Cullowhee, N.C. – Stemming from Saturday's upset victory over No. 7/8 Samford in the home and Southern Conference opening football game, the Western Carolina Catamounts were today named the FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week as selected and announced by Stats Perform FCS and The Analyst.
In the same release, WCU's
Jayelin Davis was also listed as an honorable mention for the FedEx Ground National Defensive Player of the Week plaudits. Davis was credited with four tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss coming on sacks in the win over Samford, while also falling on the football to recover a fumble caused by LB
Va Lealaimatafao that proved to be the game's lone turnover.
Western Carolina (1-1, 1-0 SoCon) scored a dominant, weather-delayed 30-7 victory over the defending SoCon champion Bulldogs on Saturday at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Samford suffered its first loss in league play since Nov. 20, 2021, halting the Bulldogs' eight-game winning streak as Samford went an unbeaten, 8-0 in conference play in 2022.
The victory was the fourth-straight in SoCon play for WCU dating back to last season which included home wins over Wofford and No. 15 Chattanooga and a road win at rival ETSU in 2022. The Catamounts have also won three consecutive home games at Whitmire Stadium dating back to last fall.
More impressively, though, Western Carolina claimed its second-straight victory over a nationally-ranked FCS opponent at home. The Catamounts concluded the 2022 regular season with an upset of No. 15 Chattanooga and opened the home 2023 schedule with the upset of No. 7/8 Samford. The consecutive wins over nationally-ranked FCS opposition marks the first time since the 1992 (vs. #2 Marshall) and 1993 (vs. #23 Furman) seasons for the Catamount football team.
Western Carolina earned its first victory over an NCAA FCS Top 10 team since upsetting then second-ranked Furman in Cullowhee back in 2005 (Sept. 10, 2005 – W, 41-21).
Also on Monday, WCU received votes in both the
AFCA Coaches Poll and the
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 presented by FedEx Ground. The Catamounts garnered five votes in the coaches tabulations, one of 19 teams outside the Top 25 to receive votes. The squad also collected 81 votes in the media poll, three spots out of entering the official Top 25 count.
WCU's weekly football coaches show,
"Catamount Football Weekly" with head coach Kerwin Bell continues on Monday (Sept. 11) 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 (1-1) hits the road in FCS nonconference action this weekend, traveling to Richmond, Ky., to face the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Roy Kidd Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 5 p.m.
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).
