Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina football enjoys its bye-week this weekend, carrying its five-game seasonal winning streak and highest national ranking in 30 years into the open date ahead of next weekend's Southern Conference showdown in western North Carolina.
 
Next week's chromatic regional rivalry game between the Catamounts and the No. 4/5 Furman Paladins in Cullowhee represents WCU's biggest home game since the mid-1990s and should have major regular-season championship title implications.
 
The October 21 game in Cullowhee is Heroes Day, presented by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Heritage. WCU Athletics salutes all military personnel – both active and veteran – as well as all first responders with free admission when presenting ID at the ticket booths. It's also Youth Football Day with all area youth football players and cheerleaders ages 12 and under gaining free admission with their uniforms.
 
Ticket sales ahead of next Saturday's WCU-Furman game have been brisk as one would expect with the magnitude of the game. Tickets are available through the first-floor Athletics Ticket Office in the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, or online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Fans can also secure tickets to each of WCU's three remaining regular-season home games against Furman (Oct. 21), Mercer (Oct. 28), and the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" against ETSU (Nov. 11) with the 2023 Football Mini-Plan season tickets.
 
No. 14/9 Western Carolina rests following last weekend's instant classic between the No. 17/11 Catamounts and No. 20/24 Chattanooga Mocs – a thrilling 52-50, walk-off victory for WCU on the 32-yard field goal by Richard McCollum. The win was also a sixth-straight for the Catamounts in SoCon play and also snapped a 47-game winless drought against nationally-ranked opponents on the road – WCU's first since 1984 and propelled the Catamounts to their best seasonal start through six games since 1974 that ended in the NCAA Division II national playoffs.
 
WCU's current five-game winning streak marks its longest within one season since winning eight consecutive games in 1983. The five consecutive victories also are the most in a row since the Catamounts won six straight through the final four games of 1984 and the first two games of 1985.
 
All told, WCU has won eight-straight games against NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) foes dating back to last season including victories in the last three games and this year's five-straight wins sandwiched around the FBS road loss at Arkansas.
 
No. 4/5 Furman travels to Samford this Saturday in Birmingham ahead of next week's showdown in Cullowhee. With the Paladins solidly inside both the coaches and media national Top 10 and WCU ranked 14th in the AFCA Coaches poll and ninth in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, both teams figure to be among the NCAA FCS national rankings next week.
 
The game featuring two teams with numbers next to their name would mark just the sixth time in WCU program history that Whitmire Stadium has hosted a match-up of two nationally-ranked squads – and the second between the Catamounts and Paladins. WCU is 15-8 all-time as a nationally-ranked team in games played in Cullowhee all-time.
 
FCS Nationally-Ranked Match-up at Whitmire Stadium:

• Nov. 26, 1983 – #9 WCU vs. #12 Colgate – W, 24-23
• Oct. 24, 1987 – #9 WCU vs. #20 Georgia Southern – L, 37-16
• Oct. 2, 1993 – #22 WCU vs. #23 Furman – W, 23-20
• Nov. 12, 1994 - #18 WCU vs. #12 Appalachian State – L, 12-7
• Sept. 30, 2006 - #24 WCU vs. #25 Georgia Southern – L, 24-14

 
Additional Catamount Football Notes:

• Through the first seven weeks of the 2023 regular season, Western Carolina's offense LEADS the NCAA FCS in production, averaging 531.8 yards per game, and has secured a nation-leading 162 first downs – as a note, the top three teams in the country in first downs all reside in the SoCon as Samford (149) and Chattanooga (148) trail the Catamounts;
• WCU ranks fifth nationally in scoring offense, averaging a SoCon-best 41.3 points per game … the Catamounts are also ranked sixth nationally in passing offense (309.8 yds/gm) and 13th nationally in rushing offense (222.0 yds/gm);
• The Catamounts have recorded 500 or more yards of total offense in five straight games this season – and 17 total times under Kerwin and Kade Bell … WCU has also scored 30 or more points in 17 of the 28 games played under the Bells and the 10th game with 40+ points;
• RB Desmond Reid enters the weekend LEADING the nation in rushing with an NCAA FCS-best 847 yards and an average of 141.2 rushing yards per game … He also ranks fourth nationally in all-purpose yards with a 165.0 yard per game average …
• With a TD rush in each of the first six games in 2023 – and the finale in 2022 – Reid has scored on the ground in SEVEN-straight games … His 12 rushing touchdowns are the second-most in the NCAA this season, while also ranking tied for sixth in WCU's single-season record books … Reid is just four rushing scores shy of matching WCU's single-season record of 16 rushing TDs held by Darrell Lipford (1977) … His 72 seasonal points are also tied for third in the NCAA FCS;
• QB Cole Gonzales ranks third in the SoCon – but ninth nationally in the NCAA FCS – in passing yards entering this weekend having thrown for 1,532 yards over the first seven games … His average of 255.33 passing yards per game ties him for 17th in the nation … Gonzales also LEADS the nation in passing efficiency, having completed 105 of 151 attempts (69.5%) with 14 touchdown passes and just two interceptions;
• Gonzales has 14 passing TDs this season that already ties him for 12th in the Catamount single-season record book and is just eight shy of WCU's single-season record – 22 by Tyrie Adams in 2017 … Over the last two seasons, Gonzales has 25 career TD passes, already into ninth in the career ledgers;
• WCU's offensive line ranks tied for first in the SoCon with just three sacks allowed entering the bye week … that mark ranks WCU tied for second in the NCAA FCS;
• WCU's defense ranks second in the SoCon against the run, surrendering just 117.0 yards per game on the ground … the Catamounts also moved into second in the SoCon in sacks with 13 on the year after posting the third multi-sack game of the season with three at Chattanooga … the defense has four interceptions on the year, tied for fourth in the SoCon rankings;
• WCU kicker Richard McCollum ranks tied for 12th in the nation in field goal percentage at 6-of-7 for 85.7 percent;
• McCollum has scored 257 career points to remain FOURTH in program history for career scoring … McCollum is just 21 points shy of third-place (Detrez Newsome, 278 points, 2014-17) and 45 points shy of the program's all-time leader Kirk Roach (302 points, 1984-87);
• McCollum's game-winning field goal at No. 20/24 Chattanooga gave him 40 made field goals for his WCU career (40-of-47, 85.1%) as he maintains possession of THIRD all-time in program history … McCollum trails second-place Dean Biasucci (57-of-70, 1980-83) and all-time leader Kirk Roach (71-of-101, 1984-87); 
• Western Carolina has earned four SoCon Players of the Week honors set between three players … Sophomore RB Desmond Reid has earned the offensive award twice – Sept. 11 and Oct. 2 – with sophomore QB Cole Gonzales claiming recognition on Sept. 25 … Most recently, PK Richard McCollum collected his fifth Special Teams Player of the Week honor on Oct. 9;

WCU's weekly football coaches show, "Catamount Football Weekly" with head coach Kerwin Bell resumes next Monday (Oct. 16) night at 6 p.m. The show originates live-on-location at Innovation-Cullowhee, located on the first-floor Noble Hall in the heart of the WCU campus. The show also airs on Facebook LIVE through the Catamount Athletics Facebook page (fb.com/catamountsports.).
 
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).