Oct. 29, 2009

Western Carolina at Chattanooga - Game Notes

Cullowhee, N.C. - Following its longest home stand of the 2009 season, the Western Carolina Catamount football team hits the road this Saturday, Oct. 31 to face the Chattanooga Mocs in Southern Conference action at 2:00 pm at Finley Stadium / Davenport Field on Halloween afternoon.

WCU (1-6, 1-4 SoCon) has four games remaining, three away from home including Saturday's tilt with the Mocs and three against teams currently ranked or receiving votes. The Catamounts have dropped 14-consecutive SoCon road games dating back to the 2005 season, last winning in league play away from home at Chattanooga on Oct. 22, 2005 (38-20).

Saturday's game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network. Fans can hear the game, beginning with a 90-minute pregame at 12:30 pm, on five stations across Western North Carolina including locally on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee and 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.

Chattanooga will be holding its annual canned food drive this weekend. Fans who bring three canned-food items to Finley Stadium for the game will receive one FREE general admission ticket. Tables will be set out next to the ticket booths to collect the canned goods and distribute tickets. Fans bringing canned foods are encouraged to go straight to the collection tables and by-pass the lines to purchase tickets.

Western Carolina trails Chattanooga in the all-time series, 16-19, which includes a 7-11 overall mark on the road and a 2-4 mark at Finley Stadium which opened in 1997. The Catamounts have also dropped three of the last five on the road in the series, alternating a loss with a win the following season (WCU lost its last meeting in Chattanooga, 39-21 in 2007).

Last season, WCU secured its lone SoCon win of the year - and first league victory for head coach Dennis Wagner - over the Mocs, 27-7, in Cullowhee.

Chattanooga (4-3, 2-3 SoCon) snapped a 10-game losing skid with its season-opening victory over Glenville State earlier this year. The Mocs also picked up two SoCon victories over then No. 17 Wofford, 38-9, and 14-7 over regional-rival, Samford.

The Mocs will be without two starters for the rest of the year. Senior RB Bryan Fitzgerald and sophomore DB J.D. Dothard both had season-ending surgeries as Fitzgerald suffered a sprained foot in the first quarter at Samford and Dothard suffered a knee injury at Georgia Southern and will not return this season.

UTC is led by Univ. of Tennessee transfer quarterback B.J. Coleman, who enters the game fourth in the SoCon fourth in the SoCon in total offense (201.6/game), passing efficiency (128.3) and passing yards (223.3/game).

One common tie for WCU and UTC on the gridiron is Mocs offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield. A native of Maryville, Tenn., who played his college football at East Tennessee State from 1995-97, Satterfield served as the wide receivers coach at Western Carolina in 2005.

For the Catamounts, the past two weeks have seen a marked improvement in the offensive running attack. Through the first five games this season, WCU only averaged 58.6 yards per game on the ground, a number that is skewed because of a minus-12 rushing total at Georgia Southern which included three sacks. True freshman tailback Michael Johnson was only averaging 19.8 rushing yards per game and red-shirt freshman Dion Wilson was at 18.2.

However, over the past two games, the Catamounts have averaged 134.0 yards on the ground, with Johnson averaging 74.5 yards with two touchdowns and Wilson rushing at a 42.5 yards per game clip with four of his five seasonal touchdowns.

Defensively, this week marks the return to a traditional style ands schematic after facing Wofford's downhill running wingbone option attack. Led by seniors Adrian McLeod and Chris Collins, who rank second and third, respectively, in the SoCon in tackles, the Catamount defense will look to stop the more pass-happy Mocs offense. Western Carolina will look for its first interception of the season, currently ranking as the only NCAA FCS squad without a pick.

Kickoff between the Catamounts and Mocs is set for 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.

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Here is an excerpt from Tuesday's Southern Conference Head Football Coaches Teleconference of both WCU head coach, Dennis Wagner, and Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman.

