Cullowhee, N.C. – Regular-season stakes remain high for Catamount football entering Saturday's mountain-rivalry matchup with East Tennessee State as No. 25 Western Carolina hosts the Buccaneers in the "Blue Ridge Border Battle," with the traveling trophy, "the Rock," again up for grabs.
 
Kickoff of the "Ingles Southern Conference Game of the Week" between the Catamounts and the Bucs is scheduled for Noon on Saturday, and will be broadcast regionally through Nexstar stations WYCW, TheCW across western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, as well as TheCW affiliate WFLI in Chattanooga, Tenn. The game will also be simulcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
 
Live audio from the Catamount Sports Network begins at 11 a.m. with the Pepsi Tailgate Show, with WCU Hall of Famer Gary Ayers, Daniel Hooker, and Jeff Bryson on Saturday's call. 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 and Jeff Bryson handling the broadcast. Four network affiliates on seven 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; WISE Sports Radio 1310 AM in Asheville; and 103.9 FM and 1250 AM WBRM BIGFOOT Country in Marion and the I-40 corridor.

Live stats are also available online through a link at CatamountSports.com, with timely in-game updates on Twitter/X using @Catamounts and @CatamountsFB.
 
Saturday is Senior Day, with 20 senior members of the WCU football team, as well as support and game day staff, and the spirit squads, including cheerleaders and the "Pride of the Mountains" Marching Band, to be honored throughout the day. WCU also enshrines its 36th class into its Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend with a special on-field recognition Saturday afternoon. The class is comprised of Alisha Bradshaw (women's track & field), Ashley Hovda Kress (women's golf), Todd Raleigh (baseball), and Ray "Slim" Davis Jr. (professional achievement, athletic training).
 
Tickets and game day parking passes for Saturday's game against ETSU can be purchased in advance online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Please be advised that many of the traditional parking lots surrounding the stadium have sold out in advance of Saturday's final regular-season home game.
 
Opening Kick:
Moving back into the national rankings a week ago, Western Carolina (6-4, 5-1 SoCon) saw its season-long six-game win streak snapped by Top 10 SoCon foe Mercer as a last-second field goal just missed on the would-be game-winning drive. The Catamounts held on to the tail end of the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media tabulation at No. 25, while sitting as the first team in the 'others receiving votes' status in the AFCA Coaches Poll, essentially No. 26 overall.
 
However, the Catamounts have struggled with the added weight of a number, having lost nine straight games dating back to 2023 as an NCAA FCS-ranked team. Ironically enough, WCU's last win as a nationally ranked team came in the 58-7 victory over ETSU in the last series meeting played in Cullowhee.
 
With Saturday's road jaunt to Cullowhee to face the nationally-ranked Catamounts, and a home date with The Citadel next week in Johnson City, ETSU (5-5, 3-3 SoCon) holds out hope for an above .500 seasonal finish despite many of the injury struggles under first-year head coach Will Healy. The veteran head coach guided his squad to its lone road victory (1-4) last weekend with a 38-14 road victory at Samford.
 
Western Carolina represents the fifth team this season – four at the NCAA FCS level and in-state FBS foe Tennessee – that were receiving votes or were ranked at the time of their meeting. Of the four FCS-ranked opponents, the Bucs played two – No. 25 West Georgia (Sept. 13) and No. 23 Mercer (Sept. 27) to four-point games, defeating common opponent Elon by 10 after receiving votes the week of the game.
 
Noting Western Carolina:
-Western Carolina enters the weekend very much alive for an at-large berth into the NCAA FCS postseason … the Catamounts have a shot to win eight games in the regular-season, matching the program best (not including playoffs) – WCU won eight games in the North State Conference championship year in 1949 and also in the 1984 season, though the Catamounts missed the NCAA I-AA playoffs … Wins in its final two games would give WCU an 8-4 record and mark an upward-trending record of 8-1 since the return of QB Taron Dickens;
 
-The Catamounts also have an outside chance at sharing the program's first-ever SoCon crown entering the penultimate game of the regular season … the formula is simple for the Purple & Gold – win games at home against ETSU and next  week on post in Lexington, Va., at VMI and claim a school-record 7-1 league record … WCU also will need help as Chattanooga visits the SoCon's automatic qualifier Mercer on Saturday in Macon for the Homecoming game for the Orange & Black;
 
-How's this for a Homecoming turnabout being fair play – WCU defeated UTC on its Homecoming in the Scenic City … Mercer survived its trip to Cullowhee last Saturday for WCU's Homecoming … and now, Mercer and Chattanooga meet on Homecoming weekend in Macon;
 
-A win on Saturday would give WCU three consecutive seven-win seasons for the first time in program history … WCU went 7-4 in 2023 and 7-5 a year ago, and a win Saturday would lock in a third seven-win tally;
 
