bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 0:12

Welcome to this bonus edition of Tracking the Cats on a Monday morning with Steve White and I'm your co-host, Bob Saban. Steve, we had a, a great, I'm still kind of in the I wouldn't call it a hangover, I would call it euphoria following the Furman game on Saturday. I was so impressed having been at that game and, and seeing it from. Kind of a slow start, right? But once we got it cranked up.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 0:41

Well, you know, Bob, before the ball game over in the Purple Zone in the Ramsey Center, I have this group that we always have lunch with before all the Catamount games and, and I can always come up with my prediction for the ball game. And I told everybody that. score will be 56 52 Catamounts winning 56 52. Well, I got half of it right, and but the wrong team. about in about five minutes before halftime, Howard Buchanan sitting behind me, he says why do you got any more predictions today? And I said, yep, the band will be playing on the field at halftime. That's my prediction.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 1:19

Well, and that was a good, I mean, that's one of the best halftime shows I've seen. They did part of it earlier in the season. They got a, like a four or five minute. Performance in, but that full performance they did on Saturday was really impressive. I really enjoyed that. But talking about performances on the field westerns, all phases of the game were, were clicking on, on Saturday. And coach alluded to that in his comments after the game. I'm gonna go over three things that I think were keys to this game that we really had stepped up. The, the game on it. One was we created four turnovers against Furman three interceptions in a fumble.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 2:04

Oh, that, that was significant. I get our defensive secondary. They had a few little lapses back there, Bob, but for the most part, that's the best they have played this season in my opinion. And sometimes people might say, well, you don't have a whole lot to choose from. But it was. It was a solid defensive performance. And, you know, some things also you think about not just secondary, but putting pressure on the opposing quarterback I think had something to do with that. And just again, that the ability to stop the run, making them do things, as they say, off schedule. The old thing furman's offense because they had been clicking coming into our ball game, but they got unclicked Saturday.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 2:49

That was my number two point is the performance of the defense, which, you know, has been for years Achilles heel for us, and they stepped it up really well. Some really solid numbers between tackles and performers on the defense.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 3:06

That's exactly right. 137 yards rushing is all that furin. This has been sort of our Achilles heel especially against Furin is rushing 1 37, which was 50 yards below their game average. Furman's game average for the season against all competition, everything. And it's the least number of rushing yards we've given up since the Presbyterian game back in 2022. And that which is pretty darn good.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 3:37

Oh, we've been seeing game over game getting a little better, a little better. And one thing that we've never been able to do is stop and end sweep. And, you know, they got nowhere. They tried those things five or six times. It just, we shut'em down several times behind the line.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 3:56

Yeah. A and then I thought our linebacker play, we talk about the defensive backs, but the linebacker play really stepped up in this ball game and did some things differently. We, you know, I think we confused him a little bit too with our lineman coach Odom coming up with a little different look for this firm and team especially when. Like I say, you go back over the years, they really haven't changed what they do a whole lot offensively. I mean, we're going back. Clay Hendricks played there, so he didn't, I don't think he changed a whole lot from when he was a player to all these coaching career, all these many years. So yeah. But we were I thought the coaches did a great, had a great game plan and it just just like you wanna map it out, just write it out. This is the way we want it to happen. And it, and it did. Yes.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 4:41

And point number three on, on our three keys to the victory was the running game. I mean, who would've thought that we would gain more yards running than we did passing? And we'll get to passing in a minute, but go ahead and comment on the, the running game.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 4:57

Yeah. And the last time we rushed for over 300 yards in a game, going back again was to 2022 against pc. That was sort of a route. Now it looks like good because Presbyterian's playing so great, naturally ranked and everything like this, but we had 302 yards back in 2020. To, and that was Saturday was our best performance of the season. Three running backs had over 50 yards. And we actually had about eight guys that actually had positive rushing yards in that ball game. And a young running back that I was really impressed with. First time we have seen him this season is Josh Perry, the freshman. Number 22 from Orlando, Florida, Edgewater High School. His dad, Jonathan Perry, played at University of North Carolina, and so he's got a, a pretty good pedigree and so forth. Mark L. Townsend continues to impress me. These young these young puppies back in the the backfield, running backfield, really, you know. I think bodes well for the future, but again, in this day and time of college football, you never know if a guy's gonna be here after his freshman year, after his sophomore, when, and definitely not. If he's real good by his senior year, we know how that that goes now. Yep.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:12

