Cullowhee, N.C. – Two of the final three unbeaten football teams in the Southern Conference square off in a chromatic showdown on Saturday afternoon as Western Carolina returns home to host the Furman Paladins with both teams riding three-game seasonal winning streaks.
 
Kickoff from the friendly confines of E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with Pete Yanity and Jay Sonnhalter in the booth.
 
Fans across western North Carolina can listen to the game on the Catamount Sports Network with coverage beginning with the Pepsi Tailgate Show at 1:30 p.m., with WCU Hall of Famer Gary Ayers, Jeff Bryson, and Daniel Hooker on the call. Three network affiliates on five frequencies across the mountains are set to carry the CSN broadcast, including longtime affiliates 105.7 FM and 540 AM WRGC in Sylva, 104.9 FM and 1050 AM WFSC in Franklin, and WISE Sports Radio 1310 AM in Asheville.
 
Live stat links and online audio from CSN are available through CatamountSports.com, with in-game updates provided on Twitter / X, using the handles @Catamounts and @CatamountsFB.
 
Opening Kick:
Something's got to give on Saturday as the Catamounts and Paladins both enter the weekend riding three-game winning streaks. WCU has victories over Samford, Campbell, and Wofford, while Furman rebounded from a loss to Presbyterian with a trio of W's against the same Camels and Bulldogs before extending the streak last Saturday with a come-from-behind victory over ETSU. They both trail preseason favorite Mercer (4-0), which steps out of league play visiting Princeton.
 
Saturday marks Western Carolina's lone home date in October as its next two games will be played on the road, at The Citadel (Oct. 18) and the opening of November at Chattanooga (Nov. 1), with the bye week sandwiched in between. WCU looks to even its home record this season at 2-2, while the Paladins seek to stay undefeated away from the Upstate, 2-0 on the road to date.
 
The SoCon's reigning Offensive Player of the Week – WCU quarterback Taron Dickens – faces off against the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Week in Furman's Jordan Miller on Saturday.
 
Dickens garnered national attention last week after setting an NCAA record with 46 consecutive pass completions in the road win at Wofford, throwing for 378 yards and three touchdowns, each to WR James Tyre, who is tied for the SoCon lead with six receiving scores and has a team-best 428 receiving yards.
 
Miller came up with a clutch pass break-up and a 95-yard pick-six on the game's final play that secured Furman's win over ETSU, transforming a three-point lead into a nine-point victory as the Paladins rallied from a 22-7 deficit.
 
About Saturday's Opponent – the Furman Paladins:
Furman comes to Cullowhee third in the SoCon in scoring offense (30.2 ppg) and fourth in total offense (373.6 yds/gm), which includes 277.2 passing yards per game. Defensively, the Paladins are ranked second in the conference, limiting opponents to 387.2 yards per game, and rank third in the SoCon, allowing just 23.8 points per outing. Furman has shown a propensity for making comebacks this season, doing so for three of its four victories. The Paladins trailed William & Mary late in the fourth quarter before scoring the game's final nine points. Campbell pulled in front 24-18 before Furman recorded the game's final 10 points. Most recently, the Paladins trailed ETSU 22-7 before scoring 24 unanswered points to post their fifth-largest comeback since 1973.
 
Furman landed five players on the SoCon Coaches Preseason All-SoCon team and was picked sixth in the preseason SoCon Coaches Poll.
 
Western Carolina vs. Furman – All-Time Series:
Longtime chromatic rivals Western Carolina and Furman meet for the 53rd time on the football gridiron, with the Catamounts trailing in the all-time series, 14-36-2, with Furman winning 17 of the 25 all-time meetings in Cullowhee (7-17-1). The last four series meetings have been split evenly, 2-2, with the Catamounts scoring a dominant road victory over the Paladins last season, 52-20, in Greenville, S.C.
 
Three of those meetings within the last four have been high-scoring affairs. WCU edged the Paladins 43-42 back in 2021 with 85 combined points scored. Furman claimed the 2022 meeting, holding off a furious fourth-quarter Catamount rally to win 47-40, as the two combined for a series-high 87 points scored. Last year, WCU scored its series-best 52 points in the 52-20 victory (72 combined points).
 
Inside the Numbers:
Two of the top-scoring teams in the Southern Conference meet on Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee. The Catamounts lead the SoCon with 33.5 points per game, 18th in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), while Furman is third at 30.2 points per contest, 33rd in the nation.
 
Western Carolina boasts a SoCon-leading offense, ranked 10th nationally, averaging 480.0 yards per game, which includes an average of 355.2 passing yards per game that ranks second nationally. The Catamounts have amassed 1,763 yards of offense the past three weeks – 733 against Samford, 564 at Campbell, and 466 at Wofford – to average 587.7 yards per game in their three-game win streak. WCU's 733 yards of total offense against Samford were the third-highest single-game output by a Catamount offense in school history, only behind last year's 801 yards at Furman and 766 yards against Presbyterian in 2022.
 
What the Dickens:
QB Taron Dickens has thrown for 1,387 yards this season with 13 touchdowns in just three games played. By comparison, Furman enters Saturday's game with 1,386 total passing yards through five games. Dickens' 1,387 passing yards would rank him tied for 10th in the nation, while his 13 touchdown passes would have him tied for seventh nationally.
 
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts hit the road next week, traveling down I-26 to Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel Bulldogs in SoCon action.
 
Broadcast Options for Saturday vs. Furman:
 
Game 7: Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025  •  2:30 p.m.
Location: Cullowhee, N.C. (E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field – 13,970) 
Records: Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) at Western Carolina (3-3, 2-0 SoCon) 
 
Live Stats Link
  
BROADCAST INFORMATION: 
Video Stream: ESPN+ (subscription required) – Watch ESPN (link)
PxP: Pete Yanity; Analyst: Jay Sonnhalter 

Listen LIVE: 
Radio: Catamount Sports Network 
PxP: Gary Ayers; Analyst: Daniel Hooker; Producer: Jeff Bryson 
  
CSN Affiliates: 
Sylva – 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC 
Franklin – 104.9 FM / 1050 AM WFSC 
Asheville – 1310 AM WISE Sports Radio

Online: CatamountSports.com  - Click HERE to Listen to CSN
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports; FB.com/catamountsportsnetwork) and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB).