WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNT FOOTBALL 2021 GAME NOTES FOOTBALL CONTACT: Daniel Hooker /// OFFICE: 828.227.2339 /// CELL: 828.508.2494 /// EMAIL: [email protected] WESTERN CAROLINA ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS /// RAMSEY CENTER – 92 CATAMOUNT ROAD /// @CATAMOUNTS /// CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM • wcu quick facts • GAME #5: WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS (0-4, 0-1) AT SAMFORD BULLDOGS (0-1, 0-1) Location: ................................................. Cullowhee, N.C., 28723 Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 • Noon CT / 1 pm ET • Birmingham, Ala. • Seibert Stadium (6,700) ...................................................................................................Pronounced “KULL - uh - whee” Founded: ...............................................................................1889 Enrollment: .........................................................................12,243 GAME COVERAGE: WESTERN CAROLINA Nickname: ................................................................. Catamounts TV BROADCAST: Head Coach: Mark Speir ..................................................................... Purple & Gold Colors: TALENT: Curt Bloom, Cole Cubelic, & Brett Gardner Stadium: .......................................E.J. Whitmire Stadium (13,790) Record at WCU: 32-64, 9th yr none (COVID restrictions at Seibert Stadium) Field: .................................... Bob Waters Field (Artificial: Ironturf) RADIO: Career Record: same Affiliation: ........... NCAA Div. I – Championship Subdivision (FCS) TALENT: n/a Conference: ....................................................................Southern ONLINE AUDIO: n/a SAMFORD Chancellor: ................................ Dr. Kelli R. Brown (Toledo, 1982) @Catamounts, @CatamountsFB TWITTER: Head Coach: Chris Hatcher Athletics Director: .....................................Alex Gary (VCU, 2005) WCU trails, 3-14 (L–2) SERIES HISTORY: Record at SAM: 32-27, 6th yr FOOTBALL HISTORY: In Birmingham, Ala. ..............WCU trails, 1-8 (L–7); MR: SAM, 66-28 (2018) Career Record: 153-84, 21st yr First Year of Football: ............................................................1931 In Cullowhee, N.C.: ...............WCU trails, 2-6 (L–1); MR: SAM, 31-13 (2019) Seasons of Football: ..............................................................87th All-Time / SoCon Record: .......... 346-514-23 (.406) / 115-188-3 (.381) 2020-21 CATAMOUNT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE / RESULTS NCAA Postseason Appearances (Div. I): ............................. 2 (1) Postseason Record (Div. I): ............................................3-2 (3-1) DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME/RESULT TV NOTES Best Finish: ...........1983 National Finalist (lost 43-7 to So. Illinois) Nov. 14 at #22 Liberty Lynchburg, Va. L, 58-14 ESPNU / ESPN3 LIB QB Malik Willis – 306 pass, 3 TDs & 97 rush, 2 TDs Last Appearance: ..................................................................1983 2019 Record: ..................................... 3-9 (Home: 2-4 | Away: 1-5) Nov. 21 at Eastern Kentucky Richmond, Ky. L, 49-17 ESPN3 Opportunity Bowl; EKU scored 28 4th qtr pts to pull away 2019 SoCon Record (Finish): ......... 2-6 (8th) (Home: 1-3 | Away: 1-3) Dec. 11 at #17 North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. L, 49-9 ACC Network UNC scored 21-pts in final 5:39 of 2nd qtr; WCU with def. TD WCU FOOTBALL COACHING STAFF: Feb. 20 at Furman * Greenville, S.C. L, 35-7 ESPN+ Furman scoredd 35-unanswerd pts; limited WCU to 109 yds Head Coach: ..................................... Mark Speir (Clemson, 1990) Feb. 27 at Samford * Birmingham, Ala. 1 pm ET ESPN+ Bulldogs have won 3 of last 5; WCU's lone road win in 1969 • Head Coaching Record at WCU: .................32-64, 20-43 SoCon • Overall Record: ...................................................................Same MARCH 6 VMI * CULLOWHEE 1 pm ESPN+ WCU has won 17-straight; 4 of last 5, one possession games ASSISTANT COACHES / S U P P O R T STAFF MARCH 13 THE CITADEL * CULLOWHEE 1 pm ESPN+ 'Dogs built 25-pt 1st half lead, 2nd half TOs hurt comeback bid John Holt (Appalachian, 2008)....................Offensive Coord. / OL March 20 at Mercer * Macon, Ga. 3:30 pm ESPN+ MER scored 28 pts, 219 yds on 4 plays, 4th-straight series win Andy McCollum (Austin Peay, 1981) ............Defensive Coord. / ILB March 27 at ETSU * Johnson City, Tenn. 1 pm ESPN+ Blue Ridge Border Battle; Last 2 meetings have gone into OT Keith Henry (Catawba, 1989) ............................SpTms Coord. / CB Joe Speed (Navy).................................co-Defensive Coord. / OLB APRIL 3 CHATTANOOGA * CULLOWHEE 1 pm ESPN+ WCU has lost 10 of last 11 mtgs; last home win was 2008 (27-7) Arketa