WKU Football: Grading the Tops’ Performance Against UT-Martin

Well, I’m not sure a realistic Topper fan could draw it up any better. Sure the extremists were expecting a shutout or they’re done for…

Well, I’m not sure a realistic Topper fan could draw it up any better. Sure the extremists were expecting a shutout or they’re done for life, and on the other end of the spectrum, some were shocked WKU didn’t lose by 38, let alone simply win. But in what Western fans should be thrilled with, Western Kentucky thoroughly trounces UT-Martin 59–21.

Bailey Zappe threw for 424 yards and seven (yes, the number “7”) touchdowns with only one interception. It’s safe to say the FCS transfer has announced himself as a legit FBS quarterback.

The Topper defense was somewhat adequate and buckled down after giving up a score to begin the game. For a quarter, the UT-Martin Skyhawks looked like the better team despite a tie ballgame. But the second, third, and fourth quarters were claimed firmly by the Tops.

So sure, ultimately a nice win and a complete Simone Biles (or should I say Suni Lee?) dismount from last season’s paltry offense. But how did everybody do on a grade from A to F?

Grading the Keys to Victory

Dealing With the Weirdness: B+

To explain this subject, basically 2020–21 has just been weird. Many sporting teams have played in front of zero to very little crowd for possibly two years at this point. Also, UT-Martin played its FCS schedule in the spring, so they actually just finished playing their 2020 season in mid-April.

I think the Tops get a little knock here, because UT-Martin came out sharper. They dealt with the butterflies and excitement a little more. They came out and threw a touchdown on a nice drive. Bailey Zappe’s first pass a Hilltopper was an interception. Whether nerves or circumstance, that was not a good opening five minutes or so by the Tops. I think UT-Martin handled the awkward moments a little better. However, WKU refocused and controlled the game, so they shouldn’t get knocked down too much.

WKU Needs to Win Decisively in the Trenches: B

To be fair, I debated adding a “+” to this, but honestly, I wasn’t that impressed with the Topper defensive line especially. The offensive line only allowed one hit on Bailey Zappe and did not allow a sack. Heck, only three plays were negative all game. That’s wonderful. However, a knock on the offense would be the lack of running game production. In a game the Tops nearly eclipsed 600 total yards, the running game was only 109 of it.

Defensively, let’s give UT-Martin’s offensive line some credit: Honestly, that is a really solid FCS O-Line. They return all of their starters, and they were pretty good last year. They’re a very good unit. However, FBS lines should always be distinctly more impressive than FCS lines. I thought the Topper defensive front six was a little average on Thursday.

Just Be Better: A-

Clearly this version of the Tops is going to be better than last year’s team. Surely, right? The offense just put up 59. WKU’s highest offensive output last season was 38. If WKU was really trying later in this game, or if they just started off quicker, they could’ve possibly gotten to 70 points. That’s astounding given the past couple of years. WKU had not scored 59 points since 2016 when the Tops drubbed Marshall 60–6 in October of that season. They actually hadn’t even sniffed the 50s.

Defensively, however, the Tops were probably about what they were last season, especially early in the year last year. This is not by any means terribly alarming, but the Topper defense nearly gave up 400 yards to UT-Martin. Over 200 came on the ground. That cannot happen against a quality team like any of the next three opponents: Army, Indiana, and Michigan State. All told, though, WKU is clearly improved, and if the defense can get a little better, this team could really be impressive come December and January.

Zappe Better Be Great: A+

My impression from Zappe the entire time has been that he’s something special. I believe he might have announced himself as a real star player in Conference USA this season. The only demerit is his interception to start the game, but that pales in comparison to the rest of the performance that I think you have to just give him full marks. The fact he started 0–for-1 makes the stat line even more impressive! He threw for 80 percent, racked up 424 yards, and threw seven touchdowns. For perspective, seven touchdowns already puts Zappe in the record books for the second most in a single game in Topper history, second only to Brandon Doughty’s eight against Marshall in the 67–66 thriller in 2014. His 80 percent completion percentage lands him (I believe) ninth in a single game (eighth was 80.6 percent).

