 |
 Red-shirt freshman quarterback Zack Jaynes is expected to make his third career start on Saturday against Georgia Southern. |
 |
Oct. 24, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Playing inside the friendly confines of E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field for the first time in three weeks, the Western Carolina Catamounts open back-to-back home dates this Saturday, Oct. 25 as they host the unranked Georgia Southern Eagles at 1:00 pm.
Western Carolina will be celebrating Family Weekend on the forecasted cool, crisp autumn afternoon.
"There's no question, there is nothing like home cooking - you want to get home, be in your environment and be were you are comfortable," said first-year head coach Dennis Wagner during Tuesday's SoCon Football Coaches Teleconference. "We are looking forward to play in front of our home crowd. We've been very fortunate that our fans have traveled with us, especially to Furman and Wofford. I think we had great turnouts there, and we anticipate good crowds here at home. But we have got to give them something to cheer about in these next few weeks."
Western Carolina (2-6, 0-4 SoCon) will be looking to snap a couple of skids on Saturday afternoon. On the season, WCU has dropped four-straight since upending Presbyterian on the road back on Sept. 20. The Catamounts have also lost 19-straight conference games, the third-longest winless streak in conference history.
To end those droughts, it will have to come against a team in which WCU has not fared well against in recent years. Georgia Southern (3-4, 1-3 SoCon), which holds a 16-2 overall series advantage, has won 13-straight over Western in the series including six-straight in Cullowhee.
Saturday's game will pit the league's second-best passing offense against the conference's best pass defense. GSU and its wide-open, spread offense average 227.7 yards per game, second in the league, and the third-best scoring attack at 33.4 points per contest. The Catamount defense has stifled opposing passing attacks to the tune of 166.5 yards per game to lead the SoCon.
WCU also counters with the fourth-best passing attack behind both senior QB Andy Horn (152.3 yds/gm) and projected starter, red-shirt freshman Zack Jaynes (104.7 yds/gm). Combined, the Catamounts average 222.4 yards per game through the air, while red-shirt freshman tailback Quan Warley leads the ground game at 70 yards per contest.
|
|
 |
Georgia Southern has graced the national rankings several times this season, and has had its fair share of tough games. The Eagles opened the season against the top ranked NCAA Division I FBS team - and in-state rival - Georgia before picking up non-conference victories at home over Austin Peay and Northeastern. GSU has also dropped three in SoCon play to the top three teams in the standings by a combined mere four points (L, 22-20 to Elon; L, 38-37 in OT to Wofford; L, 37-36 to Appalachian State).
"(They are the) best team with four losses that I've ever seen," Wagner said. "They look great getting off the bus and look good on the field. They have just fallen short a couple of times. It's a tribute to their coaching staff and their players the way they have fought in every game. It'd be easy to get down after those close losses and to not perform, but every week they come back and play hard and have done a tremendous job."
He added, "They have some great athletes. They put a lot of points up offensively, and defensively, they are very aggressive and come after you, bringing as much pressure as they can using those athletes to chase you down."
Saturday's 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.
