Fabulous 15: Western Carolina’s 801-Yard Offensive Explosion Tops NC in 2024

Western Carolina has long shared a football rivalry with Furman, so the Catamounts’ 52-20 trouncing of the Paladins in Greenville, S.C. this past October certainly was a game to savor. That pleasing contest also produced the most prolific offensive performance involving a North Carolina college football team for 2024.

WCU amassed a school and conference record 801 yards of total offense in the rout. That included a 652-yard team passing performance, which also ranks first in the Old North State for the year. 

We tracked every team that recorded 500 or more offensive yards in a game throughout the season, and that benchmark was reached 40 times. But no one came close to the juggernaut performance by Kerwin Bell’s Catamount machine on Saturday, Oct. 19. Some more highlights:

• Starting quarterback Cole Gonzales set his own school record, throwing for 620 yards and connecting for five touchdowns. Gonzales edited the WCU milestone, which had been held by David Rivers (474 yards vs. Wofford in 2000). He also set a new Southern Conference record, moving Samford’s Liam Welch (582 yards in 2021) to second place. To put it in perspective, the all-time FCS record for passing yards is 730 yards, set by former Old Dominion gun-slinger Taylor Heinicke.
• WCU’s 801 yards eclipsed the former SoCon record of 795 yards earned by Chattanooga in 1978. The previous school mark had been 766 yards, set in a 77-21 demolition of Presbyterian in 2022.
• Three Catamount receivers eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in catches: Isaiah Johnson (6 for 117 yards, 2 TDs), Zion Booker (8 for 103 yards) and Jai Boyd (3 for 102). De’Andre Tamarez (4 for 87), Malik Knight (2 for 69) and Branson Adams (1 for 48) also found the end zone on aerial plays. 
• It took just 60 seconds for WCU to move 75 yards and crack the scoreboard. From there, the rout was on.

From our research, the all-time Division I record (FBS and FCS) for team total offense in a single game is 1,021 yards, reached by Houston in a 95-21 win over SMU in 1989. We have not been able to definitely track down the FCS record, but we do know that Davidson amassed 852 yards of total offense, with a record-setting 789 yards coming on the ground, in a 2018 loss to conference rival San Diego.

Best of the rest | More high octane offenses

Western Carolina appears three times in our list of the top 15 team offensive performances from the 2024 season. The Catamounts also tallied 582 yards at SoCon champ Mercer in week nine, a hard-fought 44-34 loss. WCU finished with 548 yards the following week against Chattanooga, a 38-34 triumph.

UNC Pembroke, which recorded the highest single-game point total of the season (79 points against West Virginia Wesleyan – read more HERE), landed in our top 15 for offense five times. The Braves compiled 675 yards, second in the state behind Western Carolina, in a 67-20 triumph over West Liberty. UNCP reached 619 yards at Concord in its season finale, a 63-7 win.

Top 15 offenses went 13-2 on the season. The only team other than Western Carolina to lose was North Carolina, which put up 616 total yards in a wild 70-50 defeat at home to James Madison. 

Davidson, Brevard, East Carolina, Mars Hill and North Carolina Central also make our Fabulous 15 for total offense (see full list below)

Davidson, which consistently led the FCS in rushing offense under now-departed head coach Scott Abell, had the top single-game rushing performance of the season. The Wildcats bullied their way to 482 yards on 68 attempts in a week three win over Point (42-12). 

The ‘Cats also had rushing games of 411 yards (vs. Stetson ), 399 yards (vs. Catawba) and 384 yards (Marist). All told, Davidson appears in our Fabulous 15 for most rushing yards six times.

Catawba was the only other team to reach 400 yards rushing as a unit. Fueled by All-American back LJ Turner’s 329 yards – the most by a back in North Carolina this season – Catawba finished with 408 yards in an overtime win over Anderson.

Here are the top single-game total offense, rushing and passing performances for 2024 by North Carolina teams across all divisions of play:

NC College Football | 2024 Season Recap

Fabulous 15 | Best In Total Offense

Fabulous 15 | Best Rushing Offenses

Fabulous 15 | Best Passing Offenses

Eric Lusk Publisher & Editor

Eric Lusk started NC Football News in 2023. He's an old newspaper guy with a fondness for underdogs, redemption stories and the triple-option offense. He's a proud graduate of Jesse O. Sanderson High School and UNC's School of Journalism. He's thankful for God's mercy, family and second chances.

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