-WCU ranks third nationally with an average of 487.2 yards of total offense per game, trailing Mercer (518.6 yds/gm) and Monmouth (494.6 yds/gm) … the Catamounts are sixth nationally with 50 offensive touchdowns … WCU LEADS the NCAA FCS in passing at 349.6 yds/gm, moving past Mercer (346.6 yds/gm) … the WCU single-season record 39 passing touchdowns LEAD the NCAA, six more than second-place Monmouth (33);
 
-Catamount QB Taron Dickens has thrown a school single-season record 33 passing touchdowns this year – doing so with three fewer games than the full allotment … Dickens is now just THREE passing TDs shy of tying the Southern Conference record of 36 passing scores in a season held by former Samford QBs Michael Hiers (2022) and Devlin Hodges (2016);
 
-In seven games, Dickens has amassed 2,752 passing yards, while completing 75.8% (210-of-277) passes and an NCAA-leading 33 passing scores ... Dickens has now eclipsed 350 yards in seven games in his career – and has passed for 400 or more yards a school-record five times;
 
-James Tyre caught his SoCon-leading 11th touchdown pass on Saturday as the redshirt sophomore has scoring receptions in seven of WCU's 10 games … Tyre is second in the program record book for receiving TDs in a season, one shy of the two-way tie for first between Karnorris Benson (12, 2013) and Eric Rasheed (12, 1983) … Tyre is one of just SIX Catamount wide receivers to reach double-digit TD receptions a combined seven times in a season … Tyre enters the week LEADING the NCAA FCS in receiving touchdowns;
 
-Through 10 games this season, James Tyre now has a SoCon-leading and team-best 59 receptions, tied with former Catamount David Patten (59, 1995) for 15th on WCU's single-season record books … Tyre also ranks third in the SoCon with a team-leading 692 receiving yards, just ahead of Malik Knight, who is fifth with 680 receiving yards;
 
About Saturday's Opponent – East Tennessee State:
-This season has been a year of "what ifs" for the Buccaneers … With a roster littered with NCAA FBS transfers, ETSU has wins over Murray State (0-10) and Elon (4-6) in nonconference play, with league tallies over last-place VMI (1-9, 0-6 SoCon), Wofford (4-6, 3-3 SoCon) and at Samford (1-9, 1-7 SoCon) – none over teams with overall winning records;
 
-ETSU has won back-to-back games this season, marking WCU's FIFTH-straight opponent that enters the game with the Catamounts riding consecutive wins – Furman had won three in a row (WCU, 52-7); The Citadel had back-to-back win snapped (WCU, 45-38); Chattanooga likewise saw a three-game streak ended (WCU, 35-28), and Mercer extended its seven-game win streak when WCU's late field goal missed wide right;
 
-The Bucs put NINE players on the preseason All-Southern Conference squad and were picked to finish fourth, right behind the Catamounts in the preseason voting;
 
-Transfer QB Jacolby Criswell is expected to start on Saturday after returning last week at Samford with a pair of TD passes and 261 yards through the air on 19 completions in his first game since Oct. 11;
 
-Tailback Devontae Houston, who transferred to ETSU ahead of last season, has emerged as one of the best running backs in the SoCon … He leads the league with 839 rushing yards (6.3 yards per carry) and has 10 scores on the ground and one through the air out  of the backfield … And speaking of the aerial attack, Ephraim Floyd leads the Bucs with 55 catches for 546 yards, while Jeremiah Harrison (31-501 yds) and Hakeem Meggett (10-2232 yds) have a team-best three receiving scores;
 
-ETSU will be without its leading tackler, LB Ty Anderson, through the opening two quarters on Saturday, serving the mandatory suspension after being ejected in the first half last week for targeting in the road win at Samford … Anderson has 65 total tackles (31 solo) and a team-best 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks;
 
Western Carolina vs. ETSU – All-time Series:
Longtime rivals WCU and ETSU meet for the 55th time in series history that dates back to 1932, despite the series lying dormant from 2003 through 2016 when ETSU dropped its football program … Western Carolina carries a slim 27-26-1 edge in the all-time head-to-head series into Saturday's Noon meeting in Cullowhee, with the last 10 series meetings split evenly and a combined SEVEN coming down to a one-possession game – twice going to overtime … the Buccaneers halted WCU's two-game series win streak last year in Johnson City with a 24-21 triumph to reclaim "the Rock" … and speaking of the traveling trophy, "the Rock" is up for grabs for the eighth time in series history with the Bucs leading the series, 4-3.
 
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts conclude the regular season next Saturday with a second "Ingles SoCon Game of the Week" on Nexstar and ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with a road trip to Lexington, Va., to face the VMI Keydets. Kickoff from Foster Stadium is scheduled for Noon.
 
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