Getty Images Head coach Mark Speir of the Western Carolina Catamounts.
Western Carolina looks to snap its four-game losing streak to start the year as they head to Samford to take on the 0-1 Bulldogs on Saturday.
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The game (1 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Western Carolina vs Samford football live on ESPN+ right here:
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Western Carolina vs Samford Preview
After a miserable three-game skid in the fall, the spring season didn’t start any better for Western Carolina, losing to Furman 35-7 last week. The Catamounts scored in the first quarter, but never found the scoreboard again.
Western Carolina quarterback Ryan Glover managed just 42 yards in the loss and no rusher had over 16 yards for the Catamounts. That’s not a recipe for success, especially when your opponent racks up more than 500 yards of offense.
The Western Carolina defense has been bad, giving up more than 47 points per game.
Samford kept things closer last week in a loss to East Tennessee, leading until the fourth quarter when the Buccaneers pulled ahead with 10 points. It was the Bulldogs first action of the season.
Chris Oladokun was big for the Bulldogs, passing 54 times in the game for 222 yards. He had one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss. He also rushed the ball 17 times, but managed just 17 yards.
Samford coach Chris Hatcher is excited about his team’s prospects this spring.
“I’m really excited about it,” Hatcher said, per Alabama News Center. “We’ve been here five years and we’ve been to two playoffs in that time, which is the first time that’s ever been done in 25 years at Samford. Each of the years, we’ve been basically, other than last season, one game out of being the conference champions. We’ve played a lot of close games over the course of that time, so I’m excited. We’ve got some young players in certain positions right now. Especially our offensive line is young. We lost some good players there, but our guys are confident. They’ve been practicing well, we’ve got a good staff and we’re excited to see what type of team we have this spring.”
Series history (per official game notes)
- Samford and Western Carolina are meeting for the 18th time on the gridiron this Saturday at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 14-3, including a 6-2 mark under head coach Chris Hatcher.
- Western Carolina’s 56-36 win in Cullowhee in 2015 marked the first victory for the Catamounts in the series since winning the first-ever meeting between the two schools, 47-13, back in 1969 in Birmingham … WCU’s 2015 victory halted a 46-year drought;
- WCU is just 2-10 against Samford since the Bulldogs joined the SoCon back in 2008.