Cullowhee, N.C. – Five home dates including an early-October Homecoming match-up with Mercer and hosting the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" with ETSU, as well as a road trip to Norman for the first-ever meeting with Big XII-foe Oklahoma headline the 2021 Western Carolina Catamount football fall schedule released today by WCU and head coach Kerwin Bell.
 
Game times and game-day promotions, as well as broadcast plans, will be released at a later date.
 
WCU's 2021 fall schedule features eight Southern Conference games split evenly between home and away that are flanked by a trio of September nonconference match-ups, two coming away from Cullowhee.
 
The 2021 regular season schedule opens on Labor Day weekend at home as the Eastern Kentucky Colonels travel to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. It's the first meeting between the two programs in Cullowhee since 2006 when WCU upset the then 19th-ranked Colonels. The following week, the Catamounts venture to Norman, Okla., to face the defending Big XII champion Sooners in OU's home opener. It's just the second match-up all-time between the Catamounts and a current member of the Big XII Conference.
 
WCU opens SoCon play on Sat., Sept. 18 as it hosts the Samford Bulldogs on WCU's Family Weekend before closing the month with a nonconference road trip to Gardner-Webb (Sept. 25) in Boiling Springs. The Catamounts lead the series with the Runnin' Bulldogs 6-4 including three wins on the road.
 
October opens with a road trip to Chattanooga (Oct. 2) before Mercer comes to Cullowhee for WCU's annual Homecoming game on Sat., Oct. 9. Following a bye-week in mid-October, the Catamounts close the month with consecutive road games at The Citadel (Oct. 23) and Wofford (Oct. 30).
 
Rivalry match-ups on consecutive weekends open the November portion of the 2021 schedule as chromatic-rival Furman invades Whitmire Stadium on Nov. 6 with WCU hosting the Blue Ridge Border Battle match-up with ETSU on Nov. 13, looking to reclaim the traveling trophy. WCU concludes the regular season on the road by visiting defending SoCon champion VMI on post in Lexington, Va., on Sat., Nov. 20.
 
Western Carolina University is gearing up for a traditional college experience this fall with plans to resume all academic, social, and extracurricular activities. All Catamount Athletics events will maintain our standard of upholding all local, state, and national guidelines and regulations relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. All seating selections are pending guidelines and regulations within the current COVID-19 pandemic.
 
With that in mind, season tickets for the Catamount football fall 2021 schedule are on sale now by calling the WCU Athletics ticket office at (828) 227-2401. Catamount Club members can also call (828) 227-3047 for more ticketing information and to renew their memberships for 2021-22. As a reminder for fans who purchased season tickets for the postponed fall of 2020 and did not request a refund, season tickets in 2021 will be rolled over for use this upcoming season.
 
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).
 
Western Carolina Catamount Football – 2021 Schedule:
Sat., Sept. 4 – vs. Eastern Kentucky – Cullowhee
Sat., Sept. 11 – at Oklahoma – Norman, Okla.
Sat., Sept. 18 – vs. Samford* (WCU Family Weekend) – Cullowhee
Sat., Sept. 25 – at Gardner-Webb – Boiling Springs, N.C.
Sat., Oct. 2 – at Chattanooga* – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sat., Oct. 9 – vs. Mercer* (Homecoming, 2021) – Cullowhee
Sat., Oct. 16 – Bye Week
Sat., Oct. 23 – at The Citadel* – Charleston, S.C.
Sat., Oct. 30 – at Wofford* – Spartanburg, S.C.
Sat., Nov. 6 – vs. Furman* – Cullowhee
Sat., Nov. 13 – vs. ETSU* (Blue Ridge Border Battle) – Cullowhee
Sat., Nov. 20 – at VMI* – Lexington, Va.
Sat., Nov. 27 – NCAA FCS Playoffs – First Round
 
* - Denotes Southern Conference game