WKU Football: Grading the 30–14 Win Over Charlotte
Western Kentucky has got it going on. They have the inside track in the Conference USA East Division, WKU stands a possible two consecutive…
Western Kentucky has got it going on. They have the inside track in the Conference USA East Division, WKU stands a possible two consecutive wins away from placing a complete stranglehold on the division.
With a win at Marshall and a home win against FAU, WKU would stand at 6–2 and regardless of other results, would need one win of its last two conference games to seal the deal on what would be an improbable championship appearance.
One year removed from a 3–9 season under Mike Sanford, WKU is on pace to more than double its win output in 2019.
WKU battled with Charlotte for two-and-a-half quarters but pulled away with some field goal conversions on a blocked punt, an interception, and a 67-yard touchdown drive.
Let’s see how WKU graded out against Charlotte, starting with my Keys to Victory.
Keys to Victory
Win the Red Zone Both Ways: C-
Yes, WKU converted on their two trips to the red zone. However, one was handed to the Tops on a blocked punt and they did nothing with it, settling for a field goal. The second drive was on the clinching drive of the game late in the third quarter, and it needed a trick play to finish it off. Good job on the two opportunities, but I have to take issue with this. Charlotte allowed a little over four trips to the red zone and the Tops only visited twice. WKU also stalled just outside the 20 several times, something that seems to be a common theme for the Tops.
Defensively, the one trip to the red zone resulted in a touchdown for Charlotte. However, allowing one red zone trip against C-USA’s second-best offense is no small feat. All in all, the offense was not very good at all getting to the red zone or converting in it, and the defense gave up its one opportunity to get a stop. Not great for the Tops here.
Out-Trench Them: C+
Honestly, Charlotte did a fairly good job competing with WKU’s excellent lines. The 49ers mustered four sacks and held WKU’s star running back, Gaej Walker, to 70 yards. However, WKU did own Charlotte in the second half, outgaining the 49ers and outscoring them 13–0. Sure, the second half was a different story, especially defensively, but the trenches cost WKU several opportunities at extra scores. Instead of driving well into the red zone, WKU was forced to settle for nearly 50-yard field goals on three occasions. WKU probably ultimately won the trenches, mainly because they shut down Benny LeMay (15 rushes, 45 yards) and shut down quarterback Chris Reynolds’ ability to run. Offensively, perhaps Charlotte’s defensive line actually beat the amazing WKU O-Line, no small feat.
Don’t Fall for the Chippiness of Charlotte: A+
Penalties, besides making chunk plays offensively, may well have decided the game in favor of WKU. Western continues to be extremely disciplined, this time only committing one penalty (that shouldn’t have existed) that was washed away two plays later by the very player who committed the penalty. Charlotte was called for only seven penalties, but those mistakes totaled 90 yards. Several were drive killers for the 49ers, or drive extenders for the Tops, especially on a few scoring drives. Although Charlotte didn’t do anything very “chippy” per se, they did commit several personal fouls that WKU never responded to. Good job, Tops.
Win the Turnover Battle: B+
Western only officially forced one turnover, but blocking a punt and recovering it at the 15 sure helps and functions like a nice turnover return. After missing the first six games and getting a penalty called on him two plays earlier, Roger Cray made a nice diving interception on an overthrow. Sure it’s great to win, even by one, but Charlotte is a team that makes mistakes, and WKU had one fall in their lap. WKU still could get better in this area, but at least WKU has slowed down the bleeding on the significant amount of turnovers offensively. Something that is troubling, though is WKU does not seem to have very many opportunities for turnovers. Sure, they produce a few, but Western rarely seems to generate the possibility of a turnover. WKU has forced five interceptions, four of which happened in one game. WKU has recovered one fumble and only forced four. This is a problem that has not cost WKU, but it could in a close game or two.
Go Crazy on the Ground: D
Honestly, Gaej Walker did not go crazy, and neither did Ty Storey. Somehow, WKU came up with nearly 300 yards passing to beat the 49ers. Needless to say, this was not the way the Tops should have been expected to win, especially because Charlotte’s defense generally stops the pass and struggles with the run. Charlotte chose to stuff the run and force WKU to pass. Western did have some room at times, and Walker was not completely shut out. He had an ok outing with 70 yards. However, a 1.7 yards per attempt clip is just awful. That’s not even coming close to average, let alone going crazy. Western’s longest run play of the day was 17 yards, and that was the only run of note the entire game.
