Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback Taron Dickens collected his second weekly award from the Southern Conference on Monday afternoon as he was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week following last Saturday's league road victory at Wofford, a third-straight win for the Catamounts.
 
Dickens collected his second weekly award this season across his three games played, and is the first player in the league to earn multiple honors on the offensive side. On the preseason Walter Payton Award Watch List, he also collected his third seasonal recognition from Stats Perform FCS, earning his first FCS National Offensive Player of the Week award from Stats Perform following a pair of honorable mention nods the past two weeks.
 
The SoCon weekly awards are selected and announced by the conference office from nominations submitted by the communications staff at each member institution.
 
Dickens made national headlines by connecting on an NCAA record 46 consecutive passes as part of a career-best and school-record 53-for-56 (94.6%) effort to lead the Catamount offense to a combined total of 466 yards. He passed for 378 yards and tossed three touchdown passes to WR James Tyre in the winning effort, adding a game-high 44 rushing yards to account for 422 yards of total offense in Saturday's winning effort. He spread the ball around to 10 different recipients, with Tyre posting the fifth-most receptions in a single game with 13, as part of five Catamounts finishing with career highs in catches.
 
The 53 completions eclipsed the previous school benchmark of 46 set by Troy Mitchell at USF in 2014.
 
Dickens smashed the program, SoCon, and NCAA records for consecutive pass completions in a single game, connecting on 46 consecutive passes to start Saturday's road win against the Terriers. The Miami, Fla., product went 27-for-27 in the first half, going 10-for-10 in the first quarter and 17-for-17 in the second to sit two shy of the national record at intermission. He broke the previous NCAA record of 29 straight successful pass attempts held by Princeton's Quinn Epperly early in the third quarter. He carried an amazing 42-for-42 mark into the fourth quarter before adding four additional connections before his first incompletion on a near-miss at the goal line.
 
Dickens capped the day as he orchestrated a 16-play, 51-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter with freshman PK Marcus Trout splitting the uprights from 34 yards out for the go-ahead points. The offensive trigger-man posted an 8-for-10 passing effort and rushed three times for eight yards in moving the Catamounts into position to set up Trout's heroics in the 23-21 victory.
 
Including the final four completed passes at the end of the Campbell game on Sept.27, Dickens additionally set an NCAA seasonal record at 50 consecutive pass completions over the five quarters of play.
 
Western Carolina (3-3, 2-0 SoCon) hosts chromatic rival Furman  (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) this Saturday, Oct. 11, with both teams riding three-game winning streaks. Kickoff of WCU's lone October home date at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
 
Saturday's game has been dubbed "Heroes Day," honoring military personnel and all first responders. WCU will also 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).