WKU Football: What Went Right and What Went Wrong in WKU’s 41-28 Win over FIU
The Hilltoppers looked the best they have in weeks as they finish their regular season with a fairly dominant win over FIU.
And just like that, 2023 has come to a close.
The Hilltoppers ended their regular season winning back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 (MTSU and La Tech) with a 41-28 victory over FIU to cement their season with a 5-3 conference record and a 7-5 overall mark.
Now, we await a bowl destination and opponent to see if the Tops can get to eight wins this year.
Until then, we bid adieu to a weird 2023 football season, one that brought much hope and disappointment, much cheering and jeering, and one that poses some interesting questions for the future of the program with it’s conclusion.
Big Picture - by Fletcher Keel
I know I wasn’t the only person thinking this, but: Where was that performance all year? The Hilltoppers bookended their campaign with 41-point performances against teams south of Orlando and, if I had told you that three months ago, you’d probably be thinking “well, yeah, didn’t they do that every week?”
WKU didn’t go consecutive drives without scoring until the fourth quarter and the offense let the playmakers do their thing - Austin Reed tied a season-best mark with four touchdown passes and five different receivers caught a touchdown (the fifth came on a trick play, with Dalvin Smith finding Craig Burt Jr. on a 32-yard dot) - while the defense got a season-best performance from the duo of Upton Stout and Kendrick Simpkins, a pairing that will be missed in 2024.
One more game remains for this roster, and even if guys begin to announce their portal intentions Helton will let them play in the bowl, but there are still questions to ask as we begin to look forward to 2024: What will the QB situation be? Will he dip into the portal again or try to go with an in-house option? What other areas of improvement does he think he can fix through the portal? Will it be Dalvin Smith or Easton Messer (or a third option?) to replace Corley as WR1? Can Helton use last year’s portal departures failures to generate draft buzz at power programs as a disincentive to keep a guy around that, a year or two ago, he wouldn’t?
We have a long offseason to ponder all of these and, while the program isn’t necessarily at a crossroads, a lot of right levers need to be pulled for a successful 2024.
What Went Right - by Alex Sherfield
For the Tops, it was almost a blemish-free day on the road in Miami. The offense was firing on all cylinders & played a very complete game.
Reed was his old self, tallying 280 yards and four touchdown passes. Even with nine incompletions, he looked to be the most comfortable we’ve seen him in some time.
Corley had a memorable day as well, catching five passes for a touchdown and becoming the record holder for most career receptions in school history. It was just a matter of when it would happen for the reliable receiver. It was great seeing him achieve this moment.
Easton Messer, KD Hutchinson, & Jimmy Holiday got some love shown their way from Reed’s touchdown passes. Also, Craig Burt Jr. was able to make a highlight reel connection from a Dalvin Smith touchdown pass on a reverse trick play, bringing back shades of the New Orleans Bowl. The passing offense was a huge catalyst in the win, especially after putting up 21 points to open the first quarter.
Defensively, it was a great effort from the Tops. Kendrick Simpkins recorded a strip sack that resulted in a fumble-recovering touchdown run from Upton Stout. Talique Allen & Alex Ford baited some picks from the FIU offense.
Cory Munson did what he could in making significant plays for field position, averaging 43 yards per punt.
What Went Wrong - by Matt McCay
Although WKU ultimately won, and the backups came in early, there was plenty to nitpick, especially later in the game.
Although FIU was held to 301 total yards, one thing that allowed FIU to move the ball and ultimately end up having a remote chance at the end was allowing the Golden Panthers to convert on third and fourth down. A combined 10-of-20, FIU may not have had 200 yards and certainly wouldn’t have been making us sweat it out late if WKU wasn’t consistently allowing them to sustain drives.
The other thing defensively was allowing a freshman quarterback to throw three touchdowns and well over 200 yards. Although he made some plays, FIU had zero running game (52 total yards). Why was he able to gash the WKU defense with minimal experience and questionable arm accuracy?
