Down and Distance: What I want to learn about the Hilltoppers at Conference USA media day
FB: The Hilltoppers, well three of them anyway, are headed to Texas this week to unofficially kick off the 2024 campaign. Here's what I want to learn on Tuesday.
Western Kentucky’s 2024 campaign unofficially kicks off on Tuesday, when head coach Tyson Helton, running back Elijah Young, and cornerback Upton Stout head to the Lone Star State to represent the program at Conference USA’s football media day.
Truth be told, media days are not going to be very revealing. I’m sure news has come out of the ceremonial start to the year, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
I’m sure we’ll hear a lot of coach speak from Helton, and it’ll probably be echoed by Young and Stout, about the Hilltoppers’ culture, how open the quarterback battle is, how they’re using the preseason predictions to motivate them, etc. You can almost hear how generic the answers will be.
But that’s not stopping me from actually wanting to get some answers in lieu of actual football to watch.
Much like we launched Three Second Violation last week, welcome to the first edition of Down and Distance. To kickstart: Our biggest questions heading into CUSA media day.
Quarterback Battle
It wouldn’t be an offseason under Tyson Helton if there wasn’t a position battle under center for the Hilltoppers. Now entering his sixth year, only once has an incumbent quarterback kept that role from season to season: Austin Reed, who won the job in 2022 and was the unquestioned No. 1 entering 2023.
A lot of that instability at QB for the Hilltoppers has come with Helton’s strategy at the position in the portal, and has generated mostly hits (Reed, Bailey Zappe, Ty Storey) with one very notable miss (Tyrell Pigrome).
So, in a vacuum, it shouldn’t be surprising that with last year’s starter no longer in the program, he went portal hopping again and grabbed TJ Finley, a player who began his collegiate career in the SEC and was among the best quarterbacks in the Sun Belt last season for Texas State.
However, that decision gets a little muddled when you think back to how the Hilltoppers’ season ended: A 383-yard, five-touchdown performance from redshirt-freshman Caden Veltkamp, who came into the game in relief after Turner Helton started the game and the Tops were down 21-0 with 7:54 to play in the first quarter.
A homegrown prospect, Veltkamp left Charlotte with the promise of something the Hilltoppers haven’t had since Brandon Doughty: A quarterback developed within the WKU program that could lead the team for most of a collegiate generation.
On paper, Finley has the advantage, having appeared in 31 college games compared to Veltkamp’s four, but Helton and Co. could see growth in Veltkamp and think he’s better suited to lead the Tops over the long haul.
I doubt Helton will have much to say on the matter, other than he’s looking forward to a competitive battle. But It’d be nice to gain insight into where the competition stands before camp officially opens.
Defensive Outlook
While far from the biggest Achilles’ heel for the Tops’ eventual disappointing 2023, WKU’s defense definitely has space to grow from 2023 into 2024.
Allowing 28.7 points per game last year, the Tops were the third-worst scoring defense in the league and the 41st-worse at the FBS level.
The Hilltoppers should boast a very good, if not elite, third level, with the likes of Anthony Johnson Jr. and Upton Stout leading the charge. You also have DT Hosea Wheeler - who earned Preseason All-Conference Honors along with Stout - returning. Wheeler is rated the second-best returning defensive lineman for the Hilltoppers by Pro Football Focus, behind Jayden Loving, but he was also the No. 20th-ranked player on the defensive side of the ball last season.
WKU’s leader in sacks last year was Kendrick Simpkins, a defensive back, and he’s no longer with the program, having transferred to Baylor in the offseason.
The Hilltoppers also struggled getting pressure in the backfield, and were notorious for being unable to stop to quarterbacks who had any sort of ability with their legs. Running a mostly base nickel defense last year with three linemen (though DC Tyson Summers did like to change it up, throwing some 4-3 and Dime looks as well), WKU finished 117th in the country in tackles for loss, with 57.0.
For reference, the best team in the country in that department in 2023 was Penn State, with 111.0.
Do the Tops have a bonafide star in the making on the defensive line this year to help improve those marks? Will Summers implement some sort of stop-gap in the middle to keep quarterbacks more at bay than last year? Any developments on strides the Topper defense has made will be welcome.
State of the Receiver Room
The Hilltoppers’ offensive focus - Malachi Corley - has traded in Red and White for Green and White after he was drafted in the third round by the New York Jets in April. While the Tops always seem to find receiving talent, much the same way there’s always a quarterback lying in a shadowy corner somewhere, we just don’t quite know who that will be yet.
Could it be Dalvin Smith, who finished the year second to only Corley in nearly every statistical category last season? Could it be Easton Messer, who showed flashes of brilliance in the receiving game and was used as a kick returner? How’s the health of Michael Mathison, the supposed No. 2 behind Corley entering last season but got hurt in camp. He never saw the field in the regular season in 2023.
Are there plans to see budding tight end River Helms step up his productivity? While 22 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns isn’t something to sneeze at for a part-time receiver/part-time blocker, there’s ample room for WKU to grow their tight end usage from last season, especially from a program that made it a calling card of getting TE’s to play on Sundays.
The EA Of It All
Media day isn’t all business - there’s room for fun, too, and a lot of oxygen has been given to the virtual gridiron after last week’s release of NCAA 25 by EA Sports.
Are Stout (85 OVR) and Young (78 OVR) happy with their overall ratings? Is there anything to the game that is helping them with preseason scouting?
Is Tyson Helton running a shadow campaign as, I don’t know, Ohio that is helping him gauge strategy and decision making ahead of this fall?
Who is the best player in the locker room?
The people are dying to know!
Well, that’s what I’m hoping to be answered on Tuesday. We’ll check back to see what Helton and company actually did say, if anything at all. Before we go, some notes on some WKU-related news over the past week or so.
The Hilltoppers have been picked to finish second in the league in the media’s predicted order of finish, behind only Liberty. The Tops did receive two first-place votes, which is nice. I’m going to be honest - this kind of took me by surprise. I was assuming a third-place predicted finish for the Hilltoppers.
Along with Liberty and the Tops, Jax State, MTSU and a tie between NM State and Sam Houston roundout the top five. Newcomers Kennesaw State were picked dead last. The full preseason predicted finish can be seen here.
As opposed to a preseason All-CUSA team, the league’s coaches did something different: Five players from each team were picked on the “preseason watch list.” I don’t know why this happened, but it did!
WKU’s inclusions on the Preseason Watch List are: Young, Quantavious Leslie, Wheeler, Stout and kicker Lucas Carneiro.
The Tops garnered a commitment this weekend from West Georgia linebacker Keondre Williams.
Williams comes to the Hill after a three-year career at UWG (West Georgia), leading the Wolves in sacks (5.0) and finishing second on the team in tackles (61). His efforts helped him earn Second Team All-Gulf South Conference honors.
Let’s Remember Some Dudes: Shoutout to Antwon Kincade, who finished the regular season as the Indoor Football League’s leading tackler, with 101.5 tackles. Oh, and he missed four games. His 8.5 tackles per game also led the league.
He and the Bay Area Panthers will closeout the first round of the IFL Playoffs on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. CT, if you need your dose of #ProTops action before the NFL preseason gets underway.