WKU Football: Grading the Tops' 63-10 Loss at Ohio State

Yikes!

That went about as bad as it possibly could have in terms of a scoreline. Even the most negative prognosticator would not have predicted a WKU loss by 53. There were plenty who thought this was going to get ugly, but so many thought WKU would put up a decent showing, at least covering the spread and perhaps showing they are a legitimate team despite not being a power opponent in name compared to an Ohio State.

WKU was firmly in it at 14-10 well into the second quarter, and then by halftime, they weren’t. Ohio State fired up it’s offense, using quick-strikes and taking advantage of terrific field position to rattle off 49 consecutive points to finish the game, and there’s the ugly truth: WKU is not ready, at this point in the season, to play straight-up with the big dogs.

Western Kentucky clearly has defensive issues, as well as an offense that is still yet to explode like WKU fans are used to.

However, Saturday’s final score is incredibly ballooned, given that Tyson Helton admitted openly that he completely went for it, even to the tune of 4th-and-6 from his own 40. That was the most egregiously out of character, but there were plenty of times that the Topper head coach made seemingly off-the-beaten-path decisions in favor of a hyper aggressive mentality.

That being said, after surrendering 35 in the second quarter, WKU’s defense settled in and was much more effective to finish the game.

To put things in perspective, Ohio State was looking vulnerable, and WKU looked like a potential type of opponent that could give a team struggling to move the football consistently some problems simply by keeping pace on the scoreboard. WKU did that for a little bit, but the floodgates opened to a level WKU has not seen since Tennessee dropped 63 on WKU in 2009.

Prepare yourselves. This was not pretty, and it did not meet expectations.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Score 30: D

Well, it wasn’t a shutout, and WKU did come out and hang with the Buckeyes for a little bit. This wasn’t a complete non-showing, but this certainly wasn’t the WKU offense coming out and showing off, either. There were plenty of mistakes, so giving this a “D” is probably being too kind.

At Least Get in Their Way: D-

Again, maybe the Tops caused some issues for a little bit, but then it was so bad in the opposite direction that they almost lose all of that credit. They get a little bit of credit for the start, but not much. There were way too many massive plays given up. That’s going to happen to some degree, but some of the huge plays were not Ohio State making an incredible play, but it was WKU losing track of a man, not coming close to touching someone. It’s not like those plays were WKU players being dragged behind and the OSU player breaking loose. WKU just turned OSU loose several times.

Marvin Harrison, Jr. vs. Upton Stout: D

Upton Stout had a few moments where he made a nice play, had some nice coverage, or showed that he was a decent player. However, in the biggest measuring stick type of game, he had two tackles and no other defensive stats. That’s an unfortunate performance when he could have made some serious money by being a presence against OSU incredible receiver corps.

Krispy Kreme: D

With only three tackles on the day, even JaQues “Donut” Evans struggled. Other than Hosea Weber, who had an absolutely monster of a day with a sack, forced fumble, and interception, no one else did much of anything statistically on the defensive side of the ball. There’s no shame in it, but when not even the guy the key is named after is mediocre when you assumed he would be great, at least, it’s difficult to give a great score.

G’Day, Mate!: C-

There wasn’t anything wrong with Tom Ellard or any of the special teams. This was much of an utter neglect by Tyson Helton to use them until the game was in complete disaster mode. There were plenty of times the Tops could have just punted or settled for an easier field goal, they got greedy, and it either made things more difficult or just completely handed OSU with quality field position. Without the Helton decision factor, this would be a C+ or so. Ellard and Cory Munson both left some kicks a little short and allowed returns, something fairly uncommon early in the season from them thus far.

Position Grades

Quarterback: C

Austin Reed is a warrior, and I hope everyone knows that. Despite a jumbled pocket all day, he was sacked only once and was officially hit twice. For how often Ohio State was in the backfield, for Austin to come out fairly clean was incredible on that front. He also was fairly accurate despite his first interception of the season, throwing over 60% against what is proving to be an elite college defense. Bronson Barron, however, came in and looked unprepared. I’m sure he was ready, but he did not perform well.

