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 |
Western Carolina vs Eastern Kentucky Team StatsWCU vs EKU Team Stats
Week 0 · 2026| Western CarolinaWCU | Eastern KentuckyEKU | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 1ST DOWNS | 20 |
| 8-14 | 3RD DOWN | 5-13 |
| 0-2 | 4TH DOWN | 2-3 |
| 508 | TOTAL YDS | 370 |
| 320 | PASS YDS | 305 |
| 27-35 | COMP/ATT | 22-34 |
| 9.1 | YDS/PASS | 9.0 |
| 188 | RUSH YDS | 65 |
| 40 | RUSH ATT | 29 |
| 4.7 | YDS/RUSH | 2.2 |
| 8-80 | PENALTIES | 9-74 |
| 0 | TURNOVERS | 2 |
| 0 | FUMBLES LOST | 1 |
| 0 | INT THROWN | 1 |
| 32:15 | POSSESSION | 27:45 |
WHAT IT MEANS
FAN NEWS
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