Handle the Standouts: B

Most of UT-Martin’s stars showed up, but no one went wild and crazy. When you look at bizarre results in sports at all, something has to go massively against the favorite for the underdog to win. UTM’s two stud receivers combined for nearly 200 yards. That’s not great, but they didn’t lose their minds. They just had nice games. Deven Sims is a great player defensively, and he had a really nice game, creating a couple of issues. But he didn’t make any game changing plays. Also, UTM’s star kicker/punter was very average, so a little love for that.

All in all, WKU did a pretty good job keeping people at or near their average game. Football is way more about minimizing mistakes than being incredible at a few things. If you can keep the other team from busting a big play or some guy completely dominating above his normal, you’re probably in pretty good shape to win the game.

Stop the Pass: B+

Frankly, I thought the defense was going to be a little better looking than it was last night. However, the reason I thought stopping the pass was key was because if Bailey Zappe is who Topper fans hoped he was (clearly he’s trending that direction at the least) and these receivers and transfer running backs are who we thought they were, well, then the offense should be pretty good. Well, the offense put up 59, so how would UT-Martin possibly get into the 40s or so in points without a massive game in the passing game? There’s no way you can score in the 30s and 40s without some pretty good passing stats. There’s just not enough time in the game to run the ball for 400 yards and seven touchdowns unless you’re literally housing it every couple of plays.

So I think going forward, if WKU can keep teams from passing for over 250 yards (or more), they’re going to win almost every game with the Air Raid style as long as the offense is passing like it was Thursday night. Now, don’t get me wrong, stopping the run is really important. You can’t give up 200 yards a game, and especially with Army coming in next week with a near run-only offense, the Tops better figure out how to slow down the run. I digress…good job, Tops on keeping the passing game in check.

Position Group Grades

Quarterback: A+

Seriously check that box off. Obviously Zappe is legit. One INT to start, but I don’t even care. He threw for 80 percent with a 7–1 ratio. You can’t argue with history being made. He threw the most touchdowns ever thrown in the history of L.T. Smith Stadium and tied for the most in regulation. Also, second most all-time to, you possibly guessed it, Brandon Doughty at Marshall in overtime in 2014. He also scrambled a little and showed some leadership, directing traffic even during plays. And much love to former quarterbacks at WKU, but Zappe’s leadership is really a huge piece of what made him great on Thursday.

Running Back: C

Definitely something to improve here. Without Zappe’s anomalous 21 yard run, the Tops wouldn’t have mustered 90 yards rushing. In a game where you nearly rack up 600, surely the running game should be a little more available than that. No running back averaged over 4.9 yards, and no one besides Zappe busted one for more than ten.

This is not disaster mode, but watch out for the running game. It needs to be serviceable. It was barely that. Toting the rock was doable and it wasn’t awful, but I’m thinking you still need maybe 125 or more every game, and you need to be able to run power or a counter or something and get some yardage. Mike White with a running game won a championship. Mike White without it a year later went 6–6. Hopefully we see some strides in the coming weeks.

Tight End: A-

Josh Simon was great and explosive. Two of his three catches were to the house, and he outran the defense on a nice little misdirection clear out route for 45 yards, a good 37 of that or so after the catch. He was impactful, he had some nice blocks to extend some runs, and he’s a force to be reckoned with. However, he didn’t do much until later in the game. Also, no other tight end shows up on the stat sheet. I think there was a target early to Joey Beljan, but it went incomplete. Heck, Simon’s even out there playing on the field goal unit. That’s a little concerning. That’s a lot of wear on one man.

You want tight end depth, even in an Air Raid style of offense. Air Raid style takes a little bit of a seat when you get on the one yard line. It takes a back seat when you’re up a touchdown or two in the fourth quarter. You need a couple of good tight ends to shore up the edges deep in the red zone, and you need options when Simon is tired or hurt. But still, if you get 70+ yards and any scoring from your tight ends, that’s a good game.