Position Grades
Quarterback: B-
Ok, so Ty Storey threw for the most passing yards all season and even had a receiving touchdown. That’s awesome. However, he also took four huge sacks, three of which were definitely avoidable. Storey continues to take sacks he shouldn’t. This is now proving to be his biggest weakness. His ultra-conservative style lends him to eat the ball when he should try to get rid of the football. Yes, sometimes you should eat it, but sometimes you should chuck it and save the field position. That being said, nearly 300 yards, two touchdowns, no turnovers, and a 70 percent completion percentage is really nice. He still had some wide-open receivers he missed and he could have easily eclipsed 350 or 400 yards. He’s getting there but has to quit taking or making negative plays at bad moments.
Running Back: C+
Gaej Walker was not an utter non-factor, but he was not his normal self. With no help, he really needs to produce 100 yards per game to really make his position group be considered to have a decent outing. Since he is pretty much it, he needs to produce big time. 70 yards is not bad if you have help. He didn’t, so, therefore, he does not get a great grade.
Tight End: C-
Joshua Simon did make two catches for 22 yards, but did anyone notice the tight ends this game? Fourtenbary had zero catches, but I actually did notice the tight ends making some holes in the blocking game a couple of times. Give them some credit, but this group is talented. Let’s not let them slip by without some kind of expectation.
Offensive Line: C+
This is the first time since maybe the Louisville game WKU had arguably been beaten between the tackles on both sides of the ball. Now we covered how good Charlotte’s lines were, and it’s true that because of the second half, WKU ultimately had the slight edge in the trenches. However, if the first half was the only measurement that counted, WKU would have lost the trenches for only the second time in 2019 and it wasn’t close.
Allowing Charlotte’s defensive line to get in there and make some plays really allowed the 49ers to hang around and have a prayer near the end. Western’s offensive line was on pace for giving up a sack a game a couple of games ago. They’re now on pace to give up something like 17 to 20 sacks. That would still be a respectable number, but given the fact WKU was on pace to give up 12 or 13 at one point, this is an issue for the Tops. Western’s offensive line was the strength of the team in the early part of the season. Hopefully, the line gets back to being absolutely dominant again.
Wide Receiver: A
I’ll keep saying it: As Lucky Jackson goes, so does the Topper offense. Lucky provides a dimension of star potential in the receiver group that no one else has at the moment. Yes, Lucky has never produced a 1,000-yard season, but no one else in that room has multiple way-into-100-yard games in their career. He’s a special talent. Producing 141 yards receiving, eight passing yards, and two total TD’s, that is the Lucky Jackson WKU needs.
Including the eight-yard pass to Ty Storey from Lucky, the receiver room accounted for all but 27 yards receiving of the nearly 300 produced Saturday. That’s also good for over 75 percent of the total offense and all three touchdowns scored. I would say the receivers were the heroes of this game, and unexpectedly so. This is the first time this year a legitimate argument could be made for the wide receivers (including Pearson, Sloan & Jernighan) to be given credit for the win. They were open more often than they caught the ball (not all their fault), and if a couple of drops hadn’t happened, this was a perfect score for the group.
Defensive Line: A-
Another really, really good performance from the starters against Charlotte. With the defensive tackles banged up, give the Tops some credit for still having production despite possible All C-USA Jeremy Darvin being out Saturday. The defensive line produced 18 total tackles, four quarterback hits, three tackles-for-loss, and two sacks (both by DeAngelo Malone). They’re always productive. Again, I said this earlier in the season a couple of times: I am not giving a perfect score to a unit that doesn’t have any production from the second string. Sure, your top six guys or so (two injured or hampered this game) produce. What about the others? You have flashes, but to be a top-shelf defensive line sustained through an entire season, depth needs to be evident. If the defensive line reads this, take it as a challenge to show me some depth. Produce when in there and the reps will come.
