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Catamounts will travel to play Paladins on Saturday
Western Carolina will travel to Furman for a 2 p.m. Southern Conference football game Saturday.
The Catamounts (2-4, 0-2) have dropped 17 straight league contests over the past three seasons after Saturday’s 21-6 loss to Samford.
Furman (4-2, 1-1) leads the conference in total defense and pass defense.
“Furman is an excellent football team,” Coach Dennis Wagner said. “They are very disciplined and play hard, and I know that they will be excited to play. They do some great things on offense and defense. They rank among the leaders in total defense and lead the conference in sacks. They are very aggressive.”
The Paladins are ranked as high as 20th in the latest football championship subdivision polls.
“Any time you’re good in pass defense, your people up front have got to be doing something good,” Wagner said of facing Furman. “You’re not allowing a quarterback to get through his progressions, and I think that ties into that they are leading the conference in sacks. They have gotten pressure on the quarterback. They mix up their package with a lot of fire zones where they keep you guessing as to where the pressure is coming from. They have done a good job coaching-wise in using their talent to best suit their defense, but they do a good job against the run too.”
Senior Andy Horn has continued to start at quarterback, but redshirt freshman Zack Jaynes came off the bench to throw for 162 yards against Samford. It’s up in the air as to who will start at Furman.
“We told them both that they were going to compete this week in practice,” Wagner said. “We are going in with the thought that if they are even, then the senior is the guy that plays because he has gotten us to this point. Andy’s had a few injuries (ankle), and he’s been banged up and not performed to his ability. That opened the door for Zack to come in and play. He got a chance to go in for a couple of drives in the Citadel game and took us down for a touchdown. He got into the Samford game and moved the ball but didn’t get us into the end zone. He made a couple mistakes that young guys do, and we’re willing to live with that. We are going to need both of these guys through this whole process. We still have six teams left to play, and they are all very fine football teams. So, we are going to compete this week and make a decision. If it’s close, the senior will start, but the young freshman will play.”
“It looks like Coach Wagner and his staff are going with a lot of young players with a great system,” Furman Coach Bobby Lamb said. “He knows how to win. He has been involved with winning programs. With the new staff and system, it’s a little easier to prepare now that we are in game six or so, and it helps us having six tapes on them. They are trying to build a program and trying to do it the right way.”
Looking back to the Samford game, Wagner said, “They did a good job. When they needed scores, they were able to get them. I thought that they really hurt us on special teams. Our special team play gave them great field possession and allowed them to be physical, keep the ball and move it on the ground.”
The Cats missed chances to score, including two drives late in the game.
“We had at least three drives that were over 12 plays long but couldn’t come away with any points,” Wagner said. “We got inside the 40 five times and only came away with two field goals. It’s frustrating that we couldn’t put the ball in the end zone offensively. Defensively, we have got to get off the field on third down. We would make good plays to put ourselves in a good position, but on third down, we allow people to move the chains.”
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