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 The Spirit Night Pep Rally will be held at the Catamount Athletic Complex on Friday night following the women's soccer match against the College of Charleston. WCU hosts The Citadel in football on Saturday at 4:00 pm. |
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Oct. 14, 2009
Western Carolina vs The Citadel - Game Notes 
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina returns to action following its scheduled bye week to host The Citadel in a Southern Conference battle this Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is set for 4:00 pm at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. It is the first of back-to-back home games for the Catamounts which includes hosting Wofford on Family Weekend, Oct. 24.
Saturday's game will be broadcast by WMYA-TV, My 40 out of Asheville with a 3:30 pm air time for the pregame show. The Catamount Sports Network will also have coverage of the game with a 90-minute pre-game show beginning at 2:30 pm. Fans can hear the game on five stations across Western North Carolina including WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee; 680 AM WRGC in Sylva; 920 AM WPTL in Canton; 1480 AM WPFJ in Franklin; and 1600 AM WTZQ in Hendersonville.
Fans can also catch all of the play-by-play action online with streaming audio through Stretch Internet at www.CatamountSports.com.
Western Carolina (0-5, 0-3 SoCon) has dropped five-straight to the Bulldogs, including last year's 34-14 decision at the newly-renovated Johnson-Hagood Stadium in the Lowcountry, and a six-point, 37-31, setback in the last meeting at home. Western trails in the all-time series, 13-19-1, but the two stand even at 8-8 in games played in Western North Carolina.
After winning six-straight series games at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field from 1993 through 2003, the Catamounts will try and end a two-game slide in head-to-head meetings with The Citadel. By doing so, it would also end a seven-game slump that dates back to last season.
WCU holds a 16-18-1 overall mark on Homecoming games all-time, but has dropped three-straight - and five of its last six - on Homecoming. The Catamounts are also 14-14 all-time the week following a bye, which includes a 3-1 mark when playing The Citadel.
Western Carolina will welcome home all alumni for a busy Homecoming weekend, which officially commences at Noon on Friday, Oct. 16 with the annual Alumni Scholarship Golf Tournament at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. The Homecoming Parade will being at 6:15 pm in downtown Sylva.
The WCU women's soccer team will bookend Homecoming weekend with a pair of matches, hosting Southern Conference rival, the College of Charleston, in a crucial conference tilt on-campus at the Catamount Athletic Complex beginning at 7:00 pm. Fans will be treated to giveaways every five minutes of clock time, and can help support the newly formed "Thunder Cats" student fan support group for soccer. Following the match, fans will want to stick around for Spirit Night 2009.
On Sunday, the soccer team will host The Citadel on Senior Day as WCU will recognize its nine seniors in a special pre-match ceremony. Homecoming weekend wraps up with the Catamount volleyball team hosting Wofford at 4:00 pm in the Ramsey Center.
Again, Saturday's football game kicks off at 4:00 pm. For more information on WCU Homecoming 2009, please visit www.CatamountSports.com or Western Carolina's official web site, www.WCU.edu.
Here is an excerpt of head coach Dennis Wagner on Tuesday's SoCon Head Football Coaches Teleconference:
On last week's bye week:
"First and foremost, the bye came at a great time for us. It gave us time to get a few guys healthy. It allowed us to go back and look at things that we need to do better. It's not as much about as our opponent as it was about us. We focused on ourselves and tried to get better at the little things. It was also fall break here at Western, so our guys didn't have classes starting last Wednesday. It has given us some extra time that we needed to prepare."
"We tried to focus on little things. Ball security, tackling and going back to the basics are things we have focused on. We didn't give them an opportunity to compete for jobs, but an opportunity to compete in practice and get better themselves. We've got to become a better football team and not worry about our opponent."
On this week's opponent, The Citadel Bulldogs:
"We are looking forward to The Citadel. They are a very strong football team. They have played some great games, and had a great opportunity to beat Appalachian State a couple of weeks ago. Last week, things got out of a hand early for them against Elon. They are a fine football team and they certainly present some problems."
On the importance of opening a two-game home stand this weekend:
"It's real critical. We have a chance to be at home for two weeks in a row and they're conference games. It's Homecoming Saturday and hopefully we'll have a lot of support from our student body. Anytime you play at home, it's huge. For us right now, we have to use everything to our advantage to win the ballgame."
On challenges of motivating the team:
"It's actually been good. This team practices hard. They do the things we ask. We haven't stopped demanding things from them and they keep responding. Thank goodness they are resilient. It's the coaches that must continue to challenge these guys. We just have to take care of the football. We can't turn the ball over. On defense, if we can get off on those third and long downs then we are going to be fine."
On the health of the team entering The Citadel game:
"Dion Wilson will be back. It will be nice to have him back. Michael Johnson is back at full speed. A couple of the offensive line guys will not be back this week, which we knew. We did get healthier at the running back position and Ricky Schwarz has been practicing at the linebacker position, which will help us too."
On the role turnovers have played in offensive struggles this season:
"We've had at least four times where we have drove the ball for double-digit drives and take it down the field and don't come away with points in the red zone. We have self destructed in those long drives. That takes a lot of wind out of your sails. Especially, when you do that early in the game and come away with nothing. That certainly doesn't help things. We've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. When we get into the red zone, we have to come away with points, whether it's three or six. We must do something with it.
On the defensive performance this season:
"We played well enough defensively to keep us in the game. Offensively, we have turned the ball over and given our defense poor field position, allowing our opponent to have a short field to score. The only thing we talked to our defense about is we need to do a better job on third and long plays. We put our opponents in some third and long situations, but we allow them to continue the drive. Again, we've got to get off the field. Right now, the defense has been on the field too much. The offense must execute and the defense must get off the field on third downs."
On Saturday's battle between two teams without a Southern Conference win:
"In our situation, we don't have (a win) yet, so we need one badly. (The Citadel) has a couple under their belt. They have played two great teams the last two weeks. I thought the Appalachian State game was right in their hands. If you take the last four minutes of regulation out of the picture, then it's their football game. I think Elon just caught them at the right time."
"Coach will have them ready to go. I'm sure they will come here hungry, wanting to keep their hopes alive in the conference. That's what we talked to our players about. We don't have an opportunity to go to the playoffs now. We have an opportunity to affect what happens in the playoffs. We must do a great job on taking care of ourselves and focusing on a great football team in The Citadel. We haven't spent much talking about their Elon game. That is certainly part of our breakdown, but I think a more realistic picture is what they did against Appalachian State."
Catamount Athletics on Homecoming Weekend 2009:
Friday, Oct. 16
Noon - Alumni Scholarship Golf Tournament at the Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville
6:15 pm - Annual Homecoming Parade in downtown Sylva
7:00 pm - WCU Women's Soccer vs. College of Charleston - Catamount Athletic Complex
9:00 pm - WCU Homecoming Spirit Night with free food, skits, the WCU Football team and laser light show
Saturday, Oct. 17
1:00 pm-3:30 pm - WCU Football Tailgate Party
3:45 pm - WCU Football Pre-game Festivities with the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band
4:00 pm - WCU Football vs. The Citadel - E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field
8:30 pm - "Stompfest" in the Ramsey Center
Sunday, Oct. 18
2:00 pm - WCU Women's Soccer vs. The Citadel - Senior Day - Catamount Athletic Complex
4:00 pm - WCU Volleyball vs. Wofford - Ramsey Center
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