Western Carolina junior quarterback Cole Gonzales was dubbed the Southern Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year to highlight 10 Catamounts selected to the preseason All-SoCon teams on Tuesday as part of 2024 SoCon Football Media Day festivities at the Hotel Hartness.
Gonzales was a first-team offense selection, joined by fifth-year senior offensive lineman Blake Whitmore and junior wide receiver AJ Colombo. WCU had a fourth first-team selection in senior long-snapper Colby Cross. Six Catamounts landed on the preseason second-team All-Con including junior running back Branson Adams and senior offensive lineman Derek Simmons. On defense, redshirt senior defensive lineman Curtis Fann Jr., along with three defensive backs in senior Ed Jones IV, senior CJ Williams, and junior Samaurie Dukes rounded out the Catamount honorees.
Western Carolina was picked third in the official preseason coaches’ poll, its highest predicted finish since a third-place nod back in 2015. It’s also the sixth time since 1983 that WCU was picked third in the SoCon preseason poll by the head coaches. The Catamounts received one of the possible nine first-place votes.
Gonzales is the first Catamount to earn the top preseason offensive award since Tyrie Adams was honored ahead of the 2019 season. Gonzales and Whitmore are the lone returning members from WCU’s 14 postseason all-conference honorees in 2023. The preseason nods for all 10 Catamounts this season are the first of their respective careers.
The reigning Roy M. “Legs” Hawley Offensive Player of the Year from 2023, Cole Gonzales completed 204 passes for 2,803 passing yards and a school single-season record 28 touchdown passes last season. A first-team All-SoCon selection in the postseason, the Ocala, Fla., product ranked third in the NCAA FCS with a 166.40 passer efficiency and was tied for 14th overall in passing yards per game at 254.8 yds/gm. Gonzales tossed a career-high five touchdown passes three times including five in the first half alone against Charleston Southern.
Gonzales was a finalist for the 2023 Walter Payton Award given to the top offensive player in the NCAA FCS, finishing a program-best 17th in the national vote. Earlier this summer, Gonzales was named a second-team preseason All-America selection by FCS Football Central.
Junior wide receiver AJ Colombo is coming off a career-best season that saw him catch 31 passes for 438 yards and five touchdowns. The Waxhaw, N.C., product recorded three or more receptions seven times including a career-best seven catches against Mercer. Two of his three catches against Charleston Southern went for a career-best two TDs with 95 receiving yards. Colombo also ranked third in the SoCon with a 12.0 yard per punt return average, returning 16 punts for 192 yards.
Rounding out WCU’s three first-team offense selections is fifth-year senior OL Blake Whitmore. A second-team postseason All-SoCon honoree in 2023, Whitmore started all 11 games along the line at center last season and enters 2024 riding a string of 22 consecutive starts. The Raleigh product helped pave the way for Western Carolina’s school record-setting offense that averaged an NCAA-best 5,545 yards and scored 413 points, 37.6 per game.
Veteran long-snapper Colby Cross enters his fifth season, playing in 22 career games on special teams. Originally from Mooresville, N.C., Cross was the trigger-man in helping former placekicker Richard McCollum to score 93 points in the kicking game in 2023, the fourth-most in a WCU single-season.
Senior offensive lineman Derek Simmons and junior running back Branson Adams were selected to the second-team All-SoCon on offense. Simmons, entering his third year in Cullowhee but second on the active roster, started the first six games in 2023 before being sidelined by injury. The Jacksonville, Fla., product transferred from Tusculum to Abilene Chrisitan before matriculating to WCU. Injury also provided the Catamounts with a sneak peek at its future as Adams played in all 11 games with starts at running back over the final four games. The Greensboro, N.C., product rushed for 539 yards on 89 carries with three touchdowns, eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark once with a career-best 110 yards against ETSU. He added 36 receptions out of the backfield for 266 yards and four TDs including the game-winner at Eastern Kentucky.
Four Catamounts earned second-team defense all-conference plaudits, three of which are seniors on the veteran-laden defense. Entering his second year along WCU’s defensive line, Curtis Fann Jr. posted 22 tackles including 15 solo stops and 2.5 tackles for loss with a pair of sacks last season. A transfer from Akron, the Stillmore, Ga., native forced a team-high three fumbles – tied for the most in the SoCon – with one recovery, posting a career-best five tackles against Charleston Southern.
Safety Ed Jones IV started 10 of the 11 games a season ago and has played in 22 contests over the past two seasons. The transfer from Arlington, Texas, ranked fifth on the WCU squad a season ago with 40 total tackles including 21 solo stops and 4.5 for loss with a pair of sacks. He recorded his first career interception at nationally-ranked Chattanooga, returning the pick 48 yards for a key touchdown in the road win.
Samaurie Dukes, a junior from Miami, Fla., collected his first preseason all-conference honor. A 2022 SoCon All-Freshman team honoree, Dukes has played in 20 games over the past two seasons with 62 combined tackles including 29 last season with 2.5 for loss. He also tallied a team-best three interceptions last fall including two against mountain-rival ETSU in the Blue Ridge Border Battle.
Rounding out WCU’s 10 preseason All-SoCon selections is redshirt senior CJ Williams. A product of Gallion, Ala., Williams converted to defensive back from wide receiver entering the 2022 campaign and has played in 22 games in the secondary with 11 starts in 2023. He finished last season tied for third on the WCU squad with 44 total tackles including 32 solo stops and three for loss. He was credited with six pass breakups with an interception in the road win at EKU.