Yep. Once, once the game was decided we put in Isaac Lee at, at qb and although he had no passing statistics he ran two, two good runs for 60 some yards.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:24

Yeah, he sure, sure did. And they paid, you know, I, I was just waiting for coach Hendricks or some of the fans to say, oh, you're running up the score. Well, all it was was just a little, little end sweep, round the end. And all you gotta do, all you guys gotta do is tackle him. You know?

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:41

Right,

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:42

I don't think

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:42

exactly.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:43

running up. The score, score your number two offensive unit in the ball game for like what the last three series, I guess. Something like that. So yeah, converted three of our four red zone opportunities, which is very encouraging also. Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 6:57

Absolutely. Stepping back to the quarterback situation when you look comparatively at Furman and what tiger did Tiger Furman was 19 of 38 for 219 yards, and Tiger had 220 yards, but he was 17 of 24. And again, no interceptions.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 7:19

Four touchdowns that, that, I mean, what an official 17 completions and four of'em were for touchdowns. So that's pretty efficient. And again that's the least number of passes he's thrown, I guess, this season in a ball game because the running game was doing so well. And that game plan just executed, but no interceptions. He also had 48 yards rushing, which that might be his season high. I don't know if

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 7:43

Yep.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 7:44

career high or not, but to look that up.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 7:46

Yep. Yep. So great game. Looking forward to keeping up the momentum, not looking past citadel. We we're going to Charleston this weekend.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 7:56

Yeah. And you know, we've just traditionally again Citadel's running game, that is their offense. They I don't, I'm not

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 8:04

Mm-hmm.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 8:05

As they say pass wind down there, but what

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 8:09

Almost my coffee out.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 8:12

But they are they had a, a 300 yard game rushing glass, and now again, it was against Valdo State. Division two team. But let's remember now. Valdosta state's not your typical, they're always in the playoffs. They won a national championship under Coach Corwin Bell several years ago. So they very good Division two program. And they're probably comparable to some of the programs on our level, even on the Southern conference level, even though they are division two, but their, their running game that's the thing about it. You've got to stop that. They have a good running quarterback. They have three or four running backs that, produce for them. But again this is the whole key and this is something that we've had problems with. You remember a couple of years ago, up here against the Citadel when they put in their second string quarterback and he went rushed for over a hundred yards

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:02

Yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:02

and so forth. That, but again, I think we know that now, and I think after what I saw Saturday, how we handled, furman's running game. I feel confident that we're ready to face that citadel offense their running game in particular. Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:16

Well, let's hope we come away. All we need is victories. You know, we don't need blowouts like we had this weekend, but it, it doesn't hurt the, the, their confidence to, to be able to, to put on a, a, a lopsided game either,

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:32

They're two and one in the conference right now. The, the Bulldogs two and three overall, they just, ripped. I mean, surprisingly Chattanooga, you know,

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:42

right?

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 9:43

they beat Sanford handily.'Cause we know about Sanford's defense and actually threw the ball against Sanford and beat Chattanooga. They lost to Gardner Webb, which we know all about that losing to Gardner Webb. And they were shut out though their offense was shut out twice this season. Mercer and. The number one, of course, the number one team in the nation and our FCS Well, it has been traditionally North Dakota State, even if that was a game

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 10:09

And they held North Dakota State through the first half pretty well. So we, this is not gonna be an easy game. There are no easy Southern Conference games.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 10:18

thing. No,

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 10:19

So you know, I don't want to to get overconfident and say, you know, we'll, we'll, we're gonna have a blowout'cause we, it. The chances are that not only could we not have a blowout, it's impossible if we go in there wrong it could not turn out the way we want. So.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 10:34

