Box Score WOFFORD at WESTERN CAROLINA
Saturday, November 5, 2022 - 2:00 PM
Whitmire Stadium
Cullowhee, NC

THE WESTERN CAROLINA GAME
After back-to-back home wins, the Terriers return to the road this Saturday when they visit Western Carolina ... The Terriers have begun the season 2-6 overall and are 2-3 in the Southern Conference after losses at Chattanooga, against Elon, at Virginia Tech, at Kennesaw State, against Mercer, and at Samford, with a wins over The Citadel and East Tennessee State ... Western Carolina is 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in league play after wins over Charleston Southern, Presbyterian and VMI, along with losses to Georgia Tech, Samford, Mercer, Furman and The Citadel ... The Catamounts had an open date on October 29 ... Last season Western Carolina was 4-7 overall and 4-4 in the Southern Conference to finish tied for fourth ...  They were picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches and media this year.

GAME INFORMATION
Radio - Wofford Digital Network (Jim Noble, Thom Henson and Van Hipp)
TV - ESPN3 (Pete Yanity and Jared Singleton)
TV - Nexstar (CW62 in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville; WMYT in Charlotte; CW Charleston; WMUB in Macon; WWCW in Lynchburg)
Stats - LINK
Wofford Game Notes - LINK
Wofford Football Media Guide - LINK
Wofford Football Yearbook - LINK
Southern Conference Information - LINK

TERRIER TOP NOTES
Here are the top notes of interest heading into the Western Carolina game ...
    • Wofford leads the overall series with the Catamounts 28-15 and have won seven of the last ten meetings.
    • The Terriers look to win a road game for the first time since the 2021 season opener at Elon.
    • The win over The Citadel on October 15 ended a 16-game overall winless streak and a 15-game streak in the Southern Conference.
    • By the luck of the schedule, Wofford's first three SoCon games were against teams ranked in the top 15 and Samford is still undefeated in league play.
    • As the Terriers move towards a passing offense, Jimmy Weirick set a school record with 409 passing yards against ETSU.
    • The passing offense was ranked 97th in the nation after The Citadel game, but jumped to 76th after the ETSU game.
    • In the national rankings, the Terriers are 95th in total defense (433.9) and are 110th in total offense (290.1), while Western Carolina is 3rd in total offense (504.1) and 68th in total defense (397.6).
    • The rushing offense had been ranked in the top ten in rushing offense for 22 straight seasons but were 13th in 2021 at 208.6 yards per game and are at 88.6 yards per game this season.

ABOUT WOFFORD
After playing a spring and fall season in 2021, the Terriers welcomed a return to normal with a spring practice, summer strength and conditioning sessions and camp in August to prepare for 2022. The biggest changes - besides time to develop players - has been a switch to a pro spread offense.
    The offensive line has seen nine different players start games, with only Al Hogan starting all eight games. The skill positions has evolved into three receivers, one tight end and one running back in most formations. Leading the receivers are Landon Parker with 29 catches for 594 yards and R.J. Khayo with 13 catches for 165 yards, while eight total receivers have caught passes. Tight ends are led by Jacob Ritchie and Jordan Davis. Nathan Walker is back for his fifth season at running back with 80 carries for 253 yards and five touchdowns and he is joined by freshman Kyle Parsons who has 74 carries for 343 yards and two touchdowns. A three-way battle during camp at quarterback between Bryce Corriston, Cade Rice and Jimmy Weirick led to Weirick starting the first eight  games with 128 completion on 220 attempts, along with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
    The defense remains a 3-4 base, with the defensive line led by usual starters Micheal Mason, Brandon Maina and Chuck Smith. Mason leads the team in sacks with 5.5 and tackles for loss with 6.5. The linebackers feature David Powers, who has a team-high 50 tackles, along with Eli Purcell with 36 tackles which is third on the team. In the secondary, Jaheem Hazel and Isaiah Wadsworth start at cornerback, with Tahir Annoor and Miles Richardson at safety. Jaheem Hazel leads the team with five pass break-ups and Tahir Annoor has two fumble recoveries. Amir Annoor and Matthew Clayton have the two interceptions for the team.
    Atkins Roberts and Bridger Jones handle placekicking. Jones has 22 kickoffs with three touchbacks and is 3-of-3 on field goals and 13-13 on PATs. Roberts and Landon Parker handle punting, with Collin Springer back at long snapper for his fifth season. The return game features Kyle Parsons and Garrett Vernon on kickoffs and  R.J. Khayo handling punt returns.

SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jimmy Weirick was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week on October 31, 2022. Weirick went 25-for-39 for a school-record 409 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Terriers to a 48-41 win over ETSU on Saturday. The fifth-year senior from Pickerington, Ohio, matched the school record for completions that he set earlier this season and did not throw an interception en route to a pass efficiency rating of 177.58 on the day. Weirick threw touchdown passes of 3, 11 and 31 yards, the last of which came on 4th-and-15 to tie the game at 41 with 2:54 left.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
A few Terriers are appearing in the national rankings this season. Kyle Parsons is 44th in kickoff returns at 22.4 yards and 48th in all-purpose yards, Tahir Annoor is eighth with two fumble recoveries, Landon Parker is 13th in yards per reception with 20.52 along with 41st in receiving yards per game, and Michal Mason is 27th in sacks per game with 0.69.

A CHANGE AT THE TOP
Wofford College head football coach Josh Conklin announced on Thursday, Oct. 6, his resignation. Shawn Watson, the Terriers assistant head coach and offensive coordinator will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Watson has over 35 years of coaching experience, including a stint as head coach at Southern Illinois (1994-96). It marks the first time in school history that the football team has had an interim head coach. Tyler Carlton will take over primary play-calling duties for the offense. 

A WIN FOR WATSON
The win over The Citadel on October 16, 2022 was the first for Shawn Watson as interim head coach. His last head coaching win was on November 16, 1996 when Southern Illinois defeated Southeast Missouri in the final game of the season. That is a stretch of 25 years and 11 months, or 9,464 days between wins. Tim Albin, head coach at Ohio University, had a 22 year gap (1999 at Northwestern Oklahoma State to 2021) between head coaching wins which is the second-longest known gap.

COACH SHAWN WATSON SHOW
Wofford Sports Properties, the multimedia rights partner for Wofford College Athletics, has announced the Coach Shawn Watson Show. The show is part of an expanded selection of coaches shows that began last season. The shows, sponsored by Budweiser of Spartanburg, are hosted by the voice of the Terriers, Jim Noble. The Shawn Watson Show begins in September and will debut every Monday during the football season. The first episodes of the Jimmy Garrity (women's basketball) and Jay McAuley (men's basketball) will debut in late December. Fans can listen to the "Wofford Terriers Coaches Show" podcast in a variety of ways, including on the iTunes, Amazon, Google and Spotify podcast platforms, along with www.woffordterriers.com/podcast. A video version can be found on YouTube.

GOAL LINE CLUB
Help carry the ball for the Terriers and sign up to be a 2022 Goal Line Club member. Pledge as little as $1 to contribute to an athletic endowed scholarship. Established in 2012, the Goal Line Club has proven hugely successful in helping raise scholarship dollars for the Wofford College Athletics Endowment. Goal Line Club members have donated a combined total of more than $368,538 for the Goal Line Club Endowed Scholarship Fund since the inception of this initiative. Click HERE to donate!

WOFFORD APP
Be sure to download the new Wofford Terriers mobile app presented by SubStation II launched this fall! Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new Wofford app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.Through the app, Wofford fans will enjoy a personalized mobile experience with the ability to manage tickets, and receive breaking news and score notifications for the teams they follow.

TICKETS
Single game tickets are available by calling 864-597-4090 or by visiting www.woffordterriers.com/tickets