Family Dinner Table: EKU Preview
FB: The McCay’s continue their new series themed around family sports arguments. This week, it’s EKU week! EKU means a lot to “old school” Topper fans, but is it a big deal to anyone under 35 or 40?
After a predictable result and disappointing details, the Tops move on from Alabama (who climbed another spot to fourth in the rankings) to face old school OVC rival EKU, a team who also got blown out by a massive margin (56-7) to an SEC school (Mississippi State).
Both teams know where they stand, but like EKU Walt Wells said in his press conference, “We’re not competing for the SEC championship.” Now both teams face a more reasonable opponent, one they both know poses a bit more of an opportunity.
Both teams probably feel they can do their thing. EKU takes supreme confidence that their 5-6 team from last year hung with a solid UK team and only lost by 11 last year in game two. If they play a good game and WKU isn’t sharp, they could easily pull off the stunner. WKU hopes to right the wrongs of week one and blow out EKU and let everybody know that everything is going to be ok.
Regardless of Week One, a juicy rivalry game is upon us. Although both teams are not equal footing in terms of resources, scholarships, and overall branding anymore, this is a game that has been played between these two schools 85 times, and neither team has ever dominated the rivalry. WKU holds the upper hand by double digits, but both teams have won a respectable number of games in the real “Battle for the Bluegrass”.
On top of the general interest generated by the idea of renewing a rivalry from yesteryear, EKU comes in with beef, feeling like WKU has blocked them from joining the Football Bowl Subdivision. WKU is fired up because EKU has nixed the “White Out” idea for WKU, insisting that they exercise their right as the away team to wear white and force the home team to wear dark uniforms. WKU announced their intentions to have EKU be a “White Out” in the middle of the summer. EKU must have missed that e-mail, because they announced Tuesday of game week that they would not play nice, and they will be forcing WKU to wear their Topper reds.
They’re playing chess not checkers, I guess? Good luck ticking off big brother, Eastern.
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.
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 honor of the Monday morning quarterbacks, the heated debates, the differing opinions, and the people screaming from the upper deck, this one’s for you.
“I brought you into this world, and I’ll take you out!” -David McCay
Saturday marks the 86th meeting in college football between the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels and The Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers. This game is nicknamed “The Battle of the Bluegrass.” Dating back to 1914, there have been more games between these two college teams than any other in the state. The game was played almost every year until 2008 and as WKU transitioned to 1-A, no more meetings happened until 2017.
There is no trophy or prize for the winner, but I understand the presidents may have placed bets in the past. As OVC rivals, the annual meeting tended to determine who would represent the conference in the Division 1-AA playoff with the two sometimes also meeting in the playoffs too. I just realized…WKU left the OVC 40 years ago. Now I feel older.
Some people may be confused and think that “The Battle of the Bluegrass” is University of Louisville playing The University of Kentucky in football or basketball, but that rivalry game is called “The Governors Cup.” Even though they met first in 1912, UL and UK have only met 35 times with most of those games coming since 1994.
Why is This Game Still Important?
It is a historic college football rivalry. Up until 2008, WKU and EKU played more times than Alabama and Auburn, “The Iron Bowl” now at 88 meetings. If the WKU and EKU matchup had not been stagnant for 15 years, (due to WKU moving to division 1A) this years meeting would be 101. Well anyway shoulda, woulda, coulda…
Western Kentucky leads the all time series with 47 wins, 35 losses and three ties. Western has the largest margin of victory at 50-0, set in 1930. WKU holds the longest win streak at 13 games between 1921 and 1941. The current win streak is three (WKU won in 2007, 2008 & 2017). EKU’s longest win streak was five games between 1988 and 1992.
Older Alumni from both schools as well as the coaches believe this is an important game for history, for the rivalry, their schools, their fans, and their seasons. Both teams come off horrible losses to SEC schools. EKU lost 7-56 to Mississippi State and WKU lost 0-63 to #5 Alabama. Both teams have something to prove come Saturday evening at 6pm central. Both teams struggled offensively and both teams gave up big plays on defense.
What Should Be Expected from EKU?
