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By Coach Steve
Well, I promised you guys stats and numbers. As you can probably guess from the final score, if you’ve seen it, the numbers are UGLY. Like, WCU playing Alabama ugly. No, seriously, Western gave up more yards tonight against Gardner-Webb than they did against Alabama back in 2019. Let’s get this over with so we can move on to next week.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs got off to a quick start, scoring in the first minute with a 65 yard run. The Catamounts then responded with what should have been a knockout punch, scoring 35 unanswered points, holding a 35-7 lead with 8:24 remaining in the Q2. Somehow, unbelievably, it wasn’t even close to enough. GW would score 2 straight TDs to cut the WCU lead down to 14 heading into the half, and the Bulldogs would stay hot at the start of the 3rd, bringing us to a one score game, 35-28. WEstern would add one last TD with 1:26 left in the 3rd on a 1 yard run by Camury Reid.
GW would then score 3 more TDs and another field goal, taking their first lead since the 12:09 mark in Q1 with 2:36 left in the 4th. Christian Lowery would knock home a 29 yard field goal with 42 seconds to go, setting up an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. The Cats somehow miraculously recovered, but tragedy struck. The Football Gods must have been angry at the Cats, because the ball would bounce upward and clip a WCU player at the 9.5 yard mark, meaning the ball didn’t travel the required 10 yards before contact. Gutwrenching. Heartbreak. Pain.
Here are the ugly numbers. The Catamounts gave up an eye-watering 625 yards of offense, including an unacceptable 335 yards rushing. The Cats had zero answers for the Bulldogs rushing attack. I’ll keep this one brief: if this team has playoff aspirations, and SoCon title hopes, they need to play like it. They darn sure didn’t tonight. 3 turnovers, 8 penalties, and too many drops and near-turnovers. And where the heck is Taron Dickens?!
See you Thursday, and Go Cats!
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