Date: Saturday, Sept. 21
Contest: Western Carolina (2-1, 0-0) at The Citadel (1-1, 0-0)
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Johnson Hagood Stadium at Charleston, S.C.
THE GAME: Western Carolina will begin league play at The Citadel as the two will meet in Charleston at Johnson Hagood Stadium … The Citadel owns a 14-11-1 series that started in 1972 … In Charleston, The Citadel owns an 8-4 advantage … Overall, Western Carolina has won four of the last five and seven of the last nine contests … The Citadel has won two of the last three at Johnson Hagood.
THE COACHES: Kent Briggs (Western Carolina ’79) is in his first season at Western Carolina and has a career record of 2-1 … Briggs was a Catamount assistant coach from 1980-88 and was most recently the defensive coordinator at Connecticut … Ellis Johnson (The Citadel ’75) is in his second season as the Bulldogs’ head coach and has a record of 4-8 … Johnson has a career record of 9-14 including a 5-6 season in 1983 as the head coach at Gardner-Webb.
GAME NOTES: Both The Citadel and Western Carolina are coming off wins … The Citadel upset 15th-ranked Delaware 24-20 … Western Carolina thrashed Division II West Virginia Tech … The Citadel is also receiving votes in both major I-AA polls … Kent Briggs, in his debut campaign, is looking for his first conference win as a head coach … WCU RB Fred Boateng, recovering from a knee injury, rushed for 33 yards in limited playing time for WCU last week … Western Carolina has the No. 2 pass offense in the SoCon with an average of 239 YPG … The Citadel’s pass defense is third in the league, allowing 127 YPG … WCU leads the SoCon in turnover margin at +6 … Citadel offensive coordinator Jeff Fela and defensive coordinator Les Herrin both have ties to WCU.

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