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 Red-shirt freshman running back Quan Warley |
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Oct. 16, 2008
Western Carolina at #6/4 Wofford - Game Notes 
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina completed its weekly preparations for Saturday's game at No. 6 Wofford on the turf at E.J. Whitmire Stadium Thursday morning. The team will have a Friday morning walk-thru and film sessions, departing that afternoon for Spartanburg and a brief walk-thru at Gibbs Stadium ahead of Saturday's 1:30 pm kickoff.
The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or in Sylva on 680 AM WRGC. Fans can also tune in on 1480 WPFJ, the Dove in Franklin; 1590 AM WBHN in Bryson City; and 1600 AM WTZQ in Hendersonville. Air time is 12:30 pm.
Fans can also listen to the live network stream online at www.WWCUFM.com, www.WRGC.com, or www.WPFJ.com.
After taking Sunday and Monday off for Fall Break, the Catamounts returned to campus Monday evening for film study before hitting the grass practice fields early on Tuesday afternoon. WCU is looking to snap an 18-game Southern Conference losing skid in conference match-ups.
Western Carolina (2-5, 0-3 SoCon) will make it fourth trip to the Palmetto State this season as it visits the No. 6/4 Wofford College Terriers on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff is set for 1:30 pm at Gibbs Stadium. The Catamounts have dropped two-straight - and nine of the last 11 - to the Terriers since its last win in 2005, a 24-0 blanking of the Terriers in Cullowhee which represented the first time they had been shutout in SoCon play.
WCU is just 3-11 all-time in games played in Spartanburg, having dropped five-straight away from home and last winning in Spartanburg in 1981 - a 27-year drought.
Ranked sixth in the coaches' poll and fourth in the Sports Network tabulations, the Terriers are 4-1 overall on the season and 2-0 in SoCon play with wins over Georgia Southern in OT and last week's 56-7 dismantling of Chattanooga. Wofford's lone loss was a 23-12 decision at South Carolina. WCU and Wofford have one common opponent in Presbyterian - Wofford defeated the Blue Hose 38-21, while WCU won 23-21 back on Sept. 20.
Notes from the Weekly SoCon Football Coaches Teleconference:
Western Carolina head coach Dennis Wagner:
On last week's game at Furman:
"At Furman, I thought our guys played hard. The problem was that we gave them a jump start. They jumped out in front of us and it took us a while to get going. Down 21-7, we had a chance to drive down for a score and through an interception down by the end zone. And then you go in to half, and that kind of took some air out of us. I thought defensively, we made some adjustments (at halftime) that really helped us at that point. After the half, our guys settled down, they came back out and played hard, and we put ourselves in a position to take that final drive to 40 seconds to be down inside their 20. But, unfortunately, we didn't come away with a touchdown."
"We've got to learn to close the deal; to win games when you have opportunities. There are no good feelings about simply being close."
On Saturday's game at #6/4 Wofford:
"Wofford is another great football team. We have had a chance to watch them on film several times with film exchange. We feel that they are a very good football team. They are disciplined, very well coached. As Rodney (Allison, of Chattanooga) talked about, you can't make mistakes because they are going to take advantage of them every time on offense. Defensively, they play hard and are very aggressive. It's a tribute to their coaching staff and to their players on how well they are playing right now. We are going to have to be at the top of our game."
On the performance and play of young players at Furman and this season:
"We have made a valid point of trying to tell our guys that if you work hard, you deserve to play. Our freshmen have worked their way into our lineup. Andrerius Thomas, our number two receiver, played well for us; Quan Warley, freshman running back is playing well for us; Nate Harris got into the game at wide receiver and did some good things for us. On defense, Brandon Vaught has started the last three games for us at safety; Ricky Schwarz and Eric Robinson continue to get better for us at linebacker - those guys are true freshmen. Ibn Ali and Jarmarcus Douglas are in back-up roles at corner but are playing on all of our special teams."
"There are a lot players out there playing hard for us right now that are going to be here for a long time. But we have to continue, through recruiting, to build that and use that as an opportunity to come and play early in your career here. And once things are rolling, then hopefully you can red-shirt more of these guys. But right now, we have to put the best players on the field."
On utilizing the tight ends more in the Furman game:
"If you remember, the week before, we had opportunities to hit our tight ends and we just didn't do it. Furman gave us that at times, but it was more of a point that we were able to get the ball to them more. The last couple of weeks, it seems, our tight ends have had opportunities to catch footballs and we didn't get it to them two weeks ago and this past week, we did."
"The more people you can spread the ball around to, the defense can't hone in on one receiver or just your back. The more people we can get the ball to will make us better on offense."
On second half performance over that in the first half:
"You have got to come out fast and finish strong. We continue to talk about that in practice. Last week, we tried to change up some of the things we did in practice. Instead of going individual into kicking, we went right into two-minute offense just to try and create the urgency from coming out of the gate from stretch and being able to get the ball rolling and move the ball. And on defense, getting stops and not putting yourself with your back against the wall early. So, we just have to continue to stress that and continue to talk to the team the importance of starting fast."
Wofford head coach Mike Ayers on Western Carolina:
"Western Carolina is a football team that you can see growing and maturing and getting better each week. It's going to be another challenge - that's the way it is. It's a Southern Conference game."
"Our guys realize, and they can look on film and they can see what we see as coaches that Western is a team that is getting better each week. They are sound, they are fundamental. They play hard and have play-makers. And any time you have that combination, there's an opportunity to stub your toe. We are going to play a great game. We will probably have to play a better game than we did last week. They present problems that we are going to have to some how find a way to overcome."
"They are a football team that is getting better each week. I think (the coaches) are doing a great job up there of bringing their team along. And quite frankly, for us, we had better be better this week."
Thoughts on WCU red-shirt quarterback, Zack Jaynes:
"He's a player. Kind of reminds me of Ben (Widmyer), our guy. He makes plays, makes good decisions. He's a good athlete. Mechanically, I think he's good - he gets the ball out of his hand quick, knows where he wants to go with it, and if he's pressured and you give him a seam, he gets up the seam and he can hurt you."
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