Questionable after Thursday's practice, TE Isaac McLellan (44) played on Saturday where he rumbled 22 yards on a fourth-down fake punt conversion to set up a scoring drive in Saturday's win at The Citadel.

Mark Haskett

Football 10/18/2025 10:00:00 PM Daniel Hooker, Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations

Postgame Notes - at The Citadel (10/18/25)

Postgame Notes
Western Carolina 45, The Citadel 38
Johnson Hagood Stadium / Sansom Field
Charleston, S.C. | Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025
Att: 9,151

With the Win:

Western Carolina earned a fifth straight seasonal victory, matching the longest winning streak under Kerwin Bell - the Catamounts have wins over Samford, at Campbell, at Wofford, vs. Furman, and at The Citadel … WCU also won five consecutive games back in 2023, defeating No. 7/8 Samford, at Eastern Kentucky, vs. Charleston Southern, at The Citadel, and at No. 20/24 Chattanooga;
The Catamounts earned a third-straight victory over The Citadel in the all-time head-to-head series… It's also the fifth win in the last six meetings for WCU and the third straight road win in Charleston over the Cadets;
Western Carolina has opened Southern Conference play at 4-0 for the third-straight season, matching its best start to league play under head coach Kerwin Bell;
Catamount head football coach Kerwin Bell improved to 29-24 all-time as the head coach at Western Carolina and 122-66 all-time.

Post-Game Notes:

Western Carolina amassed over 500 yards of total offense for the fourth time this season – each coming in four of the past five games … WCU finished with 515 yards, including 369 yards passing and 146 yards rushing … the Catamounts have scored 30 or more points in six of their eight seasonal games this season, and have 40 or more in five of those six outings;
Western Carolina ranks SEVENTH nationally in total offense, 489.6 yards per game, that includes ranking SECOND in the country in passing offense at 340.0 yards per game with an NCAA FCS-best 2,720 passing yards over eight seasonal games … the Catamounts rank tied for 12th nationally in scoring offense, averaging a SoCon-best 37.3 points per game, and are second in the nation with 28 passing touchdowns as a team;
Redshirt sophomore Taron Dickens put together another strong stat line as he completed 28-of-33 passes (84.8%) for 369 yards and five touchdown passes in the victory … Dickens has thrown five or more TD passes three times – five at The Citadel (2025) and against Chattanooga (2024), with a career-best six TD passes against Samford (2025) earlier this season;
In just five games, Dickens has amassed 1,976 passing yards, while completing 80% (159-of-199) passes and 22 passing scores, improving to 8-1 as a starting QB for the Catamounts ... Dickens has now eclipsed 350 yards in six games in his career with wins in all six of those games;
Though not officially on the national ranking charts based on games played, Dickens WOULD rank FOURTH nationally with 1,976 total passing yards this season, while his 395.2 passing yards per game average would LEAD the nation (2nd – Derek Robertson, Monmouth at 354.6 y ds/gm) … the 22 passing TDs by Dickens rank as the second-most in the NCAA FCS to date, though he is two games shy of the national leader (27 by Derek Robertson, Monmouth);
The 1,976 passing yards by Dickens rank him just outside WCU's single-season passing charts, just 70 yards shy of 20th-place Mike Pusey (2,046 yds in 1978) … His 22 seasonal passing scores rank him tied for second in WCU's single-season record books, matching Tyrie Adams (22, 2017), while leaving him just six passing scores shy of the program's single-season record held by Cole Gonzales (28, 2023);
Dickens now has 3,531 career passing yards, advancing into 14th in WCU's all-time career record books, by-passing Hal Mote (3,297 yards, 1970-72);
Saturday featured a pair of WCU teammates eclipsing 100 receiving yards in the same game, the first for WCU since Oct. 19, 2024, when Isaiah Johnson (117 yds), Zion Booker (103 yds), and Jai Boyd (102 yds) each eclipsed the century mark in the road win at Furman … Redshirt sophomore James Tyre finished with seven catches for a career-high 112 receiving yards with a score … It was the third 100-yard receiving game by Tyre this season .. He was joined by redshirt junior Malik Knight, who caught five passes for a career-best 103 yards – his first 100-yard receiving game – and a career-best two receiving touchdowns;
Through eight games this season, James Tyre now has a SoCon-leading and team-best 51 receptions, just five catches shy of 15th in WCU's single-season record books held by Terryon Robinson (56, 2014) … Tyre also ranks second in the SoCon with a team-leading 569 receiving yards … His seven receiving TDs this season rank him tied with seven others for 13th in WCU's single-season ledgers – just one shy of moving into a five-way tie for ninth in the school record book;
Tyre and his seven receiving TDs rank tied for fourth nationally, while his 569 receiving yards are 20th nationally, and his 6.38 receptions per game are eighth nationally;
Patrick Boyd Jr. caught four passes for a career-high 58 receiving yards in the road win at The Citadel;
Redshirt junior TE Isaac McLellan posted a career-long rush of 22 yards on a crucial fake punt on Saturday, rumbling for a first down that set up a scoring strike on the next offensive play from scrimmage;
WCU's leading rusher was redshirt sophomore Markel Townsend, who rushed a career-high 15 times for a career-best 90 yards and his third rushing score of the season and second in as many weeks … Townsend finished with 120 yards of total offense, adding 30 receiving yards to his 90 rushing yards;
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Jordan Thompson tallied a team-best 12 tackles to set a career-high for stops, finishing with six solo tackles and a tackle for loss in the win ... Redshirt junior Ken Moore Jr. joined Thompson with 10 tackles to set a career benchmark, including seven solo tackles … Samaurie Dukes was a third Catamount with double-digit tackles, finishing with 10;
Jordan Thompson ranks second in the Southern Conference with 65 total tackles over eight games played, adding seven tackles for loss with two sacks …
True freshman PK Marcus Trout scored nine points in Saturday's road win, hitting all six PATs and chipping in a 25-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Catamounts a seven-point lead at intermission … Stephen Brantley punted three times for an average of 45.67 yards per kick, including a long of 50 yards … He also kicked off seven times with six touchbacks.

Miscellaneous Notes:

Western Carolina's team captains for Saturday's game: senior LB #5 Hayward McQueen Jr.; senior DT #8 Jahleel Anderson; and fifth-year senior #8 Painter Richards-Baker.
Redshirt sophomore CB #9 Darian Anderson carried the United States flag during the pregame runout, and safety #16 Jhamari Pierre-Louis carried out the North Carolina flag, a tradition begun in the game following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024;
Western Carolina won the opening toss and elected to defer their choice to the second half as The Citadel received the opening kickoff;
Western Carolina wore its purple helmets over white jerseys and purple pants for the eight time under head coach Kerwin Bell … WCU improved to 3-5 in the white over purple combo, halting a four-game slide in the uniform combo.