Scouting Western Carolina

u Western Carolina returns home for its annual Homecoming game, hosting the Mercer Bears in

Cullowhee on Saturday ... It's WCU's first Homecoming game since hosting the Furman Paladins back on Oct. 26, 2019 ... WCU continues to seek its first victory under head coach KERWIN BELL and is looking to snap a seven-game drought dating back to last season; u Western Carolina and Mercer meet for eighth time on the football gridiron on Saturday ... WCU trails in the all-time series, 2-5, having dropped five-straight meetings in the head-to-head series ...

WCU has dropped two of the three previous meetings in Cullowhee; u Western Carolina ranks seventh in the SoCon in scoring offense (23.2 ppg) and fourth in total offense with an average of 421.8 yards per game including the league's second-ranked passing offense at 275.4 yards per game; u WCU quarterback ROGAN WELLS ranks 10th in the SoCon in rushing (55.8 yards per game) and second in passing, averaging 223.0 yards per game ... Wells ranks second in the league in total offense at 278.8 yards per game; u RAPHAEL WILLIAMS ranks third in the SoCon with an average 6.0 receptions per game and is third with an average of 75.8 receiving yards per game; u WCU placekicker RICHARD McCOLLUM ranks tied for sixth in the SoCon with an average of 7.5 points per game; – 30 points scored in four games; u Redshirt sophomore QB CARLOS DAVIS saw the most extensive action of his career at nationallyranked Chattanooga last Saturday, completing a career-high 16 passes for a career-best 225 yards and two touchdowns; u Western Carolina WR RAPHAEL WILLIAMS, the SoCon leader in receptions per game entering last weekend, was limited to two catches for 21 yards at Chattanooga, his second-lowest game output this season … Williams hauled in a seven-yard touchdown pass, marking his fourth TD reception of the season, each coming in the last three-consecutive games; u With six tackles at Chattanooga last Saturday, fifth-year senior LB TY HARRIS now has 330 career tackles moving into fifth-place in program history, by-passing both Eric Johnson (326, 1996-98) and

Julius Grant (326, 1990-93) … Harris is just 10 tackles shy of second-place in program history; u Graduate transfer QB ROGAN WELLS threw for 427 yards at Gardner-Webb tying for the fourthmost passing yards in a single game in program history, matching Tyrie Adams who threw for 427 yards ironically against Gardner-Webb back in 2016 ... Wells accounted for 540 yards of total offense (427 yards passing, 113 rushing yards) against the Runnin' Bulldogs, the second-most in school history just behind Adams' performance of 545 yards at Mercer (Oct. 20, 2018); u Western Carolina has two players on NFL rosters – KEION CROSSEN is currently with the New

York Giants after being traded by the Houston Texans in the preseason ... Charlotte, N.C., native and Catamount football student-athlete alum JOHN BRANNON was signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad on Sept. 7 after being released by the Los Angeles Chargers, the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent; u DID YOU KNOW: Western Carolina's last four NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents have each been ranked inside the Top 25 ... the Catamounts closed the 2019 season on the road at fifth-ranked Alabama ... Last fall in the split 2020-21 schedule, WCU visited both No. 22 Liberty and No. 17 North Carolina ... Last weekend, the Catamounts faced the six-time defending Big 12

Conference Champion and fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Norman ... Since 2006, WCU has played SEVEN games against nationally-ranked FBS programs.

PHOTO BY PHIL POLITO

WESTERN CAROLINA / MERCER

INSIDE THE ALL-TIME SERIES

ALL-TIME SERIES . . . . . . . . . . . .WCU TRAILS, 2-5

In Macon, Ga. .................WCU trails, 1-3 In Cullowhee ..................WCU trails, 1-2 In SoCon Play ................ WCU trails, 2-5 Current Streak ................... WCU, L–5 Longest WCU Win Streak: .... 2 games (2014-15) Largest Margin of Victory ......... WCU, 14 pts Longest WCU Losing Skid:. . . .5 games (2016-20)

Total Series Points . . . . . . . . WCU 217 / MER 268

WCU Average Points .................31.00 ppg MER Average Points ................. 38.29 ppg

ALL-TIME SERIES MEETINGS:

March 20, 2021 Macon, Ga. L, 45-28 Aug. 31, 2019 Cullowhee, N.C. L, 49-27 Oct. 20, 2018 Macon, Ga. L, 59-46 Nov. 11, 2017 Cullowhee, N.C. L, 35-33 Oct. 15, 2016 Macon, Ga. L, 38-24 Oct. 10, 2015 Cullowhee, N.C. W, 24-21 Oct. 18, 2014 Macon, Ga. W, 35-21

WCU HEAD COACH KERWIN BELL