Coach Walter Wells, former player and assistant coach at EKU, former assistant and OC and WKU and current Head Coach of Eastern, believes his team will be ready to play against Western. He said he was excited to renew the Battle of the Bluegrass Rivalry and expected to see a big crowd at Smith Stadium. EKU teams under Coach Wells have consistently played well in week two after a bad loss in week one. Last season after losing to Cincinnati 66-13, EKU led UK well into the third quarter before losing 28-17 the following week.
Matt Morrissey #4 will lead the Colonels on the field as a 6’4” 229 pound pocket passer. Morrissey is a transfer from Northern Iowa and Western Illinois. Against Mississippi State on Saturday, Matt went 22-38 passing for 169 yards, one touchdown, and one interception (pick six), delivering the ball to eleven different receivers. EKU ran 76 plays for more than 38 minutes, including a 14 play, 75 yard TD drive at the end of the first half.
Joshua Carter #8 led the Colonels in rushing with 75 yards on 19 attempts. Brayden Latham #14 was close behind with 71 yards on 14 attempts. If the running backs are able to rush for nearly 150 yards this Saturday, EKU will make this a close game.
Eastern Kentucky’s defense struggled against Mississippi State’s offense giving up 247 yards passing with three TDs and 203 yards rushing with three TDs. Of course, Coach Wells believes his players will improve drastically when they come to Bowling Green on Saturday.
What Should Be Expected From WKU?
TJ Finley #2 and Caden Veltcamp #10 did not impress anyone on Saturday against Alabama at quarterback. Veltcamp only had 9 passing attempts and eleven yards in around 34 minutes of game time. Finley had 92 yards passing with two interceptions and 17 yards rushing. One of these two must step up and have a monster game. I would love to see them both light it up on Saturday against a hopefully inferior EKU defense.
WKU had almost no rushing on Saturday as the offensive line struggled to open holes and protect the quarterbacks. Alabama dominated both lines of scrimmage, limiting Western’s offensive production and defensive effectiveness. This Saturday will tell us something. Was the Alabama game an anomaly or reality? Is Alabama that good or is Western that bad? There are just so many questions when you get beat 63-0.
Western’s receivers need to get open and catch the ball. Alabama’s defensive backs did not allow any receivers to be open the entire game. Was it Alabama’s speed or was it bad play design by the WKU coaches? Whatever it was does not need to carry into Saturday’s game.
The Hilltopper defense had moments of brilliance, sack of Milroe, bad snap recovery, putting pressure on Milroe. But overall it was painful to watch as Milroe escaped time and again from the grasp of a Western player to burn us downfield. EKU’s quarterback is a slower pocket passer, so contain him and bring him down. Plug the holes in the running game and do not gamble so much with the blitz packages.
David’s Prediction
If Western is going to be the team they have the potential to be, they must learn from Alabama, fix the problems that were exposed, and absolutely whitewash EKU on Saturday. If this game is close, then this season may be a struggle for the Hilltoppers. WKU should dominate on Saturday. I believe our Toppers will come out mad as heck about all the stuff EKU is doing about the White Out and other things being said in the media and bloody EKU’s pretty white uniforms. All that will lead to total domination by the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. In our group predictor article, my thoughts may not have been clear, but I will set the record straight. Western will win the game handily. WKU 70 - EKU 7
“You forced me into this world; I’ll force you out!” -Matt McCay
Hey, I say good for Eastern. I think it’s hilarious…but creating drama out of thin air is a misstep. It may result in 50 more of your fans showing up, and it might make your players smile a little bit, but it also just ticked off a locker room that was probably going to come out way less fired up than you probably made them.
If you want to fire young athletes up more than anything else, piss them off about their gear. I swear, as an equipment manager, players would get more worried about their crap than worry about the fact that they were a walk-on slap!
Seriously, they would get so fired up when we revealed the black jerseys to them, or when we gave them new cleats. When we upgraded their lockers, they were swooning.
I’m telling you…we’ll probably see the most motivated WKU team in years. I guarantee you they’re pissed about it, and they will try to take it out on Eastern. You laugh, but I swear it’s probably true.
Into the Mind of Walter Wells…
So in my time at WKU, Walter Wells…oh lord. How do I say this? That dude is crazy. I mean he’s a wild animal on the practice field.
He’s one of those old ball coaches that said stuff so crazy that you about piss your pants laughing at him, and then he calls you out for it, and you re-piss your pants because you’re scared he’s going to kill you.
Certifiable maniac.
But lovable. I mean honestly, a really good, nice man that loves people off of the field. A bit of a douche, but a lovable douche.
And freaking HILARIOUS. I mean, sidesplitting “what in God’s name did he just say?!?” type of hilarious.
And I would bet my mortgage that the White Out issue was totally his idea, or he definitely 100 percent signed off on it. I bet they said something about packing the maroon uniforms, he probably said, “Are you (bleeping) kidding me?” and then several more cuss words and then consciously decided to stir the pot.
I mean this is the guy that staged fights between the coaches. This is the guy that asked me what was wrong with me (not REMOTELY how he asked it) on my first day at a WKU practice. This is the guy that would have these country football phrases that were just awesome.
We would change from an individual period down at the open end by the trees and then have a red zone blitz period down by the scoreboard, and not five seconds after the horn blew for the next period, he and his chicken legs were running down the field like a Tennessee Walking Horse screaming “WHY AREN’T WE SNAPPIN?!?”
“WHAT ARE WE WAITIN ON?!? THE SPRING DANCE?!?”
“You look like a pregnant armadillo!”
When a lineman batted a pass down, he yelled at an offensive lineman in 2010 or so, “Grab two fistfuls full of TEE-ITS and punch eem straight in the gut and he won’t do it again!”
“What the hell you lookin at, manager? Don’t you got something to do.”
“Get your thumb out your (butt)!”
A colorful man.
I mean, he’s awesome, though. I’m so happy for him. He had a tough go of it after leaving WKU. He was forced to move away from his family to find work, probably worked with a bunch of people he didn’t like, bounced around in the doldrums, went as low as an offensive quality control guy (basically a grad assistant), and worked his way back up and kind of fell into the EKU job.
Most of the time, he’s stayed in the general area of Kentucky and Tennessee, and only when he had to did he go to USF with Willie T and NMSU for a short stint. He’s a family man.
Wells is a tough nosed offensive lineman’s dream. They love him. He loves toughness in the trenches, generally has a good running game, and approaches offense from up front and works out from there.
I guarantee you EKU will be tough, and they will talk all game. You can bet on it. If you remotely know anything about Wells, the Colonels will take on his on-field persona: Intense, nasty, and talkative.
Other WKU Connections in the EKU Staff (In no particular order)
OLB/Special Teams Coach Derek Day (Graduate assistant at WKU under Willie Taggart)
Assistant HC/Nickels Coach Mike Dietzel (DC on David Elson’s staff during FBS transition years); wife, Jennifer, is a WKU grad.
DL/Run Game Coordinator Eric Mathies (on WKU staff with Wells from 2005-12); this guy was really funny, too. He used to tell his D-line to not be statues because the birds would crap on them.
The Battle of the Bluegrass
This game has been played 85 times, and although WKU owns the winning record in the rivalry, WKU only holds a 48-35-3 advantage in the series. In addition to the gridiron, WKU and EKU have significant history in basketball, playing 93 times with Western having a .742 winning percentage. However, the most notable games in the rivalry came when both teams were in the OVC about a half century ago.
Eastern is now not one of WKU’s top rivals in terms of being on the mind all the time in Topper fans’ heads. Some Gen X’er and Baby Boomer Toppers feel strongly about WKU, but nothing significant has happened in the rivalry in several decades.
However, it is one of the oldest rivalries in sports. It may not be on the casual college football fan’s radar, but the Hilltoppers and Colonels have been battling each other since the 1910s, meeting a few hundred times when combining all sports together. There’s a lot of emotion for some people, and these types of rivalries help make a game like this, a game between two directional schools, one an FCS and one an FBS, interesting and exciting.
BEAT EASTERN!
WKU Injury News and Notes
According to reliable sources, WKU starting QB TJ Finley may have banged up his hand some in the Alabama game. He did not play after several people noted he was wringing out his hand. He seems to be in line to start once again, but keep an eye on Finley’s hand.
G Wesley Horton started ten games last season, but is not even listed on the depth chart for WKU and didn’t play at Alabama. Although nothing has been announced, it seems he is not available.
S Virgil Marshall is also suspiciously off of the depth chart. Marshall was likely a key player in the WKU defense and also did not play against Alabama.
EKU Injury News and Notes
Key starter LB Kylan Robinson is out for the season
Walt Wells also commented before the Mississippi State game that the receiver room had been banged up.
Keys to Victory
WKU Should Control the Line of Scrimmage
Western Kentucky is the bigger, faster, stronger team. Or at least they should be. If WKU is not the dominant team up front, that is often where the biggest advantage is in college football. There’s a difference between Power Five, Group of Five, FCS, and Division II linemen. WKU needs to be dominant up front and they will probably win the game.
TJ Finley and/or Caden Veltkamp Need to Look Like Excellent Quarterbacks
Another big difference should be quarterback play. Sometimes other positions can be more even, but WKU needs to make its hay in some important areas. More than just this particular game, WKU fans are clamoring to see a sign that the quarterback position is going to be alright. Neither quarterback showed much last week, with both combining to lead the Tops to a hideous 145 total yards. These guys need to show some ability. Rivalry game or not, this is an FCS opponent, and the offense should look incredible against an FCS defense, especially one that was bad last year and showed no sign of greatness against Mississippi State.
Keep an Eye on the Defensive Line Pressure
I know this is kind of included in the “line of scrimmage” idea above, but the defensive line is a known question mark for the Tops. Hosea Wheeler got home against Alabama, but other than one other tackle for loss, there wasn’t much to go on in the Alabama game. If WKU can show Topper fans that they can blow up the line of scrimmage, maybe fans can salivate over how good this defensive front could be.
Control the Feel of the Game
EKU is going to try to score a bunch of points. They’ll try to get a few stops against the Tops. If this is a high scoring affair and EKU is able to bust some huge plays, they could be in it. If WKU does what it does, making life difficult, blowing up drives with big plays, and keeps EKU from running the ball effectively, the Colonels will have a heck of a time coming up with enough points to beat the Tops.
Stop the Run
In honor of EKU’s Walter Wells and Eric Mathies, I promise you the game plan for EKU is “stop the run”. Whenever I spoke to Eric Mathies at practice, I would always ask him, “Alright Coach what’s the game plan? How do we beat ____?”, without variance, he would say, “Stop the run.” Wells and Mathies absolutely will emphasize success of the run game as the key to winning any football game. Offensively or defensively, that will be the approach. It’s a great philosophy, especially considering WKU struggled to stop the run last season. If the Toppers can find a way to simply slow an opponent down on the ground, especially a team like Eastern that will look to rush for 250 yards if they’re allowed, they will have success and give the offense the best chance to have an easier day at the office.
Prediction
I saw Dad’s 70-7 prediction and that boggles the mind for sure. Old man is crazy y’all. I’m not going that far…
But to his point…alright Eastern. You yanked on the big dog’s chain. Now let’s see if the Tops have some bark. Now fans will be into it more than they would have been, and the players have reason to be riled about you picking a fight about uniform colors.
It’s classic little brother syndrome. EKU wanted attention, and they got it. Now do something about it, short stuff. Bring it on.
This feels like a much better matchup stylistically. EKU scored 29 points per game last year and racked up a lot of yards. But they also were not the best team defensively, giving up nearly four more points per game than they scored (29 to 33). Against Mississippi State, EKU gave up 56 points and 450 yards. They were actually able to move the ball, so I expect them to have some ability and score a few times against WKU.
However, I also think because of the shenanigans, WKU is going to come in laser focused and ready to go. I also think WKU realizes how far it was last week from being its best. They should be hyper motivated to come out and prove something.
I feel like WKU comes out looking like one of the best teams in Conference USA, and I think the WKU defense is going to sneak up on some people and play lights out a few times, unlike some seasons under Tyson Helton.
I’m going to call WKU big in this one. Give me Western Kentucky 48-Eastern Kentucky 14.
Hey, it’s Topper time in the Houch, folks. It’s finally here. Hopefully the stadium will be sold out, in white (or red because who cares what color we wear?), and ready to stomp Eastern like we always do.
Pretend it’s Middle, pretend it’s Marshall, pretend it’s Murray, pretend it’s UK, pretend it’s Louisville. Pick WKU’s most disliked opponent, because it’s rivalry time in the Bluegrass!
Tops take on Eastern at 6 PM tonight in the Houch.
Let’s get it on and BEAT EASTERN!
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