Wide Receiver: A+

I think every Topper follower was hoping for good things, but this exceeded expectations. So many weapons. Four to six legit choices from this group could produce 50–150 yards any given night. Ben Ratzlaff was supposed to be one of the better ones and he only caught one pass for 20 yards and no one really noticed. Craig Burt, Jr. came off of the bench and contributed 68 yards and a touchdown late in the game. They just kept coming. Full marks, Tops. Well done and shoutout to Bryan Ellis, who took a bit of a demotion after being sole offensive coordinator for the past two years. He and outside receivers coach Josh Crawford have these pass catchers looking great.

Offensive Line: A-

Honestly, this might be a little harsh. I think they did a really good job. Zappe only took one hit, and he was not sacked. Obviously the offense produced nearly 600. My only issue is the running game. In my opinion, the running backs weren’t dealt huge gaping holes to run through. I think the line was fine in the running game, but I think they could be better. Still a really good job and deeply encouraging to see no sacks and a clean pocket from a unit that lost two starters, one of which nearly made the Los Angeles Rams roster and will probably be picked up by a practice squad somewhere.

Defensive Line: B-

Again, this could be debated either way. On the one hand, one sack is probably not enough. Studs Malone and Jones combined for four tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, and a QB hit. But other than those two not being prolific, there were a bunch of nice performances, including freshman JaQues Evans tied for second on the team with five tackles. That’s nice to see. Jeremy Darvin with a couple of tackles and a hit on the quarterback. There was some presence there on the interior, and this was a game where they clearly rotated players in and out all night. Your starters didn’t get their normal number of plays, so you’re going to see lower numbers from them.

However, there needs to be a little bit more explosive activity from this group, even though they played a pretty good offensive line that probably won’t give up too much this season. If UT-Martin wasn’t such an experienced unit, I would be more deeply concerned with this output. I think the rust will come off and the Tops should be fine up front. Watch for defensive tackle production as an indication of team and defensive success moving forward, though.

Linebackers: C+

First of all, the Tops don’t play a ton of linebackers since they run a 4–2–5 (nickel) defense. So you can’t expect tons from a small unit. I was going to give this group a flat C, and then I remembered the play of Will Ignont. I think he’s a great addition and really impacted the game early on. Obviously he helped turn the momentum in a huge way by recovering a fumble. He only had two tackles, but he was a presence for sure. He was noticeable probably five times in the first half. Also, Malik Staples was solid, as well as Demetrius Cain. Both had four tackles on the night. Again, production was spread out, but it’s a decent amount of presence for the linebackers. However, just like the D-Line, I’d love to see some explosion. Ignont was the only LB that I specifically noticed as a playmaker Thursday.

Defensive Backs: B+

Antwon Kincade is an absolute stud. He was everywhere, despite the aforementioned liberal rotation of players in and out. But I noticed him specifically several times. As you look at the stat sheet, most of the production was from the DBs. Now, part of that is they’re virtually half of the defense on every play. Another issue was not being able to stop the run and safeties and possibly corners were having to clean up the mess. So the stats were stuffed a little. But generally, you judge the secondary by the passing game, and they absolutely held the Skyhawks down. There were not many wide open receivers, and Keon Howard, a legitimate D-I level passer, struggled mightily, not even throwing for 50 percent, only getting one touchdown, and throwing an interception, again, to a DB in Miguel Edwards. Not a perfect score for this unit, because they need to take some blame in the running game, as well as a near 400 yard performance against an FCS team.

Coaching: B+

I can’t think of too many boneheaded coaching decisions in this game. I think some offensive play calling was a little suspect early, but that also may have been scripted and it just didn’t work out for them. The only thing that stood out to me at all was Helton calling a timeout to save a delay of game after trying to draw the Skyhawks offsides. They were just on the UTM side of the field, so why not take a penalty and let Haggerty have more room? But that was literally all I had. I think it was fine either way, but something I personally disagree with.

