Greenville, S.C. – Cole Gonzales passed for a Southern Conference single-game record 620 yards and five touchdowns in guiding Western Carolina to a league benchmark 801 yards of total offense as the Catamounts stretched their current winning streak to three in a row with a commanding 52-20 victory over the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference action at Paladin Stadium.
 
Gonzales obliterated WCU's 24-year school record for passing yards in a game, usurping David Rivers (RYE-vurrs) who threw for 474 yards against Wofford in 2000. He also eclipsed the SoCon's single-game passing yard record previously held by Samford's Liam Welch who passed for 582 yards against ETSU in 2021. Western Carolina's 801 yards of total offense also set a league record, bypassing the 46-year-old mark of 795 set by Chattanooga back in 1978.
 
Gonzales finished 35-for-55 passing for 620 yards, each a career-high in recording his fifth career 300-plus yard passing game. It also represents the most passing yards by an individual at all four levels of the NCAA this season. Gonzales posted his fourth career five-touchdown game with tosses of 15, 62, 23, 20, and 48 yards to give him 49 career TD tosses, third in program history and just one out of second place. He spread the football around to 11 different receivers with three Catamounts finishing with over 100 yards receiving.
 
Zion Booker caught a career-high and team-best eight passes for 103 yards – his second-consecutive 100-yard receiving game – while freshman Isaiah Johnson posted a career-best 117 yards on six grabs including two touchdown catches. Jai Boyd hauled in three passes for 102 yards. De'Andre Tamarez (4-87 yds), Malik Knight (2-69 yds), and RB Branson Adams (1-48 yds) each scored touchdowns through the air. Adams added 70 rushing yards to account for a team-best 118 all-purpose yards.
 
Jalynn Williams continued his strong entry into the WCU lineup in 2024, scoring his sixth rushing touchdown over the past three games since returning from an injury that sidelined him all of 2023. Williams finished with four touches for a season-high 49 yards.
 
Western Carolina needed just three plays and 60-seconds to take a lead it would wouldn't relinquish on Saturday. Gonzales connected with Isaiah Johnson twice in the first half with Furman getting a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Colton Hinton to pull Furman to within eight points - the closest the Paladins would get the remainder of the day. Paxton Robertson, who scored a career-high 10 points in the win, closed the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal. Despite dominating the opening two quarters on both sides of the football, the Catamounts carried just a 17-6 lead into the halftime locker room.

After intermission, WCU erupted for 35 second-half points to pull away for the mostly one-sided victory. Two third-quarter touchdowns including a Gonzales to De'Andre Tamarez 23 yard pass and a four-yard romp by Jalynn Williams gave the Catamounts a 31-6 lead before Furman closed the frame with a three-yard TD catch by John Holbrook to head to the final frame at 31-13.

Gonzales added two more touchdown passes including a 20-yard strike to Zion Booker and a 48 yard pass to Branson Adams out of the backfield to cap his day with a 45-13 score. QB Taron Dickens closed the game with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Malik Knight for his first career receiving TD.
 
While the offense returned to Nintendo-like output, the Catamount defense did its part in silencing the young Paladin offense for much of the game including holding the home squad to just 61 yards of total offense in the first half. WCU tallied a season-best five sacks as a part of a 13 tackle-for-loss performance, with Zayveon Wells adding his first career interception.
 
LB Hayward McQueen Jr. finished with a team-best 11 tackles with three stops for loss including half a sack, while Blue Monroe was credited with a career-best eight tackles. Micah Nelson and Curtis Fann Jr. both posted sacks as part of 1.5 TFL outings with Jhamari Pierre-Louis also tallying 1.5 TFLs. Canton, N.C., product Caleb Bradford turned in a second-half sack as 30 Catamounts were credited with tackles.
 
Trey Hedden was 22-of-34 passing for 239 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Furman (2-5, 1-2 SoCon). Colton Hinton returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter for the Paladins. Hinton made nine catches for 114 yards receiving.
 
Saturday's win at Furman and Mercer's upset loss at Samford, 55-35, leaves the Catamounts as the lone unbeaten in league play.
 
Western Carolina (4-3, 3-0 SoCon) plays the backend of a two-game SoCon road swing next Saturday, Oct. 26, when the Catamounts travel to Macon, Ga., to face the previously unbeaten and nationally-ranked Mercer Bears. Kickoff from Five-Star Stadium is at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+ with audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 2:30 p.m.