dropped four of their last five games overall – though three of the four losses have been one-score differentials. The Bulldogs have played four overtime games this season, falling three times, twice going to double-overtime and winning a four-overtime thriller over The Citadel back in late September.
Entering the week, Samford is a team that is a statistical anomaly – second in the league in points scored per game at 35.6 but last in the SoCon by allowing 38.8 points per outing. Offensively, the Bulldogs are fourth in the league by averaging 432.1 yards per game, but are eighth in allowing its opponent to 468.1 yards per game. WCU has had its fair share of scoring woes this season, averaging a league-low 20.1 points on 347.0 yards of offense – eighth in the nine-team league. But the Catamounts have averaged over 470 yards of offense and 33 points in its recent two-game up-swing.
The two quarterbacks in Saturday's meeting – junior transfer Chris Oladokun of Samford and redshirt senior Tyrie Adams of WCU – rank second and third, respectively, in both total offense and passing in the SoCon this season. Oladokun trails only Reece Udinski of VMI in passing, averaging 204.1 yards per game with a league-best 18 touchdown passes. Adams, who has played two fewer games than Oladokun, has averaged 175.5 passing yards with 10 TD tosses and has 224.0 yards of total offense per game, adding nearly 50 rushing yards and a team-high five touchdowns on the ground.
Among the targets for Oladokun are two of the top 10 receivers in terms of receptions – and three of the SoCon's top 10 in receiving yards per game. Seniors Chris Shelling (4.0 rec/gm, 47.2 yds/gm) and Robert Adams (3.4 rec/gm, 51.5 yds/gm) are joined by junior Montrell Washington (44.1 yds/gm) among the high-quality targets for the Bulldog offense that will test WCU's passing defense – which ranks second in the SoCon and seventh in the NCAA Division I FCS with an average of 166.7 passing yards per game.
Samford has claimed 13 of the 16 all-time series meetings dating back to 1969 with the first-ever meeting in Cullowhee including an 11-game series win streak. However, the past four meetings have been split evenly between the two schools, both with a pair of home victories. In fact, the home squad has won the last six head-to-head meetings.
The Bulldogs claimed last year's meeting in Birmingham, 66-28, cashing in on three WCU turnovers in what proved to be a decisive first quarter, leading 35-0 after thrice taking advantage of the short field in the opening frame. Samford avenged WCU's 38-34 upset victory over the nationally-ranked 'Dogs in Cullowhee from the 2017 season.
Game 11: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019 • 2:00 pm
Location: Cullowhee, N.C. (E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field – 13,790
Records: Samford (4-6, 3-4 SoCon) at Western Carolina (3-7, 2-5 SoCon)
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Online Video Stream: ESPN+ (subscription required)
PBP: Daniel Hooker; Color: George Young
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
PBP: Gary Ayers; Color: Greg McLamb; Producer: Jeff Bryson
CSN Affiliates:
- Cullowhee – WWCU, 90.5 FM
- Sylva – 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC
- Franklin – 104.9 FM / 1050 AM WFSC
- Asheville – WISE Sports Radio 102.9 FM / 1310 AM
- Canton – WYSE Sports Radio 970 AM
- Online: CatamountSports.com
Western Carolina head coach Mark Speir reflected on his squad's second-consecutive win, claiming the traveling trophy in the “Blue Ridge Border Battle” last Saturday in Cullowhee before previewing this Saturday's home finale against Samford in the latest installment of "Catamount Football Weekly,” originally recorded live-on-location on Monday (Nov. 11) night at BC Outdoors Cullowhee Taproom located on campus at Noble Hall in Cullowhee. Join Speir and the CSN crew each Monday night at 7 pm at BC Outdoors in Cullowhee.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports) and Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
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