Eastern Kentucky @ Western Carolina, Week 0 · 2026
Sat, Aug 29, 2026E. J. Whitmire StadiumCullowhee, NC
The Story
Western Carolina rolls past Eastern Kentucky 45–21.
SeriesWestern Carolina leads 4–3 · Western Carolina won the last meeting, 27–24 · 2023
ClosingClosing Western Carolina −3 · O/U 54.5 · final margin 24Western Carolina covered · Over hit
BOX SCORE
Week 0 · 2026| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Kentucky | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Western Carolina | 7 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 45 |
PLAYER STATS
Week 0 · 2026Passing
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Travers | 22/34 | 305 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lex Thomas | 27/35 | 320 | 9.1 | 3 | 0 |
Rushing
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brayden Latham | 16 | 41 | 2.6 | 0 | 9 |
| Cortez Stone | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 15 |
| Brady Hensley | 6 | 15 | 2.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Tyler Travers | 5 | -10 | -2.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | 29 | 65 | 2.2 | 0 | 15 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lex Thomas | 14 | 69 | 4.9 | 1 | 17 |
| Marlin Cochran | 5 | 60 | 12.0 | 1 | 34 |
| Josh Perry | 16 | 31 | 1.9 | 0 | 11 |
| Anthony Benjamin | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 1 | 14 |
| Michael Rossin | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 40 | 188 | 4.7 | 3 | 34 |
Receiving
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Caldwell | 6 | 102 | 17.0 | 1 | 29 |
| Jarvis Hayes | 5 | 47 | 9.4 | 1 | 19 |
| Caeleb Schlachter | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 21 |
| Jackson House | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 22 |
| Brady Hensley | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 | 30 |
| Cameron Hergott | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 0 | 14 |
| Brayden Latham | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 1 | 9 |
| Totals | 22 | 305 | 13.9 | 3 | 30 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Rossin | 6 | 94 | 15.7 | 0 | 42 |
| AJ Colombo | 6 | 90 | 15.0 | 0 | 25 |
| Bode Burns | 4 | 51 | 12.8 | 1 | 18 |
| Santana Carlos | 1 | 36 | 36.0 | 0 | 36 |
| Josh Perry | 6 | 29 | 4.8 | 2 | 12 |
| Jai Boyd | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 8 |
| Lex Thomas | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jake Young | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 27 | 320 | 11.9 | 3 | 42 |
Fumbles
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | FUM | LOST | REC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Caldwell | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | FUM | LOST | REC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nas Ashenafi | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Interceptions
| Western CarolinaWCU | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marseille Taylor | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Kick Returns
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cortez Stone | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 22 | 0 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hollis | 1 | 59 | 59.0 | 59 | 0 |
Punt Returns
| Western CarolinaWCU | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Colombo | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 5 | 0 |
Kicking
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzz Flabiano | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3/3 | 3 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan McCollum | 1/1 | 100.0 | 20 | 6/6 | 9 |
Punting
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jettson Brown | 5 | 206 | 41.2 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Fitzgerald | 4 | 183 | 45.8 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
Defense
| Eastern KentuckyEKU | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HUR | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Kinley | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Derek Taylor | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aden Tagaloa-Nelson | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Jessee | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack McGrath | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daviyon Hawkins-Ingram | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nasir Spruill | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Caleb Redd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jayden Marable | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaden Smith | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brock Driver | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keshawn Hayden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson Marshall | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Payne Miller | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaleb Neal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson House | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Chappell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braylon Newcomb | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cristian Conyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D.J. Galva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 79 | 39 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Western CarolinaWCU | TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HUR | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Collins | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alant'e Reese | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Moore Jr. | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trystan Anderson | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nas Ashenafi | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Jackson Jr. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jayden Cornelius | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Patierno | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Na'koma Simpson-Nealy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Julian Quintero | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Caleb Turner-Allen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Mckinnis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ja'Torian Mack | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hank Bodine | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fernando Jeanty | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AJ Mintze | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gavin Rowell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marseille Taylor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Adrian Stone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Martin-Durham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jakoby Diamond | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Braylon Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Kerns | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quency Grant III | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terrell Poyser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 60 | 32 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Eastern Kentucky vs Western Carolina Team StatsEKU vs WCU Team Stats
Week 0 · 2026| Eastern KentuckyEKU | Western CarolinaWCU | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1ST DOWNS | 28 |
| 5-13 | 3RD DOWN | 8-14 |
| 2-3 | 4TH DOWN | 0-2 |
| 370 | TOTAL YDS | 508 |
| 305 | PASS YDS | 320 |
| 22-34 | COMP/ATT | 27-35 |
| 9.0 | YDS/PASS | 9.1 |
| 65 | RUSH YDS | 188 |
| 29 | RUSH ATT | 40 |
| 2.2 | YDS/RUSH | 4.7 |
| 9-74 | PENALTIES | 8-80 |
| 2 | TURNOVERS | 0 |
| 1 | FUMBLES LOST | 0 |
| 1 | INT THROWN | 0 |
| 27:45 | POSSESSION | 32:15 |
WHAT IT MEANS
FAN NEWS
2026 seasonWrite about Eastern Kentucky?
Link a team hub in a post on your own blog and it shows up here, in front of the fans looking for exactly it. Free, no exclusivity, and the link back to you is the whole point.
