Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina plays its final football game of 2019 this Saturday, Nov. 23, traveling to famed Bryant-Denny Stadium to face the fifth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Kickoff on ESPN is scheduled for just after Noon ET / 11:00 am CT.
Saturday marks the fifth meeting all-time between Western Carolina and Alabama on the football gridiron with each of the first four series meetings coming since 2004. The Crimson Tide leads the series, 4-0. It is the third time that Mark Speir will lead a Catamount squad into Bryant-Denny Stadium in his eight-year tenure in Cullowhee with the most recent game played back in 2014.
WCU's game against the Tide is one of four for Southern Conference schools against Power Five competition – three coming against the Southeastern Conference – on Saturday. Samford visits Auburn at Noon on the SEC Network on Saturday, while ETSU travels to Vanderbilt at 3:30 pm on the SEC Network Alternate. The other match-up is Mercer traveling to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina at 3:30.
Though recent years have seen Catamount football and it Southern Conference brethren grace the ESPN airwaves through live streaming channels on ESPN3 and ESPN+, the opportunities on the cable network have been few and far between over the years. Western Carolina did face archrival Appalachian State on the now world-renowned “Worldwide Leader in Sports” in what was documented as just the second-ever live broadcast on ESPN back in 1979.
WCU has been on ESPNU a couple of times including a pair of 2016 trips to both College Station, Texas, to face Texas A&M and nearby Knoxville, Tenn., to face the Tennessee Volunteers. In a home appearance on ESPNU back in 2007, the Catamounts outscored 11th-ranked Wofford, 41-to-10, in the second half to stage a feverish rally before falling to the Terriers, 47-44, in a Thursday night game.
Among the storylines entering Saturday's “David vs. Goliath” match-up center around the coaching staffs of both schools. Many stories have been told about former SoCon-member Appalachian State pulling off what is considered by most to be the biggest upset in college football history when in 2007, the Mountaineers upset No. 5 Michigan in the “Big House.” WCU head coach Mark Speir and defensive coordinator John Wiley were coaches on the ASU staff, while co-offensive coordinator John Holt played for the Jerry Moore-led squad that pulled the FCS over FBS upset.
Other common ties on the WCU staff include first-year quarterbacks coach Phillip Ely, who was recruited out of Florida by Alabama head coach Nick Saban to Tuscaloosa in 2011, and WCU defensive assistant coach Mark Rhea who played for Saban at Toledo while also earning his coaching start on staff as a graduate assistant at Michigan State in the mid-1990s.
And speaking of Saban, as irony would have it, he is tied to the WCU program at two different institutions in his illustrious career. As the first-year head coach at LSU in 2000, Saban's first game was against Western Carolina. Then in 2007 when he made the move to the Yellowhammer State, WCU was again his first opponent with the Crimson Tide.
On the field, one of the major focal points centers around the quarterback position. Western Carolina is led by dual-threat, redshirt senior Tyrie Adams, who boasts the school's all-time record for total offense with 11,385 yards including a school benchmark 8,866 career passing yards and 64 career touchdown passes. On the other side, the national focus has been on how the Crimson Tide replaces the injured All-American QB and Heisman candidate, Tua Tagovailoa. Alabama is expected to start redshirt sophomore Mac Jones who has played in nine games this season – 23 in his career – with one start coming in the win over Arkansas where he completed 82-percent of his passes (18-of-22) for 235 yards and three TDs.
Related Stories: The Legacy of Tyrie Adams – from SouthernPigskin.com
Kickoff on Saturday is set for just after Noon immediately following ESPN's College GameDay, live from Columbus, Ohio.
Game 12: Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 • Noon ET / 11:00 am CT
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821)
Records: Western Carolina (3-8) at Alabama (9-1)
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Television: ESPN
(DirecTV: Ch. 206; DISH: Ch. 140; AT&T U-verse: Ch.1602; Charter: CH. 735; Comcast: Ch.850;
Time Warner: Ch.753; Cox: Ch.1032; Verizon FiOS: Ch.570)
Online Video Stream: WatchESPN
PBP: Roy Philpott; Color: Kelly Stouffer; Sideline: Lauren Sisler
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
PBP: Gary Ayers; Color: Daniel Hooker; Sideline: 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 loss in the home finale against Samford last Saturday in Cullowhee before turning his attention to this Saturday's formidable challenge in traveling to No. 5 Alabama in the latest installment of "Catamount Football Weekly,” originally recorded live-on-location on Monday (Nov. 18) night at BC Outdoors Cullowhee Taproom located on campus at Noble Hall 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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