Running Back: C-

Each running back did come in and contribute. You wish they would have gained more yards, and Davion Ervin-Poindexter fumbled a couple of times; one was recovered by a great effort from Wes Dorsey, another directly resulted in a touchdown for Ohio State. These guys were not completely silent in this game, and all of them did something to show they can contribute positive yardage. However, the fumbles really hurt.

Wide Receiver: D

WKU had 204 receiving yards, but only 125 of those yards were from receivers. Malachi Corley did his part, contributing 88 yards and a touchdown in his first bit of extended action this season. He had some nice moments. Easton Messer had a nice catch, but didn’t appear much after that. Blue Smith had an awful day, only mustering 30 yards, having an unsportsmanlike conduct that cost WKU excellent field position in the red zone, and having a fumble after a significant gain. The Ohio State transfer would like to have had a career day, but instead, it was probably as bad as possible.

Tight End: B-

Rivers Helms has become a nice target for Austin Reed. In an air raid offense, tight ends can get lost, but Helms is really making his presence felt of late, and that’s exactly what WKU needs. I would still like to see some other tight end presence, and I would honestly like to notice some tight end presence in the running game. A good blocking tight end can play a huge role in busting some runs.

Offensive Line: C-

This was a game I saw some obvious mistakes by the offensive line. The announcers noticed, and there were a couple of other times they didn’t. I noticed Dorsey and Mark Goode both whiffing a few times. This is concerning, because these were mental issues and not physical. I don’t think I would take as much issue if a lineman just gets beat. That happens. They finally also surrendered a sack, as well. They’re still quite good and held their own.

Defensive Line: D

There’s just not consistent presence up front on WKU’s defense. There was an interception and forced fumble by Hosea Wheeler, so that pulls the unit out of “F.”

Linebackers: C-

Donut had a couple of moments, but even he was struggling against the bigger, meaner offensive line of Ohio State. WKU did have some nice statistical performance, with multiple guys having respectable games.

Defensive Backs: D+

The DBs were exposed against the Buckeyes. Western allowed OSU to control the back end, and was physical enough to step in and own their spaces other than the debacle that was the second quarter.

Special Teams: C+

I would like to see more from Tom Ellard, who had a nice game. But I would like see more natural leg strength from him, something we have rarely seen him do. Just bomb on, brother.

Coaching

Head Coaching: F+

Tyson Helton explained what his thinking was on some of his decision making in the first half, but I’m still battling with 4th-and-6 from the WKU 40. This was an atrocious decision. I have said this whenever asked, so it’s probably an exhausted opinion. However, WKU was down 21-10 when that 4th-and-6 debacle happened, and the floodgates opened from there. Unfortunately, I think Tyson being aggressive like that may have actually done more damage to his reputation, rather than being remembered for his teams coming out and being as excellent as possible. I firmly believe his decisions cost this team any chance of winning. WKU had a chance to minimize the damage and be down either two or three scores at half. Then who knows once that happens? Do you not take that opportunity? Of course!

Offensive Coaching: C+

I thought Offensive Coordinator Drew Hollingshead had some nice moments. He oversaw two first-half scoring drives, two series that spanned double-digit plays and the seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Unfortunately, after Corley’s two-yard pitch-and-catch, it wasn’t that impressive of a day as the game got progressively more out of hand. But, when it was still a close game, Hollingshead did a good job.

Defensive Coaching: C

Tyson Summers has done a good job, and I completely follow the pain of completely having to choose between stopping the run or pass, to go all-in or lay back and dare everyone try to move the ball.

Overall: D

I know it’s a game that you expect to probably be a loss, so in some ways, it is what it is. However, my biggest concern of this result is we saw some very bad things happening. WKU had not turned it over, yet had four this game. WKU’s O-Line had stuff coming at them from all angles and made poor blocking decisions. Many made mistakes more often than has normally happened.

I think this loss to Ohio State definitely took some of the preseason hype and poured some water on it. WKU’s goals are still in reach, but now there’s doubt with WKU’s fans. Nationally, WKU’s status as a potential NY6 candidate is much less believable. Even if WKU kills everyone else, that 63-10 will loom large.

From here, WKU has one final tough test at Troy before conference play begins. The Tops better pull it together quickly, or it could be a very frustrating season simply because the talent is there and other things have been a factor to keep the Tops from being incredibly impressive in any of their three games.