2021 Season Highlight Notes

A sluggish start followed by a feverish finish capped Western Carolina’s 2021 football season, the first under head coach KERWIN BELL.

Hired in late April after the oddity of a spring football schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell and his coaching staff hit the ground late in preparing for the 2021 season. A national championship-winning coach at Valdosta State, Bell had a short time to assemble a coaching staff and then a roster through rapid recruiting. Bell and his staff did not have the luxury of a spring practice season while forging the lineup that was to take the field, opening camp just a mere 132 days following the finish of the adjusted 2020-21 schedule.

Tragedy also befell the Catamount program just weeks before the first game as first-year offensive line coach JOHN PEACOCK passed away suddenly just weeks before toe hit leather to start the season. WCU wore decals on their helmets with Peacock’s initials “JP” and the word “GRIND” throughout the season in his memory.

Western Carolina endured a six-game losing skid to start the season as the squad tried to find its way under the new staff. And though it took until week seven to taste victory, the Catamounts had their opportunities to claim that elusive first victory over the opening six weeks.

WCU rallied to within three points in the opener against Eastern Kentucky and had the ball as time expired, attempting a would-be game-tying 56-yard field goal that allowed the Colonels to escape Cullowhee with a victory. Two weeks later against Samford, the Catamounts roared back from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit to grab a 10-point lead – and things looked good to start league play with a win. However, Samford rallied with three-consecutive scores to take an 11-point lead before holding off WCU in the 42-37 affair.

The Catamounts had a 10-point lead in the third quarter at Gardner-Webb before the Runnin’ Bulldogs rattled off four-consecutive scores to end the game in the road loss, and WCU rallied from a two-touchdown first-half deficit against Mercer, tying the game early in the fourth quarter only to be thwarted in the end.

But following the team’s bye week, the tumblers started to fall into place for Bell and the Catamounts as WCU posted wins in four of its final five games of the season beginning with the first win under Kerwin Bell at The Citadel. WCU finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in the final Southern Conference standings with wins over the other two teams involved in the tie.

Western Carolina’s offense led the SoCon in total offense with a 471.0 yard per game average, finishing third by averaging 32.4 points per game – a mark that jumped to a league-leading 36.8 in conference games. Led by fifthyear senior ROGAN WELLS and redshirt sophomore CARLOS DAVIS, the Catamount air attack paced the SoCon with an average of 320.2 yards per game. Wells finished second in the league with a 288.3 yard per game average and was second overall in total offense at 349.7 yards/gm.

A WCU single-game record fell during the regular season as RAPHAEL WILLIAMS hauled in a school-record 16 passes in the road win at Wofford. Williams finished the season atop the SoCon leaderboards for receptions (6.6 per game) and receiving yards (87.2 yards per game).

Defensively, the Catamounts ranked third in the Southern Conference against the pass, holding teams to an average of 197.7 yards per game through the air, and on special teams, WCU was second in both kickoff (22.0 yards/return) and punt returns (11.7 yards per return) as CALVIN JONES (31.1 yards/return) led the league and DAQUAN PATTEN ranked second at 11.7 yards per return. RICHARD McCOLLUM paced the team in scoring with 78 total points, finishing perfect on field goals at 12-for-12 and PATs, hitting 42-of-42.

SIX NAMED 2021 ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE

Western Carolina defensive back ANDREAS KEATON earned Southern Conference Freshman of the Year from the league's head coaches to headline six football studentathletes honored on Tuesday afternoon as the SoCon released its postseason awards from both the coaches and the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA).

In addition to being dubbed the top freshman in the league by the coaches, Keaton also earned a spot on the all-freshman defensive team. Keaton is the fourth Catamount selected as the freshman of the year by the coaches and the first since QB Tyrie Adams in 2016. Previous honorees by the league's coaches also include RB Michael Johnson (2009) and Lamont Seward (2000).

Redshirt freshman wide receiver RAPHAEL WILLIAMS collected first-team honors from both the coaches and media, with graduate transfer QB ROGAN WELLS earning a second-team nod on the two teams announced. The Catamounts added a trio of second-team all-conference selections on the media's tabulation with fifth-year senior LB KAREEM TAYLOR and junior DB RONALD KENT JR., earning second-team defensive plaudits with second-year freshman CALVIN JONES named the second-team special teams return specialist.

KEATON FINALISTS FOR THE JERRY RICE AWARD

True freshman defensive back ANDREAS KEATON was among 23 finalists for the 2021 Stats Perform FCS Jerry Rice Award, which is presented to the national freshman player of the year in college football's Division I subdivision. Keaton finished tied for 17th in the national voting. Originally listed on the watch list in late October, Keaton was one of two SoCon freshmen among the award's finalists, joined by The Citadel cornerback Dominick Poole.

Keaton was the fifth Catamount since 2014 to grace the nominated list for the nation's top freshman, joining LB Daniel Riddle (2014), P Ian Berryman (2015), QB Tyrie Adams (2016), and DB Ronald Kent Jr. (2018). Adams finished fourth in the national voting back in 2016, the highest finish for a Catamount that was nominated for the national award with Riddle (22nd) and Berryman (19th) also advancing to the finalist voting list.

WILLIAMS, JONES NAMED FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA

Western Carolina landed two players on the HERO Sports Freshman All-America team as the online publication released its three FCS All-America teams for freshman, sophomore, and all classes. Redshirt freshman WR RAPHAEL WILLIAMS and return specialist CALVIN JONES were both honored following their respective 2021 seasonal performances.