Cullowhee, N.C. – Following Saturday's epic Southern Conference first-place showdown against Mercer on Homecoming Saturday, Western Carolina football remains among the national rankings in one poll, while slipping two spots just outside the Top 25 in the other. The Catamounts slipped one spot into 25th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, while sliding two positions into the 'others receiving votes' portion of the AFCA Coaches Poll, effectively No. 26 nationally.
WCU and Mercer remain the lone two teams receiving votes from the Southern Conference, with the Bears climbing to No. 8 in both polls this week. Regular-season opponent Gardner-Webb also remains among those receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll, four spots in arrears of the Catamounts, who are the first team receiving votes in the coach tabulation.
Additionally, the Catamounts slipped one spot into No. 17 in the
FCS Nation Radio Top 25, with Mercer moving to No. 7 this week.
Also on Monday, Western Carolina quarterback
Taron Dickens was listed as an honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week. It is the fourth weekly recognition for the Walter Payton Award candidate from the preeminent FCS media outlet, three coming as honorable mentions, and one National Offensive Player of the Week nod back on Oct. 6.
Dickens matched the SoCon single-game record with a program-best and Whitmire Stadium record seven touchdown passes to five different players against Mercer last Saturday, marking the most TD passes in a game in the NCAA FCS this year – and tying for the most at all levels of NCAA football in 2025. It's just the second time in SoCon history that a player has tossed for seven scores, matching Furman's Chris Forcier of Furman, who had seven TD passes against Presbyterian (Sept. 24, 2011), while Dickens' seven were the most in a game involving two SoCon schools. Three of his seven TD passes came in the fourth quarter as WCU rallied from a pair of 12-point deficits in the final frame of the nationally-ranked showdown.
All told, Dickens amassed 560 yards of total offense with 551 passing yards on 33-of-49 passing, his school-record fifth career game with at least 400 passing yards, and his third 400+ yard and second 500+ yard performance this season. Dickens owns two of the four 500-yard passing games in the FCS this year.
Overall, Dickens set the WCU single-season passing TD record with an NCAA FCS-leading 33 TDs over his seven games played, eclipsing the benchmark set by
Cole Gonzales with 28 in 2023. Dickens is now just three touchdown passes shy of the SoCon seasonal benchmark, held by former Samford QBs Michael Hiers (2022) and Devlin Hodges (2016). Dickens has amassed 2,752 passing yards, while completing 75.8% (210-of-277) passes. He ranks fourth in WCU's single-season record books and is just 51 yards shy of third-place
Cole Gonzales, who threw for 2,803 yards in 2023 – and just 241 yards shy of the school single-season record held by Jeff Gilbert (2,993 yards in 1983).
Over 16 career games, Dickens now has 4,307 career passing yards, advancing into 11th in WCU's all-time career record books, while his 46 career passing touchdowns are already the FOURTH most in program history. Dickens is averaging 2.9 passing TDs per game (46 TDs in 16 career games);
As a team, the Catamounts have already thrown for 3,496 yards, marking the fifth-straight season of surpassing the 3K mark through the air. WCU is just 504 yards shy of hitting the 4,000-yard passing mark for a second-straight season, and 533 yards short of matching the program's single-season record.
Western Carolina (6-4, 5-1 SoCon) remains alive for a chance at sharing its first-ever Southern Conference football championship. The Catamounts must win out against mountain-rival ETSU (5-5, 3-3 SoCon) in Saturday's final home game of the regular season and at VMI (1-9, 0-6 SoCon) on Nov. 22 to finish with a league record of 6-1. WCU also needs third-place Chattanooga (5-5, 4-2 SoCon) to score a victory over the conference's automatic qualifier, eighth-ranked Mercer (8-1, 7-0 SoCon), on Saturday in Macon, Ga. The two have split their last four series meetings, UTC winning in Macon in 2023 and the Bears downing the Mocs in Chattanooga last season, 10-3.
Western Carolina and ETSU meet on Saturday (Nov. 15), as the Catamounts host mountain-rival East Tennessee State in the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field, with the traveling trophy, "the Rock" again up for grabs. Kickoff of the annual Senior Day and Hall of Fame Day game is scheduled for Noon as the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week on Nexstar and ESPN+ (
paid subscription required). Saturday's game will also air on the Catamount Sports Network with an 11 a.m. air time.
On the heels of the third-largest crowd in Whitmire Stadium history, single-game tickets and gameday parking for Saturday's rivalry game against ETSU are on sale now at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets or by phone by calling (828) 227-2401.
Catamount head coach Kerwin Bell will be live on location at Catamount Jaxe (114 Market Street) in Cullowhee, just across NC Hwy 107 from the Ramsey Center, on Monday (Nov. 10) for "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance. "Catamount Football Weekly" airs at 6 p.m. on the Catamount Athletics YouTube Channel and official Facebook page. The Chili Chomper is scheduled to be on site for Monday night's show!
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).
