Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina football makes just its second all-time trip to Buies Creek on Saturday as the 24th-ranked Catamounts visit in-state foe Campbell at 3:30 p.m. at Barker-Lane Stadium.
Both teams enter after scoring Week Zero nonconference victories, with WCU blacking out Eastern Kentucky in the second half for a 45-21 home-opening victory, while the Camels rolled into Johnson City, Tenn., and came away with a 49-37 win over Southern Conference foe East Tennessee State.
It's the second time in three meetings that Western Carolina enters the matchup with a number affixed beside its moniker, entering the week at No. 24 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and receiving votes in the coaches' poll. Campbell upset then No. 17 WCU, 24-16, despite the Catamounts taking an early 10-0 lead. The Camels, who play their home opener on Saturday, held the potent Catamount offense out of the end zone back in 2024.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on FloCollege (
paid subscription required) and on the FloSports Channel on Amazon Prime. Through a partnership with Gray Television and WRAL-TV, Saturday's game will also air over linear television in three eastern North Carolina markets, including Raleigh (WRAL 5.2), Greenville (WITN 7.2), and Wilmington (WECT 6.3) (
see below for additional information).
Fans across Western North Carolina can listen to Saturday's game on the
Catamount Sports Network , with coverage beginning with the Pepsi Tailgate Show at 2:30 p.m., as WCU Hall of Famer Gary Ayers, Jeff Bryson, and Daniel Hooker are on the call. Five network affiliates across the mountains are set to carry the CSN broadcasts this season, including longtime affiliates 105.7 FM and 540 AM WRGC in Sylva; 104.9 FM and 1050 AM in Franklin; WISE Sports Radio 1310 AM in Asheville; and 103.9 FM WBRM BIGFOOT Country in Marion and the I-40 corridor.
Broadcast Options for Saturday at Campbell:
Game 2: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2025 • 3:30 p.m.
Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium – 5,500)
Records: RV/#24 Western Carolina (1-0) at Campbell (1-0)
Campbell Live Stats Link
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Video Stream: FloCollege (
subscription required) –
CLICK HERE
PxP: Chris Hemeyer; Analyst: Milton Brown
Linear Television Options:
Raleigh, NC
Over-the-air: WRAL 5.2
Spectrum Cable: 1255
Greenville, NC
Over-the-air: WITN 7.2 MyNetworkTV
Spectrum Cable: Channel 1215
Optimum Cable: Channel 138
Mediacom: Channel 5
Wilmington, NC
Over-the-air: WECT 6.3
Spectrum Cable: Channel 1246
Listen LIVE:
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
PxP: Gary Ayers; Analyst: Daniel Hooker; Producer: Jeff Bryson
CSN Affiliates:
Sylva – 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC
Franklin – 104.9 FM / 1050 AM WFSC
Asheville – 1310 AM WISE Sports Radio
Marion – 103.9 FM WBRM
Online:
CatamountSports.com |
Click HERE to Listen to CSN
Last Time We Met – Western Carolina 42, Campbell 35
Former quarterback
Taron Dickens threw for 427 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Catamount offense, but a toss by a former prep QB secured the road win. Wide receiver
James Tyre hit transfer
Painter Richards-Baker on a 61-yard score that handed Western Carolina a two-score lead with under five minutes to play as the Catamounts fended off a late Campbell rally for the 42-35 win at Barker-Lane Stadium.
Tyre finished with 148 all-purpose yards, including 101 receiving yards on six catches, but it was his first career passing TD that helped him earn the team game MVP honor. Dickens was 26-of-40 for 427 yards with scoring passes. Among WCU's returners in 2026,
Marcus Striggles caught a TD pass, and
Michael Rossin caught three passes for 88 yards in the win.
For Campbell, QB Kamden Sixkiller finished 18-of-45 for 205 yards with a touchdown and an interception, adding a team-best 55 rushing yards with two scores.
WCU earned its first win in the head-to-head series with Campbell – a series that dates back to the 1930s, but saw just the second meeting of the modern era last year. It was WCU's first win in Buies Creek.
