WKU Football: Gameday Information for Game 8 Against FAU
WKU Football’s season rolls on as the Tops get another chance to get their season back on track against their former coach Willie Taggart…
WKU Football’s season rolls on as the Tops get another chance to get their season back on track against their former coach Willie Taggart and the Florida Atlantic Owls.
If you need to know any of the game information, look no further — we have you covered.
Location
FAU Stadium. Boca Raton, Florida
Time
5 p.m. CT
Weather Forecast
TV
Stadium on Fox Sports
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Chris Hassel (Play by Play) & A.J. Hawk (Analyst) on the call
Radio
Randy Lee (Play by Play), Leo Peckenpaugh (Analyst) & Terry Obee (Sideline) on the call
Gameday Information
Betting Lines from Sportsline.com
FAU -7
Over/ Under: 38.5
Moneyline: FAU -260
Current Records
WKU: 2–5 (1–2 in Conference USA)
FAU: 2–1 (2–1 in Conference USA)
Last Week
WKU traveled to Provo on Halloween to take on #11 BYU. The Tops played tough for a quarter trailing by just 7–3 towards the end of the first but the Cougars high powered offense was too much for the Hilltoppers as they racked up 410 total yards of offense and scored a touchdown on their first five drives of the game leading 35–3 at the half. WKU would outscore the Cougars 7–6 in the second half but it wasn’t enough as WKU lost 41–10 falling to 2–5 on the season.
FAU hosted UTSA in their third of 2020. In a low scoring game that the Owls controlled throughout they allowed just 230 yards of total offense and held a 17–3 lead at the half. FAU would cling onto that lead until late in the fourth when James Charles would add a 2 yard touchdown to clinch a 24–3 Win moving the Owls to 2–1 on the season.
Coaches
Tyson Helton- 2nd Season- 11–9 Overall
Willie Taggart- 11th Season- 58–63 Overall- 1st Season at FAU- 2–1 in Boca
Series
Graphic from Winsipedia.com
Last Meeting
Last season, WKU hosted FAU looking to stay alive in the CUSA East race. After sprinting out to a 14–0 lead, WKU was in firm control well into the 2nd quarter when Ty Storey fumbled on a sack that was returned for a touchdown. That score would turn the momentum as the Owls reeled off 28 consecutive points to take a 28–14 lead just a minute into the second half. WKU would finally calm down and claw back into the game on a Storey touchdown pass to Sloan with 3:46 left in the third. After a field goal cut the lead to 4, WKU blocked an FAU field goal inside the 10-yard line and Devon Key returned it all the way to the 42-yard line. It looked like the Tops would come all the way back but Ty Storey threw the ensuing pass into triple coverage and get intercepted. FAU proceeded to run down the exhausted WKU defenses throat and scored the dagger touchdown with 2:04 left. The Owls would force Storey’s third interception of the day and seal a 35–24 loss moving WKU to 5–4 on the season.
Relevant Reading
Injury Report by USA Today
For WKU:
LB- Clay Davis- Out- Knee
TE- Dalvin Smith- Out- Lower Leg
WR- Dayton Wade- Questionable- Lower Leg
QB- Kevaris Thomas- Questionable- Hip Pointer
For FAU:
WR- Eyin Cole- Out- Personal
RB- BJ Emmons- Questionable- Ankle
S- Quran Hafiz- Out- Personal
CB- La’Darius Henry- Out- Personal
WR- Cordell Littlejohn- Out- Personal
RB- Larry McCammon III- Out- Ankle
WR- John Mitchell- Out- Knee
Excitement Level — 4
This is the last chance for WKU to get their season back on track as a loss clinches a losing record for 2020. The Tops showed sparks of competency last week against BYU (Oline and running game) and there is a chance that it could come together against FAU. Getting to play Taggart adds another layer to the game as well. Hopefully the Tops can finally figure it out so we can have some meaningful games to pay attention to during the last month of the season.
Go Tops. We’ll be providing live coverage and reaction. If you’re making the trip to Boca, please send us your tailgating and in-game pictures via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page and we’ll share.