Bye Week Recap: Toppers Defense Declaws the Bearkats, Dominate Second Half, Win 31-14
Family Dinner Table: After falling behind 14-10 to Sam Houston State, the Western Kentucky defense shut down the Bearkats as the WKU offense scored 21 straight points.
Western Kentucky headed to Sam Houston ready for a war. Don’t let the score fool you into thinking this was anything but a war. Two very physical defenses battled against two powerful offenses. There were hard hits, injuries, and some drama.
The first half of the game played out better than Conference USA could have hoped: Two of the top teams going back and forth on the field and on the scoreboard. It was great TV. A tactical, scoreless third quarter led to WKU blasting the game open with some quick touchdown drives in the early fourth quarter, and the WKU defense would continue to get stops and force turnovers the rest of the way. The WKU defense frankly struggled some from a tackling and contain perspective, but at the end of the day, the WKU defense forced Sam Houston to pass the football, and eventually, Sam couldn’t produce.
If you’re a sports fan, hopefully you have someone you can talk about your favorite team with. Well, for father-son duo David and Matt McCay, they are each other’s backboard to see if any of their ideas are of any account. Every once in a while, those bricks clank against the backboard and find their way into the bucket. Most often, it probably looks like you in your backyard shooting it off of the gutters of your house, Jackie Moon.
Heated battles may happen around the dinner table at your home, so in honor of those tense moments when you nearly roll into a fight about long snapper depth, we salute you with this series from the McCay’s. Hopefully they won’t roll into a public argument, but hey things happen.
Before and after each game, Matt and David will put their own spins on their thoughts on the matchup. In a preview article, they’ll talk about what they see, whatever that may be, whether it’s about the food at the stadium, fan experience, roster depth, or big picture football thoughts. One will go and then the other. In a postgame article, they will react with whatever vitriol or euphoria they feel at the time.
In honor of the Monday morning quarterbacks, the heated debates, the differing opinions, and the people screaming from the upper deck and their wives grabbing their arm telling them to shut up because you’re embarrassing them, this one’s for you.
Papa McCay
David’s Recap of the First Half
These contrasting styles were fascinating to watch, especially in the first half. It started as soon as WKU received the kickoff and in seven plays scored the game’s first touchdown on a 17 yard pass from Caden Veltcamp #10 to River Helms #87. After two defensive stops for each team, Sam Houston marched 77 yards on eight plays to tie the game at 7-7. On the subsequent drive, Western countered with a ten play, four minute drive and 51 yard field goal by Lucas Carniero #17 to go up 10-7. After receiving the Western kickoff, The Bearkats quarterback Hunter Watson # 10 bombed the WKU defense with a 50 yard pass to Michael Phoenix II # 4 to go ahead 14-10. Western counterattacked with a methodical 13 play, 75 yard, five minute TD drive to take the lead back from Sam Houston State. Veltcamp found Elijah Young #3 wide open in the left flat and he walked (literally) into the end zone.
Sam’s next drive and how Western closed out the half was very interesting to me. After receiving the kickoff, Sam Houston had a five yard penalty followed by a short run. The next two plays, around some timeouts, were runs by Hunter Watson. If you rewatch those runs, Hunter gets hit HARD multiple times as he goes down on each play. After the second play, Watson looks unsteady on his feet as he gets up and heads to the Bearkat sideline before the fourth down punt. Little did we know, it would be the last action that Hunter Watson would play this day.
Western did not choose to use its third timeout before the punt, so the clock ran down to 59 seconds as the punt went out of bounds at the 25. Western was able to run seven plays and gain 57 yards, but did not seem to be in hurry to snap the ball and try to get into field goal position. The last play of the half was a 36 yard pass from Veltcamp to Michael Mathison #4. I thought the officials should have checked the clock to see if any time was left, but they did not. Coach Helton must have thought the same thing as he seemed frustrated with the officials as WKU heads to the locker room up 17-14.
Second Half Domination
Sam Houston came out of halftime and moved the ball on their first drive, but looked different as they were now being quarterbacked by Jase Bauer #8. This drive was 10 plays and 44 yards, but WKU stopped the Bearkats offense and forced a 47 yard field goal that was well short and wide right. The rest of the third quarter was a defensive battle for field position. The fourth quarter started with WKU’s Upton Stout #21 interception that on tape looked like a toe tap with green between his red shoes and the white sideline. The back judge ruled an interception, but he was overruled by one of the other officials. Upon review, the officials let the play stand as an incomplete pass. Sam Houston advanced the ball to the WKU 15 where Western’s special teams unit blocked a 32 yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game.
Western took over the ball on the 20 yard line. After two short runs by Elijah Young, Caden Veltkamp shot a pass to K.D. Hutchinson #15 wide open over the middle. KD blew past the Sam defenders for a 74 yard TD play to make it WKU 24-SHSU 14. Western’s defense rose up and stripped the ball away from Sam Bauer and WKU recovered on the Sam Houston 24 yard line. Three plays later on 3rd-and-5, Caden ran 19 yards on a beautiful quarterback sweep into the endzone, WKU 31-SHSU 14. WKU’s defense held the rest of the way forcing a turnover on downs and an interception before time expired.
Some Statistics for Both Teams
WKU amassed 411 yards total (281 passing, 130 rushing) and committed only one turnover, a fumble in the closing minutes. Westerns defense gave up 400 yards (235 passing, 165 rushing), forced two turnovers, and a turnover on downs. The 130 yards rushing is the sixth straight game Western has rushed for more than 100 yards. Sam Houston came into the game averaging 230 yards or so per game rushing, so WKU’s defense holding them well under their average was a great victory. The 14 points also means that Western’s defense has held opponents to an average of under 15 points ain the last six games. Excluding 63-0 the performance at Alabama, WKU would be in the top 15 in the country in defensive points allowed per game, according to the ESPN announcers.
Caden Veltcamp threw for 281 yards on 20/29 passing, three TDs and ZERO Ints and rushed 14 times for 27 yards and a TD. Elijah Young led all rushers with 23 carries for 93 yards, a fumble, and added three catches for 61 yards and a TD. Five Western receivers had three catches each as Sam Houston seemed to double cover Kisean Johnson #0 most of the game. K.D. Hutchinson led WKU receivers with three catches for 88 yards and a TD.
Western’s defense was led in tackles (7) by Kylan Guidry #5 including five solo tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss. Upton Stout had six tackles and the interception. 18 players recorded a defensive statistic during this game.
An Older Guy’s Conclusion
If Western Kentucky’s football team can continue to play good defense and continue to score 30 or more, the winning ways should continue. Only time will tell. At 5-2 overall and 3-0 in conference, Western finds itself tied in first place with Liberty and in control of their own destiny this season. The next game is at home against Kennesaw State on Wednesday October 30th at 6:30pm. Come in costume as Big Red hopes to scare the feathers off the Owls.
GO TOPS!!!
Young Buck McCay
I’ve got to say that I was nervous heading into this one. I picked a WKU win because I believe in this team and I thought the matchup was such that Sam would have to play perfect football to win. That proved true. After Sam’s starting quarterback Hunter Watson threw for nearly his best total game performance all season in the first half and still trailed 17-14.
Obviously the game was still completely in doubt, but Sam did everything they could, and WKU was just decent in all areas (and really bad in the punting game) in the first half. It stood to reason that WKU could step it up and run away with it, and that’s what they eventually did.
Regardless of the quarterback being knocked out right before halftime, I believe the Tops were going to win this one barring major mistakes. It would have been a nailbiter, but the war of attrition and the fact that Sam Houston needed 300 yards passing to win the game and haven’t mustered more than 225 in any game, it just felt like odds even out.
That’s my opinion. If WKU doesn’t absolutely blow its coverage, angles, and use poor technique on those two touchdown scores, does Sam Houston score all game? Possibly not. Surely they score something, but they would have had to be much more methodical and use their run game to march down the field. That would be remarkable if they were able to do that for two more scores. WKU handed them those touchdowns.
The Tops cleaned the very poor tackling issue and dominated Sam Houston after getting down 14-10.
The Other Narrative
I fully acknowledge that me feeling like it was a foregone conclusion is a bit of a stretch for many people. There’s another narrative that if Watson was not knocked out, the Bearkats may have won.
That’s a completely valid opinion. WKU was up 17-14 at halftime, and the numbers were very even. WKU was also not playing well defensively with some terrible tackling. Having a quarterback with way less throwing ability in the second half clearly gave WKU the edge.
Helton Skirts by With Questionable Decisions
Obviously the Tops won in convincing fashion, so this did not come to the forefront. However, WKU’s Tyson Helton made a very questionable decision to not call timeout as the clock was running out. His offense received the ball with 40 less seconds, and a last second play with no time on the clock ended the first half in field goal range with a timeout in pocket.
WKU cost itself three points (or more) there by not having an extra 35 seconds to drive the ball down the field. It all worked out, but Tyson Helton absolutely brain cramped and didn’t call timeout. There was not another opportunity to call timeout, and he ended up without time with a timeout still in his pocket.
This is now several times this season that Tyson Helton has not chosen to use conventional decision making. A vast majority of people would have called timeout with 1:30 left on the clock instead of letting the clock bleed under a minute.
This is really just a mental note in case we have to come back to this point at some point. Not complaining deeply, but it’s extremely easy to point at the Boston College game and say WKU would have won if the Tops made different decisions.
The Tops won by plenty, so whatever. Be aware, though that this could eventually bite WKU at the exact wrong time sometime later in the season.
Grading the Keys to Victory
Win the Battle of Wills: A
There was obviously a contrast in styles, and Sam Houston’s defense made WKU be more methodical, only allowing three plays over 20 yards. KD Hutchinson’s 76 yard burst was the lone massive gain above 40 yards surrendered by SHSU. It was certainly a battle of wills, but WKU fairly well controlled the outcome of the game, although it was close in the first half. It wasn’t a foregone conclusion, but SHSU was going to struggle to keep up with the Tops in the second half, anyway. WKU did a good job doing what it wanted, was able to run the ball when they wanted, and was able to pass the ball for 281 yards against a defense that gave up (before WKU) less than 200 yards per game through the air.
Decisively Win Special Teams: C-
Before SHSU missed the two field goals (one of which was blocked by Hosea Wheeler), WKU was actually losing special teams, and frankly, that was the only way Sam Houston was as close as they were. WKU was pretty much controlling most things, Sam was kicking kickoffs out of bounds (which I mentioned in my pregame writeup by the way), and WKU was moving the ball offensively. However, Cole Maynard had a really, really bad start to the game, including a 17 yarder in the first quarter. He ended up averaging 30 on the night, singlehandedly dropping his average (47.1) nearly four yards per punt (43.76) on the season.
Bear Down: B+
WKU did run some “Bear” fronts, with five big guys (or more) on the line of scrimmage. This is something Tyson Summers’ defense has done plenty of times against run heavy teams, and Tyson Helton’s other defensive coordinators have done this consistently throughout his tenure, as well. The Tops were struggling with basic tackling in the first half, so they don’t get a complete A+ grade, but ultimately, the Tops kept a good offense from getting more than three touchdowns for the sixth time this season. More a testament to the mentality, the Tops suffocated Sam Houston in the second half, not allowing them to come near the end zone and forcing turnovers late in the game.
Stifle the Run at All Costs: A+
I’m not sure what more you could ask of this defense. A team that was averaging way over 200 yards per game was held way under 200. The Tops forced Sam Houston to pass, and eventually, they started messing it up. Credit to SHSU’s Hunter Watson for passing the football better than he ever had in his life in the first half, but the Tops stifled the SHSU offense in the second half. Although Sam gained more yards in the second half, much of it was gained in desperation time. WKU still made them methodically move the ball down the field.
Qua’vez Humphries Held to Two Explosive Plays or Less: A+
This was a huge win for WKU. When looking at the statistics for SHSU, Humphries clearly stands out as the playmaker in the passing game. The fact that he didn’t have a catch for nearly the whole game and then caught two short ones late in the game was a testament to keeping him at bay. Humphries was averaging over 20 yards per catch. He averaged 8.5 on two catches against WKU. This was a huge reason Sam Houston wasn’t able to overcome.
Watch Out for Kennesaw State
A joke two days ago, Kennesaw State has my attention. A team that hadn’t come within ten points of a win this season knocked out the conference favorite, Liberty. WKU has looked better than Liberty all year, frankly, but it was still Liberty’s conference to lose. Now, the Flames are in desperation mode the rest of the season. And the Owls of the 51st state are riding high on emotion and clinging to hopes of a bowl appearance in their first FBS season. As outlandish as it may seem for a 1-6 team to have hope of making a bowl game, Kennesaw State is going to view every game as an elimination game to bowl eligibility. Coming off a win, they should have all the confidence in the world.
They played quite well to beat Liberty. It wasn’t just a complete garbage fest, although Liberty did plenty to screw itself out of victory. Kennesaw State has some talent in all three phases. Also, if the game is close, Kennesaw’s kicker (Austin Welch) is yet to miss a field goal all season. That’s a real weapon. Watch out for the Owls.
Conclusion: It’s Winning Time
Given the developments of the bye week, it’s WKU’s conference to lose. Jacksonville State is 3-0, as well, but WKU has been the most consistently impressive Conference USA team this season. Liberty and Sam Houston have fallen. FIU, La Tech, and Middle proved pretenders. The two teams with the leg up on everyone else are Jacksonville State and WKU.
Liberty still controls its fate. If they were to win out, they would host the Conference USA Championship Game. However, they have zero margin for error. WKU and JSU could lose one and still host the championship.
All of a sudden, WKU is considered the clear favorite in Conference USA. They have been the more impressive team. With a balanced offense that could get much more prolific through the air and a defense that hasn’t given up more than three touchdowns since Week One at Alabama, the Tops look ready to make it happen.
It’s now the meat of Conference USA season in football, basketball games happen this coming week, Volleyball and Soccer are deep in CUSA play and prepping for the postseason, and the Topper fall calendar is in full swing. Don’t you want to be connected with the only WKU outlet that provides real, unbiased perspective with live tweeting, breaking news, a podcast, and full-length articles? No one else does exactly what we do, and it’s all for FREE! There’s no charge for the one stop shop that is The Towel Rack!
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GO TOPS!!!!