Lexington, Va. – Taron Dickens accounted for four touchdowns with three passing scores to break the Southern Conference's single-season passing touchdown record in guiding Western Carolina to a 48-6 victory over VMI on Saturday afternoon at Foster Stadium in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Dickens tossed a 12-yard score to Malik Knight early in the second quarter to tie the league record with his 36th passing score of the season. The Miami, Fla., broke the record with a one-yard completion to Michael Rossin to close the second quarter, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 36 seasonal TD passes held by former Samford quarterbacks Michael Hiers (2022) and Devlin Hodges (2016).
Dickens' third aerial score came on a 22-yard connection with TE Brayden Blackmon late in the third quarter to usurp his own record, finishing the year with 38 passing touchdowns through nine seasonal games.
Dickens finished 28-of-40 passing for 330 yards before exiting midway through the fourth quarter. He added 32 rushing yards and his first score on the ground this season with a three-yard fourth-quarter jaunt. Blackmon caught a game-high six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown, with Knight posting 59 yards on four catches, including a score, with Rossin finishing with 16 yards on three receptions with a TD. James Tyre and Jaylin Terzado both had three catches, Tyre finishing with a game-best 91 all-purpose yards, including 69 receiving yards and a 22-yard punt return. Terzado finished with 42 receiving yards.
WCU scored a trio of rushing scores in the winning effort, bookending the season with three rushing TD outings. Markel Townsend led the way with 37 yards on six rushes with a score. Branson Adams rushed a team-best nine times for 35 yards and a TD to join Dickens, posting 59 total yards with 24 receiving yards.
The Catamount offense posted its third-straight game of 500 or more yards of total offense, finishing with 519 yards on 81 plays with 346 passing yards and 173 on the ground. It was WCU's 10th game with 400 or more yards of offense, and the seventh game with 500 or more yards.
Making his WCU debut, Bryan McCollum scored 12 points for the Catamounts, finishing 6-for-6 on PATs and hitting both field goal attempts of 24 and 29 yards.
VMI's Nana Utsey rushed for a career-best 137 yards on 29 attempts in his first career start, adding 80 yards on 6-of-20 passing with an interception. Noah Grievous caught three passes for 58 yards to lead the Keydets. Jack Joyce scored all six of VMI's points, finishing 2-for-3 with successful tries from 31 and 28 yards.
McCollum split the uprights from 24 yards out on his first career field goal attempt after WCU's 15-play game-opening drive stalled. The 3-0 margin stood until the final two minutes of the first quarter as Townsend plunged in from a yard away for the 10-0 margin. Knight then capped a four-play, 43-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring reception from Dickens as the Catamounts jumped out to the 17-0 lead.
VMI got on the board with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter with the first of two Joyce field goals, with Rossin hauling in a one-yard scoring strike from Dickens to close the first half as the Catamounts carried a 24-3 lead into the halftime locker room.
McCollum recorded the first points of the second half on a 29-yard field goal for a 27-3 Catamount edge at the 11:43 mark of the third quarter, before the Joyce put the Keydets on the board with a 28-yard kick.
Western Carolina closed the game with three-straight touchdowns with Blackmon rumbling in from 22 yards away for a 34-6 lead, before Dickens and Adams scored on a pair of three-yard runs to provide the final tally, 48-6.
Jordan Thompson led the Catamount defense with 11 total tackles, including five solo stops, while Hayward McQueen Jr. had six tackles. Bo Simpson-Nealy and Ryan McKinnis posted five tackles apiece, with McKinnis posting one of WCU's eight tackles for loss. Four Catamount sacks were spread between four players including Hasaan Sykes, DB Marseille Taylor, DL Jackson Banks, and DL Caleb Bradford.
