Atlanta, Ga. – Charles Davis Western Carolina threw a pair of first-quarter touchdowns as it jumped out to a 14-7 lead, but Georgia Tech used a strong ground attack and four consecutive touchdowns to make it costly, including four turnovers in a 14-point second quarter. Thinking Catamonds 35-17 Saturday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Escaping the downpour, Davis meets with Terence Horne on a 49-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring and punt Toler Quigley At the 5:37 mark of the second quarter, the Catamounts led 14-7 for a 22-yard score on a drive route. However, the Yellow Jackets took a 28-14 lead into halftime, including a 51-yard touchdown run by Donta Smith a minute later to start a run of four-straight points and a 14-point second quarter.
The two teams combined for just 10 points in the second half, leading Tech late in the third quarter Richard McCollum He split down the uprights on a 44-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to provide the final score.
“As I told the team, I’m very proud of their competitiveness. I also hope they believe in themselves that we can be a better football team than we are now,” said the WCU head coach. Kerwin Bell During post-game comments with the media. “One thing that came back to get us tonight was cleaning up the four turnovers that we’ve been talking about since last season and all that stuff. But I liked the way we competed; I liked the way we continued to play hard.”
Davis finished 18-of-27 passing for 233 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions and lost a fumble in the third quarter. Davis, who was sacked three times, rushed for a combined 38 yards. A real first person Cole Gonzales He saw his most extensive action, completing 6 of 8 passes for 38 yards and one interception.
Freshman RB Desmond Reid 112 all-purpose yards, including a team-best 47 yards on the ground and four catches for 65 yards. Classmate Corey Reddick rushed for 32 yards on six carries and surpassed positive yards per carry. Tight end Ajay Belanger He had a career-high six carries for 42 yards. A total of 12 different players had receptions for Catament, including Davis, who picked up a touchdown on one of his attempts.
All told, Western Carolina outgained Georgia Tech 390-343 in total offensive yards in the loss.
For Georgia Tech, quarterback Jeff Sims completed just 8-of-17 passes for 100 yards and added 48 rushing yards. The Ramblin’ Rack ran for 243 total yards, including a team-high 102 yards and three touchdowns by Donta Smith. Wideout Nate McCollum added 47 yards on the ground with a 40-yard touchdown rush with a pair of 17 yards and Dylan McDuffie scoring on a two-yard interception for the home team.
second Andreas Keaton He paced the Catamount defense with seven tackles, including three solo stops with one for a loss, adding a pass breakup. Rod Gattison He was credited with four tackles and WCU’s only sack came with an interception. Matthew Sudipo, Cameron McCutcheonAnd Skylin Thomas They also post four joints each.
Western Carolina (1-1) opens the home stretch of its 2022 schedule next Saturday, Sept. 17, hosting the Presbyterian Blue Hose (1-1) at Bob Waters Field/EJ Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee. WCU will see “White Out Whitmire” for all fans to wear their white Catamount gear for the 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
