WKU Football: Thoughts After WKU's 42-29 Loss to Liberty
A little late to do game grades, let's just lay out some thoughts quickly heading into UTEP
I figured it might be a little stale to grade the Tops against Liberty, which happened over a week ago at this point. However, the biggest game in The Houch in over half a decade does deserve some reflection.
WKU Football could easily be said to have underachieved thus far in the 2023 season. However, when looking at Vegas, perhaps WKU has slightly underperformed. According to betting experts the day of each game, WKU was expected to lose to Ohio State, Troy, and Liberty. The only game WKU lost unexpectedly was at Jacksonville State, a team that has turned out to be a heck of a surprise coached by a heck of a big fish for the small pond of Conference USA, Rich Rodriguez.
Perhaps the greatest, most frustrating disappointment has been once the Tops have gotten into CUSA play. It was very possible WKU would enter conference play at 2-2 overall, most likely losing to Ohio State and Troy. That happened, so it wasn’t a complete shock to the system. However, WKU was picked to win Conference USA by a wide margin, and the Tops haven’t even looked like a front runner, let alone the clear favorite. Maybe WKU would lose to Liberty in a nail biter and that would be perhaps the lone loss of the conference slate. Instead, Liberty manhandled WKU, winning by 13, but really dominating WKU in so many ways. The Flames didn’t try to pour it on. They just shoved it straight down WKU’s throat and the Tops had no answer defensively.
With WKU dropping its last two (JSU and Liberty), the pipe dreams are over, and now it’s just about finding a way to the championship game and hoping Liberty doesn’t run the Tops out of the building on The Mountain.
Well, to pep it up a little bit while getting to the point, quite simply, the way to the championship is by winning. Despite the frustration of the past two Tuesday night losses on national television, the Tops simply need to win the next four games and second place (of the eligible teams in CUSA) is theirs. Jacksonville State is ineligible, so their sparkling record and splash straight into CUSA does not affect who goes to the championship game, other than playing the spoiler.
WKU draws UTEP this weekend in El Paso, Texas. Then they host a solid and surging New Mexico State team, a game that likely decides who travels to Liberty for the CUSA Championship. The Tops stay at home the following week, playing currently winless but improving Sam Houston. Then the Tops travel down to a comparably warm Miami to finish the season at FIU.
These four games seem much more likely to end up in the win column than the first four conference games, all of which had their serious concerns. WKU did win the first two, but a rivalry game and a dark horse hardly scream “easy W’s”. Heading into this final stretch of four games, WKU is favored by the computers to win each of its next four games by no less than a 73% chance to win.
All of that is a bunch of cadswallop, but it’s just an indication that WKU still has everything right in front of them, and barring a loss to NMSU, the last four games should result in a rematch with Liberty.
It starts with UTEP Saturday night. Put the kids to bed and turn on the Tops and let’s see what happens in El Paso over the weekend. Maybe WKU looks like the team it was supposed to be all season.