2002 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

2002 Western Carolina Catamounts football
2002 Western Carolina Catamounts football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	5–6 (3–5 SoCon)
Head coach	Kent Briggs (1st season);
Defensive coordinator	Geoff Collins (1st season)
Home stadium	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium
	Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 Western Carolina Catamounts team represented Western Carolina University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) in the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Catamounts were led by first-year head coach head coach Kent Briggs and played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Western Carolina compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the SoCon.

2002 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 14 Wofford	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 10 Appalachian State ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 9 Furman ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
VMI	3	–	5	6	–	6
Western Carolina	3	–	5	5	–	6
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	4	–	8
Chattanooga	2	–	6	2	–	10
The Citadel	1	–	7	3	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31		at Liberty*	Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA		W 23–3	8,375
September 7	5:00 p.m.	at Auburn*	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	PPV	L 0–56	80,067
September 14		West Virginia Tech*	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC		W 47–3	5,121
September 22		at The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC		W 37–34	14,105
September 28		East Tennessee State	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC		L 7–27	8,121
October 5		at No. 5 Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC		L 23–24	13,125	^[1]
October 12		No. 16 Georgia Southern	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC		L 24–41	7,749
October 19		at Wofford	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC		L 24–31	8,182
October 26		Chattanooga	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC		W 45–28	7,021
November 2		at VMI	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA		W 35–23	5,820
November 9		No. 8 Appalachian State	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC (Battle for the Old Mountain Jug)		L 14–24	10,321	^[2]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^ "Furman pulls out narrow win over WCU". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 6, 2002. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "ASU beats WCU to keep playoff hopes alive". Asheville Citizen-Times. November 17, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "2021 Western Carolina Catamount Football Media Guide" (PDF). Cullowhee, North Carolina: Western Carolina University Athletics. 2021. p. 123. Retrieved November 22, 2021.