Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off the program's best regular-season finish in five years, Western Carolina football and third-year head coach Kerwin Bell today announced the squad's 2023 schedule in conjunction with the Southern Conference unveiling the league's ledger that spans 11 of the 13 regular-season weeks.
 
Additional WCU game day information in Cullowhee including kickoff times, promotions, and broadcast schedules will be released later, though all nine SoCon schools' home games will air on ESPN+ if not selected for national or regional broadcast.
 
Opening on Labor Day weekend in Little Rock, Ark., on Sept. 2 against the SEC's Arkansas Razorbacks and culminating with a regular-season finale at VMI on Nov. 18, WCU's 11-game 2023 schedule features three nonconference opponents among its first four games before seven-straight weeks of Southern Conference play with a mid-October bye week.
 
All told, WCU opens with four of its first six games on the road before closing the 2023 schedule with three of its final five inside the friendly confines of Whitmire Stadium.
 
Western Carolina raises the curtain on the 2023 football season on the road against an SEC-foe on Sat., Sept. 2, traveling to historic War Memorial Stadium in the state capital of Little Rock, Ark., to face the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first time ever. Arkansas is coming off a 7-6 season in 2022, capped by a thrilling 55-53 triple-overtime victory over Kansas in the Liberty Bowl. WCU and Arkansas share a common tie in UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek who spent four years on staff in Cullowhee from 2001-04 as the senior associate athletics director.
 
The meeting is the first for WCU against an SEC member since a 2019 road trip to Alabama and marks the earliest SEC foe to grace a Catamount football schedule since a 2009 opener at Vanderbilt. It's the fifth time in WCU's NCAA Division-I era that it's opened a season against the SEC: Georgia (1991), LSU (2000), Alabama (2007), and Vanderbilt (2009). Arkansas also represents the fourth NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent in a season-opener for WCU dating back to 2015.
 
The Catamounts return home the following week, opening both the home and league portions of their 2023 schedule by hosting defending SoCon champion Samford. The Bulldogs finished 11-2 overall with a perfect 8-0 in SoCon play last season, advancing to the quarterfinal round of the 2022 NCAA FCS playoffs.
 
Consecutive nonconference matchups include a road trip to Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., on Sept 16 before the return meeting in the home-and-home against Charleston Southern in Cullowhee on Sept. 23 for the Family Weekend game. WCU and EKU last met in the opener of the 2021 season, while the Catamounts racked up 616 yards of total offense including 433 through the air in claiming the first-ever meeting with the CSU Buccaneers, 52-38, in the 2022 opener in South Carolina.
 
September closes with the first of consecutive SoCon road games as WCU heads to Charleston to face The Citadel on Sat., Sept. 30 at Johnson Hagood Stadium before visiting Chattanooga on the first weekend of October. The Catamounts halted a three-game series slide – and a five-game home drought – against the Mocs with a 32-29 victory in the 2022 finale. Following its bye week on Oct. 14, Western Carolina plays consecutive home games, hosting Furman on Sat., Oct. 21, and the Mercer Bears on Homecoming weekend on Oct. 28. The Catamounts snapped a five-game slide on Homecoming with the 36-29 win over Wofford last season.
 
November opens with a road trip to Spartanburg, S.C., to face the Terriers as the Catamounts seek their third-consecutive series victory. Mountain-rival ETSU provides the opposition in the final home game on Sat., Nov. 11 in the trophy game, the "Blue Ridge Border Battle." The Catamounts claimed a dramatic 20-17 road win last season in Johnson City as Richard McCollum nailed a walk-off 33-yard field goal to reclaim "the Rock" for the Purple & Gold. The two squads have split the first four meetings with the traveling trophy on the line.

The regular-season finale is set for Nov. 18 on post in Lexington, Va., against VMI as WCU vies for a third-straight series win and a 10th-consecutive road victory over the Keydets.
 
Riding the momentum of winning three straight games including the victory over No. 15 Chattanooga to conclude the 2022 season, season tickets for the 2023 Catamount football season are on sale now both online and through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office in the Ramsey Center. WCU is coming off a record year for football season ticket sales in tickets sold and revenue generated.

Since 2014, Western Carolina has ranked among the Top 30 in all of NCAA FCS football for home attendance eight times including five among the Top 25. WCU has also been in the top four in the SoCon in attendance on eight occasions, twice pacing the league in 2017 and 2018. Last season, Catamount Nation ranked 21st nationally and second in the SoCon in home attendance at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field.
 
After adding 18 in the early period back in mid-December, the Catamount coaching staff turns its attention to the traditional National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to complete its incoming class for the 2023 season. The Catamount Club will hold its annual National Signing Day Event on Sat., Feb. 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Room of the Hinds University Center ahead of the basketball doubleheader on Ingles Court in the Ramsey Center. Catamount Club members at the Top Cat ($1,200+) level and above are invited to attend the event at no cost. Tickets and an RSVP are required to attend the event, and availability is limited – contact the Catamount Club office to RSVP or to purchase tickets.

A limited live stream of the event, presented by Stanberry Insurance, will be available online through the WCU Athletics' and Catamount Club Facebook pages.
 
Western Carolina is poised to open its 15-practice spring drills on Tues., March 14 with the annual Spring Game tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 15. Practice dates and times are all subject to change.
 
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).
 
Western Carolina Catamount Football 2023 Schedule:
Sat., Sept. 2 – at Arkansas – Little Rock, Ark.
Sat., Sept. 9 – SAMFORD * – CULLOWHEE
Sat., Sept 16 – at Eastern Kentucky – Richmond, Ky.
Sat., Sept. 23 – CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (Family Weekend) – CULLOWHEE
Sat., Sept 30 – at The Citadel * – Charleston, S.C.
Sat., Oct. 7 – at Chattanooga * – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sat., Oct. 14 – Bye Week
Sat., Oct. 21 – FURMAN * – CULLOWHEE
Sat., Oct. 28 – MERCER * (Homecoming 2023) – CULLOWHEE
Sat., Nov. 4 – at Wofford * – Spartanburg, S.C.
Sat., Nov. 11 – ETSU * (Blue Ridge Border Battle) – CULLOWHEE
Sat., Nov. 18 – at VMI * – Lexington, Va.
Sat., Nov. 25 – NCAA FCS Playoffs (First Round) – TBA
 
ALL CAPS – denotes home game
* - Denotes Southern Conference game