Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt junior placekicker Richard McCollum was today named the Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for games played in both week zero and week one on Sept. 3. McCollum collected the second weekly honor of his career, also earning the special teams honor following WCU's road win at Wofford last season when he scored 11 points (five PATS, two field goals).
 
In addition to McCollum, Samford junior QB Michael Hiers collected Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading the Bulldogs to an upset win over Kennesaw State, and Chattanooga defensive back Reuben Lowery III received weekly defensive honors following the SoCon-opening shutout victory over Wofford. 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.
 
Also on Monday afternoon, WCU quarterback Carlos Davis was an honorable mention for the FedEx Ground FCS National Offensive Player of the Week, selected by Stats Perform.
 
WCU's leading scorer a season ago, McCollum tallied 10 points in last Saturday's season-opener at Charleston Southern, splitting the uprights on a 42-yard field goal for the squad's first points of the year and successfully punching through a career-high seven PATs in the Catamounts' 52-38 road victory.
 
A second-team preseason All-SoCon selection, McCollum has connected on 14 consecutive field goals dating back to March 2021 in the COVID-19 altered season. He has also been successful on 63-straight PAT attempts including all 42 a season ago. The Sanford, N.C., native is closing in on the school record for consecutive made PATs of 65 held by Catamount student-athlete alum Ken Hinsley (1995-98).
 
For WCU, Davis and transfer linebacker Ed Jones IV were both also nominated for consideration for the conference's weekly awards. Davis accounted for 461 yards of total offense last Saturday, the most by an individual in the NCAA FCS to date this season including passing for a SoCon and NCAA FCS-leading 433 yards and six touchdown passes that tied him for the most by a QB. Defensively, Jones finished with six tackles including a pair of sacks for the Catamount defense in the opener.
 
Western Carolina (1-0) plays its second of consecutive road games to open the 2022 season this Saturday, Sept. 10, as the Catamounts travel to Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets with kickoff at 7 p.m. Tech, which is led by Catamount student-athlete alum and former assistant coach Geoff Collins, opens its season on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium against fourth-ranked Clemson (8 p.m., ESPN).
 
WCU's weekly coaches show, "Catamount Football Weekly with head coach Kerwin Bell" originates live-on-location on Monday (Sept. 5) evening beginning at 6 p.m. at Innovation-Cullowhee, located in Noble Hall on campus. The show can also be seen on Facebook LIVE through the Catamount Athletics Facebook page.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts).