What exactly is a Catamount?

Spencer Rattler and the Sooners face Western Carolina on Saturday to recover from a shaky start in Oklahoma kick-off 2021.

It will be the very first meeting between the Sooners and the Catamounts who will travel to see Norman after losing their opener against the Eastern Kentucky Football Championship Subdivision team.

The Sooners are obviously strong favorites (the line is off for this time), but head coach Lincoln Riley made it clear in his press conference on Tuesday that the focus this week will be on getting four quarters of constant play regardless of the opponent, regardless of the opponent Sides of the ball.

Here are five things you should know about Western Carolina before taking on Oklahoma:

A busy year

Western Carolina and the rest of the FCS had moved their 2020 schedule to spring 2021 due to COVID concerns. The WCU’s “spring season” ended on March 27, with the last two games being canceled. Their matchup against OU will actually be the team’s seventh game in 2021.

The Catamounts reached a paltry 1-6 in this range and were outdone by opposing teams with 234-135.

Death of the assistant coach

As with OU’s first opponent in Tulane, displaced by Hurricane Ida, Western Carolina entered the 2021 season with a heavy heart and adversity after offensive line coach John Peacock died unexpectedly of COVID-19 complications in August. He was 32.

“I would like to express our condolences to the Peacock family, their entire soccer team and the program out there at Western,” said Riley at his press conference on Tuesday.

“I can’t imagine what all these boys went through and what the family went through. Coach [Peacock] will certainly be on our minds when we open it and start on Saturday evening. “

Hard-earned loss in week 1

The Catamounts fell to Eastern Kentucky last week in a narrow 31-28 loss that narrowed a potential 56-yard field goal on Summer for kicker Paxton Robertson.

Quarterback Rogan Wells went 24 of 44 for 275 yards for the Catamounts, threw for a touchdown and two picks while adding 67 rushing yards and a rushing TD.

New season, new head coach

After their miserable spring 2021 season, in which WCU only went 1-5 in conference play, head coach Mark Speir was sacked and replaced by former NFL quarterback Kerwin Bell.

Bell was a QB journeyman in his playing days, but spent time with the Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Indianapolis Colts. The Colts were the only team Bell actually took the field for.

He played in exactly one game for Indianapolis. Bell passed 5 for 5, threw for 75 yards and a touchdown. So he ended his NFL career with a mathematically perfect passer rating of 158.3.

Aaron Rodgers, the alleged “all-time leader” in the career QB passer rating, is a meager 104.9. Make it what you want.

What is a Catamount?

A catamount is a general term for different breeds of large wild cats, typically that of a puma or a lynx.

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More coverage of Oklahoma from The Dallas Morning News can be found here.

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