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RB Branson Adams looking to escape a pair of Beard defender in Saturday's meeting in Macon, Ga.
Mark Haskett

Football Daniel Hooker, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations

Postgame Notes - at No. 17/14 Mercer

Postgame Notes
#17/14 Mercer 44, RV/24 Western Carolina 34
Five Star Stadium
Macon, Ga. | Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
Att: 7,389
 
With the Loss:
  • Western Carolina suffered its ninth-straight defeat at the hands of the Mercer Bears in the head-to-head series including a fifth-straight loss to the Bears on the road in Macon, Ga.;
  • Halted WCU's three-game seasonal winning streak to relegate the Catamounts back to .500 overall on the year;
  • Dropped Western Carolina from being the last remaining unbeaten team in Southern Conference play, joining three others with one defeat in league action;
 Post-Game Notes:
  • Western Carolina outscored Mercer 14-0 in the first quarter … To date this season, the Catamounts have outscored the opposition a commanding 65-to-14 in the opening frame this season … WCU has been outscored by 48 points, however, between the second and third quarters;
  • Saturday's game was WCU's first without any turnovers on either side – no give aways and no takeaways … It was the first game for the Catamounts with no turnovers since 2022 in a 77-21 win over Presbyterian in Cullowhee;
  • WCU's offense ran a season-high 85 plays at Mercer giving the Catamounts back-to-back games with 80+ after running 83 in the road win at Furman;
  • The Catamounts have committed a season-high 11 penalties three times this season – at Montana (11-for-100 yds), 11 at Furman (11-for-96 yds), and 11 at Mercer (11-for-104 yds);
  • Catamount quarterback Cole Gonzales threw for 395 yards, his sixth 300+ yard passing game and the second-most in his career – it would have been a career-best performance if not for the career record 620 passing yards he compiled in the road win at Furman (10/19/24) … Gonzales finished with 448 yards of total offense, adding 53 rushing yards and a touchdown at Mercer;
  • With two passing touchdowns, QB Cole Gonzales leap-frogged QB Troy Mitchell who had 50 passing TDs from 2012-15 into second-place in WCU's career history with his 51st passing TD … Gonzales now only trails all-time leader QB Tyrie Adams who had 64 career touchdown passes from 2016-19 … Gonzales is 13 passing TDs shy of the all-time record;
  • Gonzales also climbed on WCU's career total offense, moving into third with 7,244 yards in his career to by-pass Lonnie Galloway who amassed 6,832 from 1990-93 … Galloway held the record until it was first broken by Troy Mitchell and later by Tyrie Adams with Gonzales joining the two;
  • RB Branson Adams turned in his fourth 80+ yard rushing performance of the season with 89 yards, his second-best of the season behind the 91-yard outing at Montana;
  • WR Zion Booker saw his string of 100-yard receiving games end at two – 102 against The Citadel and 103 at Furman before finishing with 78 yards at Mercer … Booker ran his consecutive TD string to three games in a row;
  • RB Jalynn Williams continued his strong return to the WCU lineup, scoring his seventh rushing touchdown of the year to give him nine career rushing scores between 2022 and 2024 for the Catamounts … Williams has seven TDs among his 19 rushes this season – or a score every 2.7 touches;
  • DE Micah Nelson matched his career-high with 1.5 tackles for loss at Mercer … S Bo Simpson-Nealy matched his career-high with a tackle for loss – while recording his first career sack for an 11-yard loss;
  • For a second straight game, senior kicker Paxton Robertson matched his career-high with by scoring a career-high tying 10 points … Robertson has connected on field goals in four-straight games, twice kicking two in a single game – against Wofford (10/5) and at Mercer (10/26) … Robertson connected on a season-long 44-yard field goal – his best since nailing a career-long 52-yarder at Eastern Kentucky back in 2020.
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Players Mentioned

Branson Adams

#2 Branson Adams

RB
5' 9"
Junior
Micah Nelson

#2 Micah Nelson

DE
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Paxton Robertson

#46 Paxton Robertson

K
6' 0"
Senior
Bo Simpson-Nealy

#21 Bo Simpson-Nealy

DB
5' 10"
Redshirt Freshman
Zion Booker

#1 Zion Booker

WR
5' 10"
Sophomore
Cole Gonzales

#9 Cole Gonzales

QB
6' 0"
Junior
Jalynn Williams

#5 Jalynn Williams

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Branson Adams

#2 Branson Adams

5' 9"
Junior
RB
Micah Nelson

#2 Micah Nelson

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
DE
Paxton Robertson

#46 Paxton Robertson

6' 0"
Senior
K
Bo Simpson-Nealy

#21 Bo Simpson-Nealy

5' 10"
Redshirt Freshman
DB
Zion Booker

#1 Zion Booker

5' 10"
Sophomore
WR
Cole Gonzales

#9 Cole Gonzales

6' 0"
Junior
QB
Jalynn Williams

#5 Jalynn Williams

5' 10"
Redshirt Senior
RB