Western Carolina vs. Campbell – The Series:
Officially, the Catamounts and Camels meet for the fifth time in the history of the series that dates to 1937, with WCU trailing 1-3. However, the series lay dormant from 1939 until it was rekindled in 2024, 16 years after Campbell revived its football program in 2008. Saturday marks the THIRD series meeting in the modern NCAA Division I era, with both teams having earned a road win in the past two seasons – Campbell, 24-16, in 2024 and WCU, 42-35, in 2025.
Western Carolina Against the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA):
Catamount football has only played FOUR of the current 13 teams in the new-look CAA, including Campbell (1-4), former league foe Elon (18-25-2), Maine (1-0) back in 1977, and in-state foe North Carolina A&T (2-2) … WCU is a combined 22-31-2 all-time against teams currently in the league, which saw Villanova and William & Mary exit for the Patriot League after last season.
Story Lines Entering Saturday:
LOOKING BACK: Western Carolina is coming off its first season-opening victory since a 52-38 road win over Charleston Southern back in 2022 … the win over Eastern Kentucky was WCU's first season-opening win at HOME since a 33-26 win over Newberry back in 2018 – and the program's first season-opening home victory over an NCAA Division I team since a 23-3 victory over Liberty (then still in the NCAA FCS) on Aug. 31, 2002;
SPINNING 45s: Western Carolina has posted 45 points in its season opener in each of the past two seasons - winning 45-21 in 2026 against EKU and falling to Gardner-Webb last season, 52-45, at home;
COURT-MARTIALED: Western Carolina's defense limited Eastern Kentucky to just 21 points last Saturday night, the fewest allowed by a WCU defense in a season opener since holding Mars Hill to 14 points back in 2015 – and the fewest allowed to a NCAA Division I team in an opener since 2002, when the Catamounts held Liberty (then FCS) to just three point … the Catamount defenders held EKU to just seven points in the second half and limited the Colonels to 174 yards of total offense over the final two quarters;
START FAST: Western Carolina football seeks its first 2-0 start for the first time since 2018, when the Mark Speir-led Catamounts opened 3-0 with wins over Newberry (33-26), at Gardner-Webb (28-10), and VMI (52-50) … A 2-0 start would mark the best under head coach
Kerwin Bell in his six seasons in Cullowhee … Dating back to last season, the Catamounts are on a two-game win streak;
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Western Carolina carries a five-game road winning streak into Buies Creek on Saturday, a streak that started with last year's 42-35 road win over Campbell … the lone road loss last season came at NCAA FBS-foe, Wake Forest … Dating back to 2024, the Catamounts have won SIX-straight games against NCAA FCS competition, starting with the 47-42 shootout win at Samford (Nov. 23, 2024) in the season finale.
Illinois State enters the weekend with the nation's longest road win streak at nine games, followed by Lehigh (7), with WCU, Montana State, and Villanova each tied with five-straight wins.
DUELING OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Both Western Carolina QB
Lex Thomas and Campbell signal caller Kamden Sixkiller earned their respective conferences' Offensive Player of the Week awards last week after their Week Zero performances … Thomas accounted for 389 yards of offense, including 320 passing yards with three touchdowns on 27-of-35 passing, adding a team-best 69 rushing yards and a game-sealing 15-yard score … Sixkiller combined for 438 yards and four scores, passing for 343 yards on 29-of-42 passing with two TDs, while rushing for 95 yards and a pair of scores … Sixkiller added the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week honors to his ledger earlier in the week.
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts remain on the road next Saturday with a trip to Ohio's "Queen City," with a Saturday evening meeting with the Cincinnati Bearcats out of the Big 12 Conference. It's just the second all-time series meeting between the two on the gridiron, with Cincinnati escaping with a 7-3 win back in 2005 against the then-No. 22 Catamounts. WCU again looks for its first-ever win over an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent (0-64).
Keep up with Catamount football and all WCU Athletics through the department's social media channels on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports; FB.com/CatamountSportsNetwork) and X (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
