Cullowhee, N.C. – Five home games featuring four in Southern Conference play and the extension of the regional rivalry with Gardner-Webb highlight the 2020 docket as Western Carolina officially announced next fall's Catamount football schedule today. Southern Conference foes Chattanooga, Wofford, VMI, and The Citadel each pay a visit to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field this fall along with nonconference road trips to Eastern Kentucky and FBS-independent Liberty to help comprise the 11-game schedule.
 
Game times, additional game-day promotions, and broadcast schedules will be announced later. All dates are subject to change. Beginning in the fall of 2020, Western Carolina Athletics will implement a clear bag policy for all home events at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field in an effort to provide a safer environment for the public and expedite entry into the stadium. More information on the implementation of this procedure will be released soon.
 
Football season tickets for 2020 are on sale now through the Catamount Athletics ticket office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (800)34-GOWCU or (828) 227-2401, and online at CatamountSports.com. WCU Athletics is offering a special early-bird price structure from now through March 31, 2020, with a price increase beginning on April 1. Fans can choose from adult and youth tickets in reserved stadium chair, bleacher back, and bench seating, as well as general admission and the Western Builder's Family Fun Zone seating options.
 
Returning season ticket holders must renew their season tickets by June 30, 2020, to lock-in their same seats from a year ago.
 
Fans are also reminded to either renew their memberships or to join the Catamount Club by the May 31 deadline to become eligible to receive game day perks such as reserved parking and hospitality benefits including the "Purple Zone" pregame tailgate and potential seating options in both Paws Porch and Catamount Corner. The Catamount Club is the philanthropic arm of the WCU Athletic Department which seeks private support towards funding student-athlete scholarships.
 
Western Carolina opens the season with consecutive road games, beginning the year at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Ky., against Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) foe, Eastern Kentucky. The frontend of a two-year home-and-home, the Sept. 5 meeting is the sixth meeting in the all-time series between the two programs – and the first since 2009, a 24-7 road win for the Catamounts. A week later, the Catamounts venture to Macon, Ga., to face Mercer, opening the SoCon season against the Bears for a second-straight season. Since winning the first two series meetings, WCU has dropped four-straight against Mercer including last year's 49-27 loss in the season-opener in Cullowhee.
 
The Catamounts host Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Sept. 19 in the 2020 home-opener looking to avenge last year's three-point, 24-21, defeat in Cullowhee that snapped a four-game series winning streak. The home-opener has been billed WCU's Family Weekend with special events surrounding the families of WCU students for a fun-filled weekend.
 
Each of WCU's first three opponents to start the 2020 season will enter the campaign with first-year head coaches – EKU (Walt Wells), Mercer (Drew Cronic), and Gardner-Webb (Tre Lamb).
 
September's schedule concludes with the chromatic rivalry as WCU travels to Greenville, S.C., in SoCon play to face the Furman Paladins.
 
Four scheduled games in October are bookended by home dates. Western Carolina hosts Chattanooga on Saturday, Oct. 3 for the annual Homecoming game before welcoming in defending SoCon champion, Wofford, on Halloween, Oct. 31. Back-to-back road meetings at ETSU (Oct. 10) in the mountain-rivalry, the "Blue Ridge Border Battle," and the road swing to Samford (Oct. 17) flesh out the October slate. WCU claimed the traveling trophy in the match-up with ETSU for the first time with a thrilling 23-20 overtime victory over the Bucs in Cullowhee last fall – the second-straight series meeting that needed extra sessions to decide the victor.
 
The Nov. 7 meeting with VMI represents the second in back-to-back home games at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field. WCU has won 17-straight over the resurgent Keydets, winning a shootout in Lexington, Va., 43-35, last November. A week later, WCU plays its only scheduled non-FCS opponent as it travels to Lynchburg, Va., to face the NCAA FBS Independent, Liberty. The meeting at Williams Stadium is the seventh in the all-time series – the first since 2008 and the first since the Flames reclassified.
 
WCU concludes the regular season portion of its schedule by hosting The Citadel on Saturday, Nov. 21.
 
Speir continues to fill out both his coaching staff and roster ahead of the anticipated start of spring practice in mid-March. After inking eight players during the early signing period in December and with the on-set of classes in January, the traditional National Signing Day is Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020.
 
The Catamount Club's annual Football Signing Day Reception – presented by Ingles, the Chef's Kitchen – will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, prior to the Catamount men's basketball game against chromatic conference-rival, Furman (2 pm). Speir and his staff will talk about the upcoming 2020 Catamount Football season and provide an analysis of this year's recruiting class providing an overview of each signee. Catamount Club members at the Top Cat level and above are eligible to attend the exclusive event which begins with a social catered by Ingles, with the recruiting program to follow.
 
Speir and his staff anticipate opening their annual spring drills following the university's Spring Break in mid-March with the conditioning "Purple Dawn," March 16. The NCAA-regulated 15 days of spring practice is tentatively scheduled to open on Wednesday, March 25 with plans to conclude approximately a month later on Friday, April 24.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports) and Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB).

2020 Western Carolina Catamount Football Schedule:
 

Sept. 5	at Eastern Kentucky	Richmond, Ky.
Sept. 12	at Mercer *	Macon, Ga.
SEPT. 19	GARDNER-WEBB (Family Weekend)	CULLOWHEE
Sept. 26	at Furman *	Greenville, S.C.
OCT. 3	CHATTANOOGA * (Homecoming 2020)	CULLOWHEE
Oct. 10	at ETSU * (Blue Ridge Border Battle)	Johnson City, Tenn.
Oct. 17	at Samford *	Birmingham, Ala.
Oct. 24	BYE WEEK
OCT. 31	WOFFORD *	CULLOWHEE
NOV. 7	VMI *	CULLOWHEE
Nov. 14	at Liberty	Lynchburg, Va.
NOV. 21	THE CITADEL * (Senior Day)	CULLOWHEE
Nov. 28	NCAA FCS Playoffs (First Round)	TBA

ALL CAPS – denotes home games
* Denotes Southern Conference Game