Bob, one other thing, we wanna talk about our special team play in this ball game. I really thought that that jumped out at me. Stephen Brantley. You know, last week he, he did something, tweaked his ankle in the pre-game against Wofford and he was kicking those line drive kickoffs and punts 40, almost 49 yard average Saturday. Just hang time was tremendous. And one, one pump was returned for a minus one yard in the entire ball game and his kickoffs getting to the end zone, they may be what ran two or three of them out, but again, special team coverage. They didn't even make it to the 25 yard line and Marcus Trout. That was a, that was a big field goal he made there at

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 11:15

Oh yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 11:16

Yeah. And seven extra points. So special teams play again, they, they weren't great against wofford, but boy, they really stepped up against Furin.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 11:25

Yeah, I, I think we've got a good future with trout. He's, he's a solid freshman walking, you know, just coming. He's not a walk-on, but he's, he's a good, solid kicker as a freshman, so hopefully it just gets better from there.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 11:40

Yeah. Coach Odom, I think picked him up from down in Cocoa, Florida. You know, coach, that's where Coach Odom's roots are as a Space Coast. And when I saw that Cocoa Florida, I said I think that might be where that one came from.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 11:52

I met him on his visit last year. We were both in this bookstore at the same time buying Western stuff. And his folks were just so, they were over the moon. They were loving campus and excited and he hadn't even committed yet. But I was not surprised when he did commit. So we got a good one there. Let's, western Carolina Sports this week and last week.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 12:15

well one, another little thing about Saturday, Bob sort of mystified me was there our lack of attendance there. That is probably one of the smallest un what you call weather related, non weather related crowds that I've seen for cattle mount football in a long time. And I really ca, I know our students were on break and like Coach Bell was telling them. Call your mom and daddy and your boyfriend or your girlfriend, whichever the case may be, and tell'em that you'll be home Saturday night. Well, not many of them adhered to that, and I don't think we had more than three or 400 students at the game Saturday, which is very, very disappointing. But also, you know, the stands over where I was on the west side, a lot of empty seats. I might. Three people on my row and the row behind me. Five or six I don't know what in the world this is. This is our big rival now firm. And I know

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:06

Yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:07

weekend. I didn't even know it until my wife told me that it was Columbus Day or Indigenous people, indigenous people day, whatever it is. But but I, you know, I just couldn't understand that'cause we don't have another home game for a month. Which

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:20

Right.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:21

So I, and coming off of three wins, well, that's just my little rant for the day. Is that, where were you Catamount fans. That's so

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:29

Yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:29

putting out there. Yes.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:31

Well, thanks to the students who did stay behind. Glad that they were there and they were loud and they stood and they cheered and they cheered for the heroes when they got introduced. So good for them. And just hope that when they come back to color, we, when we come back for the next game, it's homecoming's the next game, right?

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:51

Yeah,

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:51

November 8th. So.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 13:52

we're on the road at the Citadel this week. We have an open date and we go to Chattanooga the first weekend in November. Then back here, I guess it's November the eighth is seventh. Yeah, is the eighth, is our homecoming game, which. If things go the way we want them to go is gonna be a, maybe the biggest game that's been played in Callie and many, many, many, many years with the Mercer Bears, assuming they might stay undefeated, they're four and oh in the conference right now we're three and oh, so I think we're headed for a showdown here on Homecoming day in Callie. Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 14:26

I, I definitely agree. So,

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 14:28

Yeah. at the soccer Bob, you said

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 14:31

yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 14:31

talk about what else was going on. They had a sort of a, a tenuous one to nothing win over Wofford Friday night. They're now four, one and one in the conference where one point behind the leader right now. And the conference behind Sanford, the team that we tied earlier in the season, and you know, the account, you get a half a point I guess for it's high and a point for a win nothing course for losses. Eight, four, and three overall and defensively we're just like, we've been over the last several years, just right now, struggling a little bit to get those goals, but again, we continue to win.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:10

