Saturday in the SoCon brought out allot of answered questions on where the conference is heading and who might be leading the charge. UT Chattanooga and Western Carolina have bounced back from tough starts versus D1 teams to become a force in the SoCon and to give the FCS level more teams to keep an eye on. Mercer in the surprise of the day lost to Samford, and now has put itself fighting with WCU and UT Chatt.
Western Carolina QB Cole Gonzales delivers a show-stopping performance. pic.twitter.com/LeK1udhcc9
— FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) October 19, 2024
Star of the day was Western Carolina QB Cole Gonzales who had a Heisman type day against a young Furman defense, throwing for 620 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in a huge win over the Paladins. The win put Western Carolina Catamounts at (4-3, 3-0 SoCon)
Western Carolina 52 Furman 20
UT Chattanooga also improved its record in the SoCon with a win over Wofford, Chase Artopoeus had a touchdown pass and ran for two third-quarter scores to help Chattanooga on Saturday for its fourth straight victory.
RECAP: @GoMocsFB Wins Fourth-Straight, Dominates Wofford 37-5 on Saturday
🔗 https://t.co/FD46PPyhl5#GoMocs
— Chattanooga Mocs (@GoMocs) October 19, 2024
UT Chattanooga 37 Wofford 5
Quincy Crittendon threw four touchdown passes and Samford handed Mercer its first loss of the season on Saturday. The loss also put Mercer tied for second in the SoCon with UT Chattanooga and both chasing Western Carolina.
"Our defense set the tone, everything was clicking in the first half" – @ejai_3 🗣️
📰 : https://t.co/4s1TIYHBMw#HatchAttack | #AllForSAMford pic.twitter.com/6MpQzfeXJe
— Samford Football (@SamfordFootball) October 20, 2024
Samford 55 Mercer 35
Johnathan Bennett connected with Tyler Cherry on a 43-yard fourth-quarter touchdown to lift The Citadel to a victory over VMI in a Southern Conference battle between teams looking for a first win in conference play Saturday.
VICTORY VIBES 🏈
Following a hard-fought battle up in Lexington, we're officially bringing the Silver Shako home to Charleston!!!#FireThoseCannons pic.twitter.com/dxiYkrzKTi
— The Citadel Football (@CitadelFootball) October 19, 2024
Citadel 13 VMI 10
SoCon Standings
1. Western Carolina
2. Mercer
3. UT Chattanooga
4. ETSU
5. Samford
6. Furman
7. Wofford
8. Citadel
9. VMI