Western Carolina Head Coach Dennis Wagner
Opening Statement, Looking Back at the Wofford game:
"We played hard and our kids never gave up. We got down early. They did some good things to us in the first quarter. With nine minutes remaining in the first quarter, we were already down 21-0. We had a hard time stopping the fullback until we had a couple of adjustments made. Then we were able to get them to slow down a bit on offense. Offensively, we'd take the ball down the field and then we would throw a pick and that absolutely kills your momentum. It took us a couple of drives also to get situated. By then it was 21-0. Coach (Mike) Ayers and his staff did a great job. They were prepared. They wanted that game as bad as we did for the conference victory. I thought they played hard. They made the plays they needed to late in the game. We made it close. They made a long punt return and scored when they had to. That was a difference in the football game."

On the Chattanooga Mocs:
"Chattanooga is a much improved football team from a year ago. They don't make a lot of mistakes. They seem to be very efficient on offense. Defensively, they are not going to try to trick you or anything. They are going to lineup and play football. That has been very successful for them. The last couple of weeks have been tough for them, but I still think they are a really good football team."

On if last year's win at Chattanooga was considered a building block:
"I don't know if we thought that win (over Chattanooga) would spring board us. Last year we had 20 something seniors. This year we've got 10 (that are playing consistent minutes). We knew that our second year was going to be a greater challenge for us. Our young kids are playing hard. We are just finding ways to not finish. That's what we got to do a better job of. We are not into moral victories. We can't get close and say we played hard or gave great effort. All that is true, but the bottom line is you've got to win football games. The one thing I'll give credit to our team is that they have worked hard. They continue to prepare hard. We've got to do things right. With a young football team, we can't afford to turn the ball over. We had two turnovers in this game last week against Wofford that were really critical to us. Two big plays on special teams: a punt return and a missed extra point changed the whole outlook for us in the game."

On improving offensively:
"We've just got to go back and keep doing things better. During the last two or three weeks if you look at the statistics, we've ran the ball much better when we have been healthy and had consistency in the lineup. When you've got injuries or guys haven't been performing as well as they need to and you're making changes, it doesn't help your continuity. During the last couple of weeks, we have gotten everybody healthy and we've played much better."

"I think we rushed for 170 yards during the last game. That's one of our objectives. You have to be able to run the football in order to throw the ball because we are not good enough to sit back and throw it 50 or 60 times yet. We are going to get there eventually.

"The three freshmen that are starting in the offensive line and the five that are backing them up are either red-shirt freshmen or they are going to redshirt. They are going to be here for a while. Our top three guys are all freshmen. They've got to continue to get better each week."

"We've got to answer the call against a good Chattanooga team that has played good football this year. They've done a much better job. I know they are disappointed with the last couple of weeks, but I'm sure they are looking forward to coming home. It's going to be a great game."

On home field advantage:
"There is no question that it's critical as (UTC Coach Russ) Huesman alluded to earlier, when you come home and you have that great enthusiasm in the stands. Our students have been tremendous. Regardless of our win-loss record, they have been supportive of us. We just continue to promise them that we are going to play hard. If you can keep them in their seats until the fourth quarter because you are playing hard and you have a chance to win, that's all we can do at this point. Now, all we've got to do is answer the bell by getting some wins. When you travel on the road in the Southern Conference, you better be ready to play. It's an advantage for anyone in our league."

Chattanooga Head Coach Russ Huesman
Opening Statement:
"We played three good football teams on the road. Getting on the bus and staying in hotels is not the tough part. Playing at home gives you good energy throughout the entire game. In the past two weeks, we haven't played with good emotion. Hopefully, we'll get a great crowd this week."

"We are playing a good football team in Western Carolina. Western Carolina is playing well; they played well beating The Citadel two weeks ago. They played Wofford last week and had a chance to win that game. We are playing a team that is gaining confidence as the year goes on. It will be a war. Hopefully, we'll have a good week of practice and be ready to go."

On the improvement of Western Carolina:
"I think Western Carolina has played pretty well the last couple of weeks. They are probably playing with some confidence. We haven't had as much success the last couple of weeks. It could be a concern. We have to have a good week of practice. It is a concern."

On his thoughts of the Western Carolina offense:
"They move the football with a lot of people. To me, statistics mean nothing. They played Vanderbilt, who has a great defense and that kind of screws up your statistics a little bit. To me, it's execution and how well you are coached. They are well coached and they execute their offense. We'll have our hands fun. They'll be all we can handle. I don't put much stock into statistics."

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