Banks (Elon, 2003) .....................................Wide Receivers APRIL 10 WOFFORD * CULLOWHEE 2 pm ESPN+ WCU has dropped 4-straight since back-to-back wins (2014-15) Phillip Ely (Toledo, 2016) ...........................................Quarterbacks * denotes Southern Conference game /// All times listed are Eastern Jay Guillermo (Clemson, 2017) ......................................Tight Ends Graham Hobbs (Florida International, 2015) ..........Running Backs Nick Newsome (Austin Peay, 2012) ...................................Safeties • Western Carolina played three nonconference road A WESTERN CAROLINA WIN WOULD: Clyde Simmons (Western Carolina, 1996) ..............Defensive Line games last fall – at Liberty (Nov. 14), at NCAA FCS-member Drew Gaither ..........................Volunteeer Assistant / Nickelbacks • Halt Western Carolina's current SIX-game losing skid Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 21) and at North Carolina (Dec. 5) Eric Hooper ................................. Volunteer Assistant / Specialists that dates back to early November 2019 – the six-straight … Including the three fall games and the first two SoCon Nich Mashburn (Western Carolina, 2013) ........Dir. of Football Ops losses over the past two years started at Samford (11/16/19) meetings in 2021, WCU plays five-consecutive games Ryan Kolakowski (Central Michigan, 2011) .......Dir. of Scouting / QC and comes on the heels of back-to-back wins in SoCon away from home to start 2020-21 … Adding in the 2019 Ben Jacobs (ECU, 2010) .................... Dir. of Athletic Performance play for WCU in 2019; finale at fifth-ranked Alabama, WCU will have playedSIX- Steven Honbarger (Appalachian, 2001) .... Dir. of Sports Medicine • Represent just the second road victory for WCU in the all- STRAIGHT ROAD GAMES over the past two-plus seasons; Mike Taylor .....................................Athletics Equipment Manager time series with Samford – its first since 1969, Bob Waters' • WCU has scored three, seven-win seasons over its last Sandy Neuenschwander ...........Football Administrative Assistant first year in Cullowhee ... WCU won 47-13 in Birmingham; six years under head coach Mark Speir ... the 7-5 record WESTERN CAROLINA MEDIA RELATIONS INFORMATION: • End WCU's current two-game drought in the series with in 2014 was WCU's first winning mark since 2005 (5-4) and Samford ... the Bulldogs have won back-to-back meetings Asst. AD/Media Relations (FB Contact): .................Daniel Hooker the most victories by a Catamount team since 2001 (7-4); • Email Address: [email protected] dating back to 2017 after WCU upset #17 Samford, 38-34, • Office / Cell Phone: ................ (828) 227-2339 / (828) 508-2494 in Cullowhee; • WCU has just NINE total seniors entering 2020-21 – FIVE Director of Media Relations (Secondary FB): ........Steven Grandy • Give Mark Speir his 33rd career victory at WCU, fourth in players on offense,FOUR on defense; • Email Address: ..................................... [email protected] program history ... It would move him six victories shy of • WCU returns 19 out of a possible 25 starters between its Director of Media Relations: ...................................Denise Gideon third-place Tom Young (39 wins, 1946-55). offense, defense, and special teams ... That includesNINE • Email Address: [email protected] starters on offense, on defense, and all A WESTERN CAROLINA LOSS WOULD: SEVEN THREE Director of Video Operations: .................................. Noah Sautter back on special teams in specialist starters ... Combined, • Email Address: [email protected] • Relegate the Catamounts to an 0-5 to start the 2020-21 WCU has 45 total returning letter winners from 2019 with Football Press Box Phone: ......................................(828) 227-2116 season – its slowest start to a season since 2009 (0-5) – 32 newcomers and 22 players that took redshirts; Athletics Mailing & Overnight Address: ..................WCU Athletics and give WCU its seventh-consecutive loss dating back to 92 Catamount Road – Ramsey Center the 2019 season ... It'd also represent WCU's third-straight • A combined 18 WCU football players SHARE a LAST name Cullowhee, N.C. 28723 loss to Samford in the head-to-head series. – only TWO of which are related (DARRIUS and MO SMITH): DAVIS ............................................. Carlos (QB), Dorian (DB) CATAMOUNT QUICK SLANTS: HARRIS .........Christian (DT), Ethan (DB), Jacob (CB), Ty (LB) JOHNSON ....................................Dawson (OL), Roman (DT) • Western Carolina’s 2021 roster includes a combined 51 players from the state of North Carolina ... South Carolina JONES ..............................Reggie (WR), Gabe (OL), Will (QB) is second with 20, followed by Georgia (17), Alabama (4), NELSON ........................................Micah (SPUR), Tyree