Western Carolina quarterback Cole Gonzales delivered a historic performance on Saturday, passing for a Southern Conference-record 620 yards and five touchdowns to power the Catamounts to a 52-20 victory over Furman.
The win pushed Western Carolina to 3-0 in SoCon play, putting them all alone atop the conference standings (previous league unbeaten Mercer lost to Samford today).
The Catamounts racked up an incredible 801 yards of total offense, the most by any North Carolina college football team this season. Gonzales’ 620-yard game also set the NCAA FCS season-high mark for passing yards and shattered several other records along the way.
Gonzales broke Western Carolina’s school record for single-game passing yards, eclipsing David Rivers’ 474-yard game from 2000. He also surpassed the Southern Conference’s single-game passing record, previously held by Samford’s Liam Welch (582 yards in 2021). Western Carolina’s total offense record broke the 46-year-old SoCon mark of 795 yards set by Chattanooga in 1978.
Gonzales completed 35 of 55 passes, marking his fifth career game with more than 300 passing yards and his fourth with five touchdown passes. His 49 career touchdown passes now place him third in program history, just one short of second place.
Top Players for Western Carolina:
- Cole Gonzales: 35-for-55, 620 passing yards, 5 touchdowns
- Isaiah Johnson: 6 receptions, 117 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Zion Booker: 8 receptions, 103 yards
- Jai Boyd: 3 receptions, 102 yards
- Branson Adams: 48-yard touchdown reception, 70 rushing yards
- Jalynn Williams: 4 carries, 49 yards, 1 touchdown
- Hayward McQueen Jr.: 11 tackles, 3 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks
Despite dominating the first half, Western Carolina led only 17-6 at the break. The second half saw the Catamounts explode for 35 points, including three more passing touchdowns from Gonzales and a rushing score from Jalynn Williams.
Western Carolina’s defense was just as impressive, holding Furman to 61 total yards in the first half and racking up five sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss. Zayveon Wells also added his first career interception.
Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter:
- 14:00 WCU – Isaiah Johnson 15-yard pass from Cole Gonzales (Paxton Robertson kick) | 3 plays, 75 yards | WCU 7-0
2nd Quarter:
- 09:25 WCU – Isaiah Johnson 62-yard pass from Cole Gonzales (Paxton Robertson kick) | 4 plays, 81 yards | WCU 14-0
- 09:12 FUR – Colton Hinton 96-yard kickoff return | WCU 14-6
- 00:02 WCU – Paxton Robertson 26-yard field goal | 11 plays, 73 yards | WCU 17-6
3rd Quarter:
- 11:07 WCU – De’Andre Tamarez 23-yard pass from Cole Gonzales (Paxton Robertson kick) | 8 plays, 76 yards | WCU 24-6
- 04:31 WCU – Jalynn Williams 4-yard run (Paxton Robertson kick) | 6 plays, 70 yards | WCU 31-6
- 00:06 FUR – John Holbrook 3-yard pass from Trey Hedden (Ian Williams kick) | 12 plays, 54 yards | WCU 31-13
4th Quarter:
- 13:17 WCU – Zion Booker 20-yard pass from Cole Gonzales (Paxton Robertson kick) | 5 plays, 75 yards | WCU 38-13
- 05:40 WCU – Branson Adams 48-yard pass from Cole Gonzales (Paxton Robertson kick) | 9 plays, 99 yards | WCU 45-13
- 02:57 FUR – Jackson Pryor 3-yard pass from Trey Hedden (Ian Williams kick) | 9 plays, 79 yards | WCU 45-20
- 01:54 WCU – Malik Knight 32-yard pass from Taron Dickens (Paxton Robertson kick) | 4 plays, 73 yards | WCU 52-20
Up Next:
Western Carolina (4-3, 3-0 SoCon) can take further command of the SoCon race next Saturday, Oct. 26, traveling to Mercer. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m.
This story was compiled and composed with the assistance of ChatGPT. All content at NC Football News is thoroughly reviewed and edited by real humans to ensure accuracy and quality. Thanks to WCU’s Daniel Hooker for information on various school and SoCon records set by the Catamounts today.