All nine teams were represented on the preseason All-SoCon teams with Western Carolina and Chattanooga both placing a league-best 10 between the first and second teams. Wofford was third with nine on the honorary squad including five on the first team with Furman garnering eight all-conference selections, four on both teams.
Chattanooga received five of the nine first-place votes from the league’s head coaches to best the defending champion Furman as the favorite to win the 2024 Southern Conference regular season and garner the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA FCS playoffs. The second-place Paladins had three first-place votes with third-place WCU collecting the final tally for the top spot in the poll. The Catamounts edged out Mercer by just four total poll points relegating the Bears to a preseason fourth-place pick followed by Samford, the 2022 regular-season winner.
Rounding out the SoCon preseason coaches’ poll was ETSU in sixth, followed by VMI, Wofford, and The Citadel. The league has seen five different regular-season champions in the past five seasons since a four-way tie back in 2018.
Gonzales was joined by Chattanooga senior defensive lineman Marlon Taylor as the preseason favorite to collect the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year accolades in 2024.
Opening the season on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend on the road at North Carolina State, Western Carolina's football student-athletes officially report for the 2024 preseason fall camp on Monday, July 29, with the first helmet-only practice set for Tuesday, July 30.
Season tickets for Western Carolina's 2024 five-game home schedule are on sale now through the WCU Athletics Ticket Office by phone at (828) 227-2401 and in person through the box office on the first floor of the Ramsey Center, or online at CatamountSports.com. Ticket options include general admission, reserved bleacher bench, and chairback seats, with a Family Zone four-pack in Section FF. A $10 transaction fee will be charged for all season ticket orders including credit card, cash, and check. Single-game ticket sales for the home-opening "White Out Whitmire" game against instate foe Campbell on Sat., Sept. 7, begin on July 25. Individual game ticket sales for the remaining four home dates begin on Aug. 1. Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/CatamountSports), Twitter (@Catamounts, @CatamountsFB), and Instagram (wcu_catamounts).
2024 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Chattanooga (5) 61
2. Furman (3) 56
3. Western Carolina (1) 49
4. Mercer 45
5. Samford 37
6. ETSU 26
7. VMI 23
8. Wofford 19
9. The Citadel 8
2024 Preseason All-Southern Conference Football Teams
Offensive Player of the Year: Cole Gonzales, Jr., QB, Western Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year: Marlon Taylor, Sr., DL, Chattanooga
First team offense
QB Cole Gonzales, Jr., Western Carolina
RB Hunter Rice., Sr., RB, VMI
RB Ryan Ingram, Sr., Wofford
OL Luke Smith, Gr., ETSU
OL Luke Petit, R-Jr., Furman
OL Xavier Jennings, Gr., Mercer
OL Reid Williams, Jr., Chattanooga
OL Tyriq Poindexter, Sr., VMI
OL Blake Whitmore, R-Sr., Western Carolina
TE Jordan Davis, Sr., Wofford
WR Javin Whatley, Jr., Chattanooga
WR AJ Colombo, Jr., Western Carolina
First team defense
DL Xavier Stephens, Sr., Furman
DL Marlon Taylor, Sr., DL, Chattanooga
DL Dorien Starnes, Sr., VMI
DL Brandon Maina, Sr., Wofford
LB Ken Standley, Gr., Mercer
LB Noah Martin, Sr., Samford
LB David Powers, Sr., Wofford
DB Chris Hope, Sr., DB, ETSU
DB Myles Redding, Sr., Mercer
DB Jordan Walker, Jr., Chattanooga
DB Maximus Pulley, Jr., Wofford
First team specialists
PK Ian Williams, R-Sr., Furman
P Nate Brackett, R-Jr., ETSU
LS Colby Cross, R-Sr., Western Carolina
RS Colton Hinton, So., Furman
Second team offense
QB Chase Artopoeus, Sr., QB, Chattanooga
RB Grant Robinson, R-Jr., Furman
RB Branson Adams, Jr., Western Carolina
OL Riley Adcock, Gr., Mercer
OL Chris Noble, Gr., Samford
OL Dave Monnot III, Sr., Chattanooga
OL Derek Simmons, Sr., Western Carolina
OL Anthony Garcia, Sr., Wofford
OL Quincy Hughes, Jr., Wofford
TE Jay Gibson, Sr., Chattanooga
WR Joshua Harris, Jr., Furman
WR Sam Phillips, Jr., Chattanooga
Second team defense
DL Brayden Manley, So., Mercer
DL Jordan Swain, Gr., Mercer
DL Quay Wiggles, Sr., Chattanooga
DL Curtis Fann Jr., R-Sr., Western Carolina
LB Luke Clark, 5th, Furman
LB Evan DiMaggio, R-Sr., Furman
LB Eric Rankin, Sr., VMI
DB Josh Battle, Jr., Sr., Chattanooga
DB Samaurie Dukes, Jr., Western Carolina
DB Ed Jones IV, Sr., Western Carolina
DB CJ Williams, Sr., DB, Western Carolina
Second team specialists
PK Bridger Jones, Jr., Wofford
P James Platte, Jr., The Citadel
LS Tommy DiLiegro, So., Wofford
RS Ivan Thorpe, Jr., WR, VMI
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