Box Score CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Graduate quarterback Nate Hampton passed for 263 yards and two scores while adding 130 on the ground to go along with four touchdowns, leading the Gardner-Webb (1-0) football team to an improbable 52-42 win at No. 19 Western Carolina (0-1) on Saturday evening at Whitmire Stadium. The Runnin' Bulldogs trailed by as many as 28 points (35-7) in the game, marking the biggest comeback win in the history of the program.
Redshirt-sophomore receiver Chris Lofton led the receiving corps for GWU, hauling in three passes for 102 yards. Graduate wide receiver Anthony Lowe added five catches and 80 yards to go along with two scores.
Graduate running back Quasean Holmes eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground, chewing up 116 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt-junior Carson Gresock chipped in 80 yards rushing.
Redshirt-junior linebacker Jamari Young anchored the defense with 11 total tackles, including one tackle for loss and one sack. Redshirt-junior defensive back Sabin McLaughlin added eight tackles, six of the solo variety.
Offensively, Gardner-Webb turned in 631 yards on 88 plays, an average of 7.2 yards per play while 339 of those yards came on the ground.
After a strong defensive start, Gardner-Webb wasted no time putting points on the board as Holmes took the second play from scrimmage, galloping 65 yards untouched for the Dawgs first score of the season.
However, Western Carolina came right back to tie knot the score at 7-all after a 29-yard rushing touchdown by Patrick Boyd following a turnover by the Runnin' Bulldogs offense. The Catamounts took their first lead of the contest on the next possession after marching 64 yards on nine plays, capped by a Camury Reid 3-yard run.
That lead quickly ballooned to 21-7 after a 61-yard interception return put the Catamounts inside the 5-yard line with a goal-to-go situation. Gardner-Webb looked poised to hold WCU to a field goal attempt, but a pass-and-catch on third down pushed the score to two touchdowns.
From that point, Western Carolina continued to pour it on, running the unanswered point streak to 35 straight following touchdown receptions of 25 and 69 yards.
The Runnin' Bulldogs were finally able to stop the scoring run, putting the ball in the end zone for the first time since their opening drive. Lofton started the drive with a 27-yard catch before Holmes ripped off a 19-yard scamper to the left. Graduate receiver Anthony Lowe capped the drive with an 18-yard pitch-and-catch from Hampton, trimming the deficit to 35-14.
Momentum began to shift to the sideling of the visitors as Gardner-Webb held the Catamounts to a three-and-out before taking its ensuing drive and marching 65 yards on seven plays for another trip to paydirt. On the drive, Hampton connected with graduate Caleb Borders on passes of 37 and 22 yards, the latter coming on the heels of a 4th-and-7, before Hampton called his own number for a 1-yard plunge.
The halftime break did nothing to stop the momentum of the Dawgs as Gardner-Webb took the opening drive of the second half and went 75 yards on six plays, capped by a 36-yard aerial strike from Hampton to Lowe, closing the gap to a single score with 12:13 left in the third quarter.
Following stalled drives by both sides, Western Carolina added to its advantage after Boyd ripped off a 70-yard run to set the ball up inside the GWU five. Reid finished the scoring drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
The back-and-forth affair continued on Gardner-Webb's next possession with the Runnin' Bulldogs closing the gap to seven for the second time of the half. Lofton hauled in a 55-yard bomb on 2nd-and-9, putting the ball at the WCU 1-yard line, but a costly penalty moved the ball back to the 16. However, Hampton used his legs and scrambled for the required yards before diving into the endzone with just over a minute expired off the 4th quarter clock.
The Runnin' Bulldogs defense stood tough while forcing Western Carolina to a three-and-out before knotting the score at 42-all with 10 minutes left in the game. Gresock started the drive in grand fashion, breaking a run up the middle for 55 yards, giving the Dawgs a goal-to-go situation. Hampton punched his third rushing score of the contest just two plays later.
A huge fumble recovery by graduate Antonio O'Berry gave the Runnin' Bulldogs prime field position at the WCU 28-yard line. Junior Charlie Viorel drilled a 21-yard yard field goal, his first in a Gardner-Webb uniform, giving the Dawgs a 45-42 lead, their first since early in the first quarter, with 2:36 left in the game.
Gardner-Webb put the game on ice after junior safety Josiah Harris picked off Bennett Judy followed by Hampton's fourth rushing score of the game, a 26-yard burst to the end zone, pushing the Runnin' Bulldogs ahead 52-42 with less than two minutes to play.
Gardner-Webb returns to the gridiron on Saturday, September 6, traveling to Atlanta, Ga. to face the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech. Kickoff from Bobby Dodd Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on the ACC Network and live stats will be available at www.gwusports.com.