The other issue that cropped that certainly allowed FIU to have some hope was the lack of a threat of a running game. In what should have been a blowout win, WKU couldn’t trust the running backs or Austin Reed to gain yardage to the tune of only 72 yards.
An FIU team that lost five of its eight CUSA games by three scores or more was able to stick within 13 of the Tops. And unfortunately, the issue was the same thing that has plagued WKU all year: Inconsistent play over the span of a 60 minute game and an offense that can’t eat up enough yards to keep the ball out of the hands of the opposing offense.
Red Threads - by Fletcher Keel
RIP in peace, 2023 regular season. You will not be missed.
Throughout the year, it feels like Corley has had some sneaky productive days. Watching the game, you’d think he had four catches for 60 yards when, in reality, he had eight for 106. This game was the exact opposite. From the eye test, I thought he had eclipsed the 100-yard mark when, in reality, he only caught six passes for 52 yards. But, the WKU offense showcased him early and often, and in a variety of ways, which is exactly what I wanted to see. Each of those six catches could show up on his draft tape in April.
Last week, I pondered if the WKU coaching staff was preparing Dalvin Smith for a Corley-esque role for 2024 but, watching the first half play calling, especially, I almost wonder if they’re going to make all of their WRs (at least, ones they have high hopes for) learn that skill. We saw Smith get used in that role and also a few swing passes to Easton Messer, who also got a jet sweep for a touchdown, a very Corley-esque thing too. It isn’t a move I’m opposed to, making more of your receivers gadget options, but only if you’re not sacrificing their down-field threat ability. That wasn’t sacrificed with Corley, who is better with the ball in his hands and in space, than a Dalvin Smith, who is a better vertical threat. It could become a staple of future Tyson Helton offense to come.
I don’t know if we can truly quantify the mid-season absence of Upton Stout (and the nearly year-long absence of Donut Evans), but if the last two games have been any indication, the pair could have been a huge boost to WKU’s defensive efforts (not that they’ve been the problem this year, a hill I’m willing to die on).
There’s plenty of time to discuss this point, and it’s a topic I plan on discussing more in depth at least once, but I heard some scuttlebutt this weekend that, if 2024 were to start in two months, it’d be Turner Helton as QB1. Do with that information what you will.
It was another quiet day for the WKU run game, with the Tops totaling just 74 yards on the ground and Markese Stepp leading the way (seven carries, 32 yards). However, the Hilltopper defense held the FIU rushing attack to just 52 yards.
Speaking of the WKU defense, lets give them some love: They were able to keep Keyone Jenkins in check. I don’t know if he’s counted as a dual-threat, but he did look to tuck and run a couple of times, and the Tops stopped him from having much success. He totaled just 16 rushing yards on nine carries.
It was also the best pressure the Tops have gotten on an opposing QB in weeks. With Stout back healthy, Simpkins was able to DB blitz, and do so rather successfully.
There was a funny “oopsie” on the ESPN+ broadcast throughout the game, where someone forgot to change out an important piece of branding. Can you spot it?
That’s right. We made it to the AAC, afterall!
All jokes aside on that very minor flub, the broadcast was relatively clean, at least from what I saw. Not something that can be said for every Plus football broadcast this year.
This is not a new or original thought, but it’s worth repeating: It continues to make no sense why WKU doesn’t play it’s biggest rival (MTSU) on Rivalry Week. I get not all rivalries are played in the last week of the season, but it would have done so much good for WKU this year, with not CUSA title game intrigue remaining. Sure, you get things like a new rivalry sprouting up in its stead (Marshall), but even that game got moved to earlier in the year in the last couple of years of the series. I can’t ever remember WKU/MT being the final game of the year. I don’t know if there’s a gentlemen’s agreement between the two schools or what, but I think it would give the game a bit of a boost. Imagine how much more amped for this week you would have been if you had all week to look forward to kicking the snot out of the Blue Raiders instead of having to pretend to care to play a porous FIU team in front of literally tens of people.