So let me say something.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:12

Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:12

say something about that Waffer game on Friday. I talked to Stacy Miller, Chad coach Chad Miller's wife

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:19

Assistant

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:19

on Saturday. Yes, she's assistant coach. She's like, that was the most boring game she has watched in many years because what Waffer did was they packed the goal. They didn't try to score, they wanted to

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:33

team. They

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:34

exactly.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:35

football team. Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 15:36

Exactly, but they, they just had nine ladies in front of their goal, which made it very difficult for us to score. But we pounded the goals. We were, we outshot them the possession time we dominated the game. But when you put that many people back there, they were hoping for a zero zero tie is what they were hoping for. And you know.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:00

their defensive backfield the week before with six defensive backs, 15 yards off the line of scrimmage. Yes.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:06

Yep. Exactly. So coming up.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:09

Yeah. East Tennessee State on the road, that's a big one. East Tennessee state is a point behind the cat mounts right now in the standings. They're undefeated right now with three wins with a with three ties right now is East Tennessee State have a lot of ties. I, I think they ought to go to that. Tiebreaker at the end of the game now in conference play. But that will be a bit, and then back home next Sunday against UNC Greensboro sort of the middle of the pack type team.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:37

Right.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:37

are the the action coming up for our women's soccer team, the Defending Southern Conference Champions this week volleyball. Right now hovering down there toward the top of the bottom half of the league had a couple of tough losses this weekend. Chattanooga and Sanford, they go on the road this weekend. They go to Mercer and Furman trying to right the ship there and so forth.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 16:58

Well, we had, we won the first two sets against Chattanooga and then lost three consecutive to bow out of that game, unfortunately. But so their, their playing is better than their record to me.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 17:13

it is. It is. And I, I, I think coach is gonna get that thing turned around women's golf teams at the Wofford inter Collegiate this week. I think that starts today. The men's team also playing today down at. And at Elon College, actually in Burlington, Alamance Country Club, a very strong field down there. And, and those guys are really got it going this year. They're, I think they're really a legitimate contender for the Southern Conference Championship. This season. They're having to go cross country. Is that upstate this weekend? USC Upstate and the Southern Conference Championships coming up November the first. Right now that's both the men's. Men and women cross country teams.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 17:53

Yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 17:54

And so we got basketball starting real soon here, buddy. We got an exhibition games for both teams. The men's team's gonna be against Brevard College here in about two and a half weeks. And the women's team just a little over two weeks, they're gonna be, taking on an exhibition, actually November the sixth, then regular season will play that actually starts the first week in November. Can you believe that, Bob? I remember when I was in school here at Western, you could not start practiced until October the 15th.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:24

Right.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:25

play a game until Thanksgiving weekend. You know, the end of

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:29

Yeah.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:30

and now goes on. Times have changed. Now I know I've gotta get with the time changes.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:38

Yeah, absolutely.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:40

Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:40

Tell us we've got our next guest coming up on tracking the cats coming up next week.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:47

Yeah.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:47

Got a very interesting guest. I.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 18:49

Yeah, we want to get Ryan Hips on here. Who is the PA voice that you hear in football and basketball games at Western have for, for many years and, and he's got something special he wants to talk about too, and we'll give you that connection later on. But it's about the writer cup. And he was right there in the middle of everything going on at Beth Page, and he can tell us all about the conduct. Of both sides

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 19:10

Oh boy.

squadcaster-h3eb_1_10-13-2025_090932: 19:12

the Americans and the Europeans and what get on he'll give us some good inside stuff on that. So looking forward to seeing Ryan with us on our next issue.

bob-sabin_1_10-13-2025_090932: 19:21

Sounds good. Well, that about does it for this bonus edition of Tracking the Cats, Steve White, and I'll be back to see y'all next week, maybe after the Citadel Game, but certainly with Ryan in the middle of next week. We're brought to you as always by Stanbury Insurance. Your insurance specialists for Western North Carolina and surrounding states, they have offices in Silva, Waynesville, Clyde and Highlands. But until next time, we'll see y'all soon.