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Cullowhee, N.C. – Something has to give on Saturday afternoon with the 2025 Southern Conference football championship race hanging in the balance, as No. 24 Western Carolina hosts No. 10/12 Mercer on Homecoming at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. The remaining two SoCon unbeaten teams and lone representatives inside the national polling square off with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
GAME DAY UPDATE: A capacity crowd is expected on Saturday. It is strongly recommended that spectators plan to arrive on campus early due to the tremendous influx of game-day traffic. Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, an extremely limited number of standing room only (SRO) tickets will be available for purchase ONLINE ONLY at CatamountSports.com. These SRO tickets (while supplies last) are $15.
The ticket booth at Gate 1 opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday for any game day ticketing questions, with the ticket booths at Gates 2, 3, and 4 scheduled to open at Noon. Stadium gates open at 1 p.m. Western Carolina students receive admission with a valid CatCard ID and should enter Gates 2 or 3. Again, students are encouraged to arrive early as a capacity crowd is expected in the WCU student section.
Western Carolina (6-3, 5-0 SoCon) is riding a six-game seasonal win streak that includes five-straight SoCon victories that represent the longest streak for the Catamounts, who joined the league in 1977. Defending league champion Mercer (7-1, 6-0 SoCon) has won seven-straight on the year with six consecutive in SoCon play this season – and a string of 10 in a row against league foes dating back to Oct. 26, 2024, with a win over WCU.
This week’s game marks WCU’s first matchup between two Top 25 teams since the aforementioned late October meeting with Mercer in Macon last year. It is also the first ranked-versus-ranked showdown at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field since fourth-ranked Furman visited the eighth-ranked Catamounts on Oct. 21, 2023. Saturday also represents WCU’s first Top 25 battle in November since 1994 when No. 12 Appalachian State visited the No. 18 Catamounts.
Saturday’s kickoff from Whitmire Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. with gates opening at 1 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with play-by-play from Daniel Hooker and John Brannon III as the analyst. 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 stat links and online audio from CSN are available through CatamountSports.com, with in-game updates provided on Twitter / X, using the handles @Catamounts and @CatamountsFB.
Opening Kick:
Since opening 0-3, the Catamounts have earned six-straight wins, including a nonconference road victory at Campbell and five in a row in SoCon play over Samford and Furman at home, road tallies in South Carolina at Wofford and The Citadel, and last week’s victory at Chattanooga. And speaking of the Mocs, the Bears close their conference slate against UTC next weekend at home at Five Star Stadium, looking to build on last year’s 10-3 win that snapped a two-game series slide. Mercer has won six of the last 10 meetings in the head-to-head series with Chattanooga.
On paper, Saturday’s expected sell-out crowd at Whitmire Stadium / Waters Field could be in for an offensive showcase as two of the nation’s best meet. Mercer (512.4 yds/gm) ranks second nationally through eight games, while Western Carolina (474.8 yds/gm) is sixth in the rankings; however, in the six games since QB Taron Dickens became available, the Catamounts have amassed 3,156 yards of offense for a nation-leading average of 526 yards per game.
While the Bears own a 30-yard per game average edge in rushing offense – averaging 177.9 yards per game to rank 34th while the Catamounts are 66th at 147.6 per game – the two are neck and neck in the throw game. Mercer enters the week with a SoCon and NCAA FCS-best 334.5 passing yards per game to edge out second-place Western Carolina at 327.2 yards per game. Again, though, the Catamounts have taken to the air for 2,262 yards in the six games under Dickens, averaging 377 passing yards per game in the backfield.
Mercer is 10th in scoring offense (38.1 ppg), though its season-opener against UC Davis was ruled a no-contest, and the Bears have yet to play their FBS game. WCU is 14th at 37.0 points per contest. The Orange & Black head to Cullowhee boasting the nation’s 10th-best total defense, limiting foes to 293.9 yards per game, including the nation’s fourth-best rushing defense at 78.6 yards per game.
Inside the Numbers – Noting Western Carolina Entering the Week:
– Western Carolina ranks fourth in the nation in completion percentage at 71.1%, just ahead of Mercer (10th, 68.3%) – and WCU is the only team among the Top 10 in completion percentage with at least 350 pass attempts;
– WCU’s 32 team passing touchdowns lead the country, just ahead of Monmouth (31) and Mercer (26) in third … the 32 aerial scores are already the SECOND most in program history, trailing the school record 33 set in 2023 … WCU has tossed 24-or-more passing TDs in each of the seasons under head coach Kerwin Bell;
– Through just SIX games played, QB Taron Dickens ranks 10th nationally with 2,201 passing yards, though he is at least two games in arrears of most of the QBs on the list … He has averaged 366.8 passing yards per game since his return – a mark that currently fails to meet NCAA minimums (75% of games played) BUT would LEAD the nation;
– Dickens is second nationally with 26 touchdown passes this season, second only to Monmouth’s Derek Robertson (27), though Dickens has one fewer game played … His 26 TD passes rank him SECOND in the WCU single season record books, trailing all-time leader Cole Gonzales (28 in 2023) by just two … In just over two seasons – 15 career games played – Dickens has 39 career touchdown passes, already TIED FOR FIFTH (Don Dalton, 39 – 1966-69) on WCU’s career ledgers;
– Despite ranking SECOND in the nation in passing offense, WCU’s highest-ranked receiver is redshirt sophomore James Tyre, 38th nationally with 614 receiving yards – second in the SoCon – and fourth with an average of 68.2 receiving yards per game … Tyre LEADS the SoCon with 10 touchdown receptions, tied for FIRST nationally … Malik Knight is seventh with 539 receiving yards, seventh in the league at 59.9 receiving yards per game;
– Defensively for the Catamounts, transfer linebacker Jordan Thompson leads the Catamounts – and ranks sixth in the SoCon – with 67 tackles, including 36 solo stops and 31 assists with seven tackles for loss … CB Hasaan Sykes and Nickelback Ken Moore Jr. have a league-leading three interceptions, and S Ken Moore Jr. has two picks.
