Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens made NCAA historical past within the Catamounts’ 23-21 win over Wofford on Saturday when he accomplished his first 46 cross makes an attempt of the sport. His effort set a brand new file throughout all NCAA divisions for probably the most consecutive completions in a recreation, breaking the earlier mark of 29 that Princeton’s Quinn Epperly set in a 2013 outing.
Dickens’ outing Saturday additionally shattered the NCAA file for many completions in a row for a single season; East Carolina’s Dominique Davis strung collectively 36 throughout two video games in 2011. Dickens accomplished his last 4 passes towards Campbell final week earlier than going for 46 straight on Saturday, so he ended up finishing 50 consecutive passes.
The disparity between competitors ranges creates a close to apples-to-oranges comparability, however for reference, the NFL file for consecutive completions is 25.
Dickens completed the day at 53 for 56 for 378 yards and three touchdowns. He additionally ran 19 occasions for a further 44 yards. Not solely have been his total numbers astonishing, however Dickens additionally delivered in crunch time as he led the Catamounts 51 yards down the sector to arrange a go-ahead subject aim late within the fourth quarter, which proved to be the distinction within the recreation.
Effectivity has at all times been a trademark of Dickens’ profile. Getting into Saturday’s contest, he carried a profession completion price of 72.7% throughout 11 video games. With the historic effort added to the equation, he’s out of the blue as much as 76.5% for his profession. The third-year sophomore is remarkably correct and is now as much as 26 profession touchdowns to simply three interceptions.
Dickens is off to a monstrous begin to the season. Following a three-game suspension for an instructional violation, he debuted on Sept. 20 with 582 passing yards and 6 touchdowns and adopted up that efficiency with 427 yards and 4 scores the subsequent week.
Dickens made fairly the impression down the stretch of the 2024 season when he began the ultimate 4 video games. He accomplished 73.8% of his throws throughout seven whole appearances on the 12 months and was primarily unstoppable in a pair of dominant efforts towards Chattanooga and Samford when he handed for 431 yards and 408 yards in these matchups, respectively.
The improbable conclusion to final season earned Dickens every kind of preseason accolades. He was named the SoCon Preseason Offensive Participant of the Yr and picked up Preseason All-American honors regardless of holding simply 4 video games of beginning expertise.
