Western Carolina Enters Oklahoma Mentally Tested After a Long Year
The Western Carolina Catamounts have had a jam-packed 10 months.
Like many FCS schools, the Western Carolina season was shifted to the spring, but not before they played three fall contests.
The Catamounts lost to Liberty and Eastern Kentucky in November, and then again fell to the North Carolina Tar Heels in December before packing it in for the winter and starting anew in February. Western Carolina went 1-5 during their spring state, leading to the dismissal of head coach Mark Speir.
In his place, the Catamounts appointed former Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell, where he rose from a walk on to a two-time All-American Honorable Mention. Bell won a pair of National Championships at Division II school Valdosta State, before a stint as the South Florida offensive coordinator in 2019.
Now in charge of the Catamounts, Bell looks to have the offense moving in the right direction.
In their season opener on Saturday, Western Carolina lost 31-28 Eastern Kentucky, missing a field goal in the waning moments that would have sent the contest to overtime.
The loss is made even more impressive by the fact that the Catamounts had limited time to implement Bell’s schemes and philosophies.
"We've only been in (practice) for just over 20 days,” Bell said after the loss. "I thought that we played a decent game, but we just made too many mistakes to win a close game like that.”
The transition has been made easier by the addition of transfer quarterback Rogan Wells, however. Wells started for Bell at Valdosta State, and he rallied in the second half to get the offense back up and running in his first game back in Bell’s system.
Wells completed 24-of-44 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, also throwing two interceptions on the afternoon. Wells also added eight rushes for 72 yards and an additional score on the ground.
As if the difficulty of ushering in a new staff without spring football wasn’t difficult enough, tragedy struck the Catamount program in the lead up to the season.
Western Carolina offensive line coach John Peacock unexpectedly died last month of COVID-19 at the young age of 32-years-old.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley said of Peacock’s death in August. “It’s one of our brothers in the profession and it stings you, man. It does. You think about him and his fiancée and family. You think about the players and coaches there.
“As a head coach honestly you think about it more than maybe as an assistant because, maybe not for health or whatever, you feel responsible for every single person here. No it hits you different. They’ve been in my thoughts and prayers.”
The Catamounts have traveled the long road to get to Norman, and have already been physically and mentally tested well before they kick off against the Sooners on Sept. 11.
In their eight football game of 2021, the Catamounts will have another opportunity to grow on Saturday, as the team is making the most of the unorthodox scheduling as a result of the pandemic.
Kickoff between Oklahoma and Western Carolina is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday night, and the game will be broadcast on pay-per-view.
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