– Western Carolina ranks tied for second in the SoCon with 11 interceptions as a team, a mark that ties WCU for sixth nationally … Both Hasaan Sykes and Ken Moore Jr. have three interceptions apiece to lead WCU;
About Saturday’s Opponent – Mercer:
Winners of seven straight – tied for the fifth-longest active winning streak in the NCAA FCS – Mercer comes to Cullowhee leading the SoCon, looking to win back-to-back crowns with a win on Saturday. This season, the Bears trailed nationally-ranked UC Davis in the season-opener before the Week 0 game was ruled a no-contest after lengthy weather delays, avoiding the potential 0-1 start. However, the hangover was real as upstart, non-scholarship Presbyterian handed Mercer a 15-10 home loss.
The Bears boast the SoCon’s top scoring offense (38.1 ppg) and scoring defense (16.6 ppg), while leading the league at 512.4 yards per game on offense, second-best in the NCAA FCS. Mercer’s passing game leads the NCAA at 334.5 yards per game, while the Bears are 34th nationally on the ground at 177.9 yards per game. Mercer also counters with the SoCon’s top defense, limiting foes to 293.9 yards per game, best against the pass (215.3 yards per game), and the rush (78.6 yards per game), the fourth-best in FCS.
True freshman QB Braden Atkinson is a three-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Week, logging 1,306 passing yards and 12 TDs over the three games he’s earned the recognition. He threw for a school-record 533 yards in the Week 10 win over VMI. He is also a two-time Stats Perform FCS National Freshman of the Week and is on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List. Redshirt freshman RB CJ Miller has rumbled for 632 yards on the ground this season with eight touchdowns, all on 102 touches. The 5-11, 230-lbs. back has averaged 79 rushing yards per game.
On defense, Andrew Zock garnered much of the preseason fame as the SoCon’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year after earning the league’s Freshman of the Year honor a season ago. He has 31 tackles with 17 solos tops and 15 for loss to date, with 10 sacks. Drew Clare paces the Bears with 57 total tackles, including 9.5 for loss with 2.5 sacks, while Tommy Bliss has a team-best two interceptions.
Western Carolina vs. Mercer – All-Time Series:
Mercer University discontinued its football program back in 1941 before rekindling the gridiron program in 2013. The Bears joined the Southern Conference in 2014, but were greeted by consecutive series losses against the Catamounts, who won the first two meetings. However, since 2016, Mercer has won nine straight in the head-to-head series with the Catamounts.
Western Carolina and Mercer meet for the 12th time on Saturday, with the Catamounts trailing in the series, 2-9. The Bears have won four of the five meetings played in Cullowhee. In WCU’s lone home victory in 2015, the Catamounts had to rally from a 21-10 halftime deficit, doing so with a 14-point fourth quarter. Former RB Detrez Newsome erupted on a 22-yard, fourth-down rumble for the go-ahead score to cap a 91-yard drive, and then watched a would-be, 42-yard game-tying field goal attempt missed at the final horn.
During the current nine-game drought for WCU, the Catamounts have been outscored by an average of 15.3 points per game, including a high of 43 points (49-6 in 2022 and a low of just two points in a 35-33 home defeat in 2017.
Familiar Face in the WCU-Mercer Series:
A familiar face in the Western Carolina–Mercer series is Mercer Director of Strength & Conditioning, EVAN BARR, who oversaw the Catamount athletic performance efforts from 2013-20, primarily working with the Catamount football program … He was part of helping the Catamounts to consecutive top-3 finishes in the SoCon in 2014 and 2015.
Up Next for Western Carolina:
The Catamounts remain at home in the friendly confines of E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field for the backend of a two-game homestand next Saturday, Nov. 15, hosting mountain-rival East Tennessee State, with the traveling trophy “the Rock” again up for grabs.
Single-game tickets for the Nov. 15 rivalry match-up against ETSU are on sale now at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets or by phone by calling (828) 227-2401.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports; FB.com/catamountsportsnetwork) and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
