Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina football closes the regular season on Saturday with the long road trip to Lexington, Va., to face the VMI Keydets on post at Foster Stadium. And though several of the storylines that had been brewing during November have been set aside, this Catamount football team continues to eye history as it enters the final scheduled game of the year.
 
Western Carolina is vying for a seventh seasonal victory and sixth Southern Conference win, with a second-straight, second-place finish in the conference standings within its reach.
 
Kickoff of the "Ingles Southern Conference Game of the Week" between the Catamounts and Keydets 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.
 
More Storylines in Saturday's Regular Season Finale:
Catamount football had never won more than five league games in a single season before the 2024 squad, which won a program-best six, a mark within reach of the 2025 team (5-2). The seven-win total from a year ago marked the 16th time as a football program – and just the ninth time at the NCAA Division I level – that WCU had won seven or more games in a calendar season.
 
WCU has recorded back-to-back seven-plus win seasons four times, dating back to 1948, three at the D-I level, but has never had three-straight seasons end with seven or more victories, a feat that can be accomplished Saturday.
 
Western Carolina also looks to finish in sole possession of second place in the Southern Conference standings for a second consecutive year, all while keeping the slimmest glimmer of hope alive for a potential postseason berth for the SoCon's runner-up.
 
Noting Western Carolina:

• Western Carolina looks to shake off back-to-back losses that saw the team finish just 2-4 at home this season … Unranked after the defeat, the Catamounts suffered their 10th straight loss while carrying a number next to its moniker, falling in 10 consecutive games as an NCAA FCS nationally-ranked team;
• Western Carolina boasts the nation's third-best total offense entering the week, just shy of the 500-yard plateau at 491.0 yards per game with the second-most total yards of offense this year with 5,401 total yards … It's the fifth-straight season under head coach Kerwin Bell that WCU has eclipsed the 5K mark in offense, and ninth time in program history … This year's current tally of 5,401 ranks THIRD, just 264 yards shy of last year's benchmark;
• The Catamounts look to LEAD the NCAA FCS in passing yardage for a second straight season, entering the regular-season finale with 3,922  yards, just 107 yards shy of the school-record 4,029 amassed last fall … WCU is averaging an NCAA FCS-best 356.5 passing yards per game, just ahead of Mercer, which plays its FBS game on Saturday at Auburn … the Catamounts have thrown for over 3,000 yards in five-straight seasons under Kerwin Bell – and just six times in program history, adding in 1983;
• WCU's program-record 41 passing TDs also leads the NCAA FCS, two more than second-place Monmouth (39) … the Catamounts have obliterated their previous school record of 33 passing scores set in 2023;

 
Catamount Individual Game Notes:

• With 3,178 passing yards in eight games in 2025, Dickens is WCU's single-season passing yardage leader, eclipsing the previous school benchmark held by Jeff Gilbert (2,993 yards, 1983).
• Dickens has already broken WCU's single-season passing touchdown record with an NCAA-leading 35 aerial scores on the season, breaking the previous school benchmark held by Cole Gonzales with 28 TD passes in 2023 … Dickens is now just ONE passing TD 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);
• Despite being held out of the endzone last Saturday against ETSU, WR James Tyre ranks tied for fourth in the NCAA with 11 receiving touchdowns … He remains one shy of WCU's single-season record 12 held by Karnorris Benson (12, 2013) and Eric Rasheed (12, 1983) … Tyre is already tied for 21st in program history for career receiving TDs;

 
About Saturday's Opponent – the VMI Keydets:
VMI (1-10, 0-7 SoCon) enters Saturday's regular-season finale and its Senior Day eyeing a second-straight series win over Western Carolina at home. The Keydets have dropped nine-straight games since their lone win over a non-D-I opponent, Ferrum, back on Sept. 6.
 
Along the way, though, VMI has one-possession losses at Bucknell (L, 35-28), with the game-winning TD scored by the home squad inside the game's final two minutes. At home, VMI suffered close losses to Chattanooga (L, 21-14) and Samford (L, 24-22). Despite falling 35-24, VMI led archrival military rival The Citadel 24-7 early in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs barked back. Additionally, VMI trailed Furman by just one score at halftime and led Wofford late into the second quarter.
 
Offensively, VMI ranks sixth in the SoCon with 210.5 passing yards per game, though it is last in rushing at 82.5 yards per game, to sit eighth of nine teams in total offense (293.1 yds/gm). The Keydets surrender an average of 36.6 points per game while scoring 16.8 per contest.
 
In nine games, QB Collin Shannon has thrown for 1,984 yards and 13 touchdowns against just five interceptions. His top receiver is Owen Sweeney with 44 catches for 723 yards, fourth in the SoCon, with the second-most receiving scores with eight. Noah Grievous has a team-best 49 receptions for 670 yards and three scores.
 
Defensively, Stephen Dean III is the only SoCon player to crest the 100-tackle plateau ahead of the finale, posting a league-best 102 hits with 52 solo stops and eight tackles for loss.
 
Western Carolina vs. VMI – Series History:
The Catamounts and Keydets meet for the 31st time on the football gridiron on Saturday, with WCU entering the matchup boasting a 26-5 all-time series record. The Catamounts have won 11 of the previous 15 series meetings held in Lexington, Va.
 
Despite the lopsided edge in the series history, VMI has held its own recently, winning two of the last five series meetings. The Keydets scored their first-ever victory in Cullowhee during their 2020 SoCon Championship year in the COVID-altered spring season, snapping WCU's 17-game series winning streak. VMI then ultimately knocked the Catamounts out of the playoff picture two seasons ago, in the most recent meeting in Lexington, with a 27-24 win in 2023.
 
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