Cullowhee, N.C. – On the heels of one of the best passing performances in the history of NCAA college football, Western Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback
Taron Dickens was named the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Dickens tossed three touchdown passes as part of guiding the Catamounts to their third consecutive seasonal victory.
The national offensive honor is the first for Dickens, who received an honorable mention in both of his first two seasonal performances this season in wins against Samford and at Campbell. He also collected the FCS National Freshman of the Week honor from Stats Perform a season ago following his first collegiate start against Chattanooga.
Dickens had both a career and record-setting day at Wofford on Saturday, connecting on his first 46 pass attempts to establish an all-time NCAA record for consecutive pass completions in a game at all levels of competition – NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), NCAA Division II, and NCAA Division III. He finished 53-of-56 for 378 yards and three touchdowns, each ending in the hands of redshirt sophomore WR
James Tyre. The duo connected on TD strikes of two, five, and four yards for redzone scores.
After hitting the halftime locker room at 27-for-27, Dickens tied the NCAA FCS record previously held by Quinn Epperly of Princeton (29 consecutive, 2013) and broke the SoCon record of 28 by Richie Williams of Appalachian State (28 consecutive, 2004) with his first two offerings of the third quarter to TE
Brayden Blackmon and RB
Patrick Boyd Jr. His NCAA record-breaking completion – his 30th of the day – came on the sixth play of WCU's first, third-quarter drive on a hook-up with Blackmon, who finished the day with a career-best seven receptions.
The amazing streak carried through Saturday's third quarter, with Dickens' bid for perfection sitting at 42-of-42 entering the fourth.
Four additional completions to WR
Painter Richards-Baker, two to TE
Josiah Thomas, and another to Tyre put him at 46-for-46 with the Catamounts driving. Dickens' first incompletion came at the goal line while trying to float a pass over Terriers defender Alijah Williams to Blackmon, though Williams denied the score and halted the inconceivable and incredible run.
A product of Miami, Fla., Dickens completed a WCU school-record 53 passes in the win, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 46 set by Troy Mitchell at USF back in 2014. Dickens added a team-best 44 rushing yards to post 422 yards of total offense as Western Carolina amassed 466 yards in the road victory, running its seasonal win streak to three.
Also, including the final four passes that he completed in polishing off the road victory at Campbell on Sept. 27, Dickens obliterated the NCAA record for most consecutive completions in a season with a total of 50 between the two outings.
As word spread across the nation of his efforts, Dickens received national recognition on Saturday night, receiving a helmet sticker on ESPN's College Football Final show, and was also featured, along with Navy WR Eli Heidenreich, in a segment on SportsCenter that likened their two efforts to "video game numbers."
Western Carolina (3-3, 2-0 SoCon) moved into a two-way tie for second place in the Southern Conference with Saturday's road win. The hottest ticket in the SoCon this week will be in #CatamountCountry as chromatic rival Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) comes to town, likewise riding a three-game win streak. WCU plays its lone October home date at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Saturday's game has been dubbed "Heroes Day," honoring military personnel and all first responders, a year removed from the devastation from Hurricane Helene. WCU will celebrate its long-standing relationship with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on EBCI Day as the best game day atmosphere in the SoCon springs back to life ahead of the "Battle for Purple Supremacy."
Fifth-year head coach
Kerwin Bell will be live on location at Catamount Jaxe (
114 Market Street) in Cullowhee on Monday (Oct. 6) for "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance. The
Souly Flavor Food Trailer will be on location for food purchases, with drinks in the social house at Catamount Jaxe. "Catamount Football Weekly" airs at 6 p.m. on the
Catamount Athletics YouTube Channel and
official Facebook page.
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).
