Cullowhee, N.C. – Playing in just his sixth career game and making his first collegiate start, Western Carolina redshirt freshman quarterback
Taron Dickens amassed 480 yards of offense and guided the Catamounts to the come-from-behind upset victory over No. 25/18 Chattanooga Mocs last Saturday on Homecoming at E.J. Whitmire Stadium Bob Waters Field.
For his efforts, Dickens today was
named the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, while also garnering
the Stats Perform FCS National Freshman of the Week honors. Both awards are the first in his career. Monday also marked the second time in the last three weeks that a Catamount quarterback earned both a national and conference weekly award as
Cole Gonzales was the SoCon and National Offensive Player of the Week after the Furman win.
Making his first career start in place of Gonzales, Dickens completed 34 of 48 pass attempts for 431 yards and five touchdowns – all career highs – in the 38-34 win over the Mocs, keeping WCU in the race for the Southern Conference's regular-season crown and a berth in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. His 431 passing yards are the fifth-most by a QB in the NCAA FCS this fall, trailing Gonzales who threw for a national-leading 620 yards against Furman. Dickens also led the Catamounts with 41 yards on the ground and added an eight-yard reception on a pass attempt that was batted back to him at the line of scrimmage to account for his 480 total yards.
A product of Miami, Fla., Dickens tossed touchdown passes of 15, 32, 3, 11 and eight yards in Saturday's win, three of which went to
De'Andre Tamarez including the eventual game-winning toss from eight yards out. In addition to Tamarez, the scoring passes went to true freshman wide receiver
Isaiah Johnson and WR
AJ Colombo. He also tossed a career-long 44-yard pass to
Malik Knight who fought through contact with the defender to make the catch.
WCU's weekly football coaches show, "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance LIVE on location at Rodgers Brothers & Speedy's Pizza in Cullowhee, moves to Tuesday (Nov. 5) night at 7 p.m. Fans can also
tune-in to the weekly show through the Catamount Athletics official Facebook page (FB.com/catamountsports).
Ranked 22nd in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, Western Carolina (5-4, 4-1 SoCon) returns to the road this Saturday, Nov. 9, as the Catamounts visit mountain rival East Tennessee State (5-4, 3-2 SoCon) in the annual gridiron grudge match, the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" with the traveling trophy "the Rock" back on the line. Winners of two straight in the series – and three of the last five – WCU now leads the all-time series with the Buccaneers, 27-25-1 with a 12-14-1 series mark in Johnson City. Kickoff at Greene Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn., is scheduled for Noon.
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).
