Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt junior placekicker Richard McCollum was today named the Southern Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week after connecting on a career-high four field goals last Saturday at No. 21/22 Samford in Birmingham, Ala.
 
The weekly honor is the second for McCollum this season and the third of his WCU career. The Sanford, N.C., native claimed his first honor last season after scoring 11 points – five PATS and two field goals – in the road win at Wofford with his second career accolade coming in early September against Charleston Southern when he scored 10 points on a field goal and seven PATs.
 
McCollum accounted for each of Western Carolina's 12 points in the SoCon opener at Samford as he split the uprights four times on field goals of 20, 21, 30, and 31-yards to improve to 6-for-6 on 3-pointers this season. With his four successful kicks, McCollum extended his active streak to 19-consecutive made field goals over the past three seasons after finishing 12-for-12 last season. McCollum's four made field goals were the most by a Catamount kicker since Joshua Gibson hit four in a road win at VMI back in 2017.
 
McCollum, who earlier this season set a school-record for consecutive made PATs which is active at 76-straight, currently leads the Southern Conference in scoring with 38 total points, averaging 9.5 points per game on the season for the conference's leading scoring team (39.5 ppg).
 
All three of the SoCon's weekly award winners came from the WCU-Samford game last weekend as Bulldog quarterback Michael Hiers and defensive back Isaiah Richardson garnered offensive and defensive plaudits.  The SoCon's player of the week award winners are selected by the conference office from nominations submitted by the sports information or media relations personnel at each institution.
                                         
Western Carolina (2-2, 0-1 SoCon) returns home this Saturday, Oct. 1, to open the home portion of its 2022 schedule, hosting the VMI Keydets. Kickoff of the annual WCU Family Weekend game is slated for 3:30 p.m., on ESPN3 (cable subscription required). WCU will also celebrate it's relationship with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) on EBCI Day and will honor the No. 41 jersey worn by Catamount student-athlete alum Brad Hoover in a special in-game ceremony and unveiling the display at Whitmire Stadium.
 
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