Linebackers: B+
Kyle Bailey was everywhere. It seemed like his name was called 20 times for a great play. However, there was almost no other help from the linebackers. With no explosive production besides a quarterback hit, I’m not sure I can give the one superstar an A grade all by himself. Again, WKU misses Ben Holt and Eli Brown. Several other linebackers have shown flashes, but not a one has stepped up and been the other productive linebacker the Topper defense needs to get to its next level.
Secondary: B+
First, give credit to the DBs for holding the Charlotte passing offense to 200 yards on barely 50 percent throwing. Also, shoutout to Roger Cray for coming in after being injured half the season and immediately making an impact with an interception and a decent punt return on special teams. Ta’Corian Darden had a productive game, although he did give up some plays deep. Western’s secondary was also responsible for the lion’s share of the tackles in this game. Throw in a couple of PBU’s and a great second half, and this was a solid performance, but not an elite one across the board on defense. That first half was extremely shaky and really drives down the grade for everyone.
Other Factors
Special Teams Overall: B-
I think we can cover this all in one paragraph. Haggerty was really good but only had two punts. Munson was really good on his makes, but his misses are always to the left and he really needs to work on it. But to his credit, most of his misses are fairly long field goals, so don’t slaughter the guy when you see him on campus. He’s doing an exceptional job on kickoffs (no returns in several games). Give him a ton of credit for shaking off some kicking woes and absolutely nailing it on kickoffs. The return game was actually an asset for WKU, with 25 punt return yards and a decent kick return from Garland LaFrance. This is the first time all year WKU had any significant yardage in the punt return game. The coverage game was strong, allowing a total of six yards in returns. Overall, give them a B-, mainly because there was nothing elite and not much to report. Munson’s continued misses to the left really take it down from a near A to a near C.
Coaching: A
We’ll just do a general category this time because it’s getting pretty redundant to really have nothing to complain about in the coaching department. Ding the defense a little bit for giving up 14 in the first half, but again, look at the adjustments coming out of the break! It went from getting gashed to completely shutting the 49ers down. They did not score in the second half, nor did they come very close. Offensively, the unit produced all game, and the trick plays really won the game for the Tops, giving the wide receivers a chance to show off their chops in multiple ways. Great job all around in coaching this game. Nothing to report means nobody screwed up. That’s the number thing you want to see out of a coaching staff.
Decision Making: A-
Everything related to decision making was really great, except I have to point out Ty Storey’s inability to get rid of the ball sometimes. That has got to stop two games ago. There is no reason there should have been four sacks this game. Sure the defensive line for Charlotte is good, but they’re not otherworldly. They’re just very good. At least two, if not all, of those sacks, were fairly avoidable. Sure, you’re going to give up a sack or two every game, but don’t give up four, especially you can break down each play and label it as a possible incompletion instead of a devastating loss. And the moments they happened really cost the Tops points. You have to know when to chuck it.
Overall: B+
Listen, this was a solid performance, but given the upgrade in expectation (this team was supposed to be 3–4 right now), this was not an A performance. When WKU beat FIU and UAB, it was a surprise. Now, WKU needs to show that it can destroy inferior opponents and beat the really good ones. The performance against Army was incredible and deserved a great grade. This one was good all-around. It was a good team win, but WKU should have won by 30 instead of only scoring 30. However, this is the most points scored all year. That’s a plus. The defense held the second-best scoring offense in the conference to 14 points. WKU outscored its opponent by 13 in the second half. These are all positives, but the repeated message from Tyson Helton is, “We still need to learn how to finish.” If the Tops really start finishing, we’ll continue to give them A’s. Until then, there’s still room for improvement and they’re not getting an A from me.
It’s time for the Tops to take the next step and become a dominant force on both sides of the ball. The defense is very close to where it needs to be, but it still has room for improvement, especially in the back seven. The offense can be more consistent and convert on its opportunities instead of squandering at minimum two per game.
The standard now becomes, “Was that good enough to win a championship?”
Why?
Because WKU is chasing one.
Western Kentucky is 4–0 in the conference, halfway there to a division championship and possible home game to win another championship. However, the level of play has to rise immediately. A road game at Marshall and a showdown with FAU stand between the Tops and a near shoo-in for the division title. The Tops need their absolute best right now.
It’s time to climb The Hill, boys.
BEAT MARSHALL!