Cullowhee, N.C. (Mon., Aug. 28) – Kickoff for Western Carolina football's season-opening road game at SEC-foe Arkansas has been moved earlier to 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+ with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network beginning an hour before kickoff.
 
The Catamounts and Razorbacks were originally scheduled to kick off the 2023 season at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT, but with the weather forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-90s and high humidity on Saturday afternoon, shifting the game time up will allow for safer conditions for the student-athletes on the field and fans in attendance.
 
The flexibility to move game time came with the game being broadcast on SEC Network+/ESPN+. As part of the Southeastern Conference's new deal with ESPN, schools are allowed to dictate kick time for games streamed on SECN+/ESPN+.
 
WCU's weekly football coaches show, "Catamount Football Weekly" with head coach Kerwin Bell begins on Monday (Aug. 28) 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).
 
Western Carolina opens both the home and league portion of its schedule the following weekend, hosting defending SoCon champion Samford on Sat., Sept. 9, in Cullowhee as WCU looks to "White Out Whitmire," presented by Ingles, 99.9 Kiss Country and Star 104.3 FM with all fans encouraged to wear white to the game. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will also receive a free commemorative "White Out Whitmire" T-shirt.
 
Riding the momentum of setting a season-ticket sales record for a second consecutive year, both season and single-game tickets for Western Carolina's 2023 five-game home schedule remain on sale now through the Catamount Athletics ticket office, located on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, by phone at (828) 227-2401, or online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets.
 
Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets and game-day parking for the home opener in advance as a large crowd for the highly-anticipated first home game of 2023 is expected.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports, FB.com/WesternCarolinaFootball), Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts, catamountsfb).