I think the defense adjusted after giving up 75 yards on the first drive. From the second drive to the late third quarter when things were really opening up for the Tops, the defense looked pretty sharp. They gave up some plays in garbage time that you’d like to see a deep defense not give up. But for the most part, the Tops were fine in these categories. Perhaps a little ding for giving up points right near halftime, as well. But that was more just a good job by the boys from Martin to capitalize and give themselves hope heading into the break.

Overall Offense: A

No question the Topper offense impressed. Get that running game a little better and they’ll be unstoppable.

Overall Defense: C+

A little disappointing to give up so many yards to an FCS program, but honestly when you break it down, there was some production from people you don’t count on while arguably your two best players (Juwuan Jones and DeAngelo Malone) didn’t play their best. I can think of a couple of plays that just didn’t go Malone’s way, or he just straight up whiffed on a tackle. If they do their normal, the Tops have a better night for sure. Given that fact, this effort was ok, and there is room for improvement, but it’s all stuff the Tops should be capable of moving forward. You’d rather worry about fixing your veterans than hoping your young guns and newcomers will contribute at all.

Overall Special Teams: A+

I can’t really think of a problem on Special Teams at all, so why should I ding them? K/P/KOS were all great. The only questionable one was Munson because of the average per kickoff, but he did have two touchbacks and they had him experimenting with some pooches and short kicks. He had one that stayed about two yards in bounds that was just a thing of beauty and caused total chaos with UTM just having to pounce on it around their own 15 to retain possession. The return game was exceptional. Frankly I didn’t watch the blocking and really didn’t notice much from the kickoff returns so it’s hard to comment on it. However, the averages were great and the Tops had some nice field position all night for the most part.

Overall Score: B+

Honestly, WKU fans should feel heavily encouraged by this performance. WKU’s offense looked like it used to when those two aforementioned legends (Doughty and White) were at the reins. Bailey Zappe could be a great one. Let’s not pump him up too much yet, because he hasn’t truly proven anything, but he sure made his first case in a special way. Let’s see how he does against quality FBS competition the next month.

The defense left something to be desired. They have not proven they can stop the run yet in any way. There were a couple of moments, but 200+ yards is never good, even if you take out the first drive and garbage time. Without those two, this was a pretty good performance. Unfortunately, you can’t just ignore tangible data. My honest gut feeling about the defense is that was about as average as they could be. They were not very impressive, especially in the running game, but they still showed signs of life and depth. When two of your three stars (Malone, Jones, Kincade) don’t play to their usual standard, you’re probably not going to be as successful as you should be.

But this game served its purpose. This was not a “Tums tosser”, as the Voice of the Hilltoppers, Randy Lee, would say. And it shouldn’t have been. This was a blowout victory against a decent FCS opponent. That’s what you want to see, and the fact that offensive records were set is all bonus. Here comes the greatest test of the season in the coming weeks, though. WKU travels to Army on 9/11. I’m pretty sure God and country will be cheering against the Tops, and that’s not even accounting for the fact that Army should be really good this season. Then the Tops get a week off to prepare for what could be a top 10 opponent in Indiana at home in the Houch. Then the Tops go to Michigan State, a winnable game, albeit against another Big Ten conference foe. As a whole, the Tops are yet to find victory against the B1G.

This game should put hope on the table. Maybe they can beat Army. Maybe they can give Indiana a game. Maybe Michigan State is beatable. Why not? With an offense like that, if the defense shores up a couple of issues, what teams in the country are capable of winning in shootouts in the 30s and 40s? It’s not remotely to hysteria level (Rick Stansbury needn’t worry about his campus popularity just yet), but the lava bubbles are starting to pop in the volcano of Western Kentucky football fandom. Beat Army and what’s already a sold out crowd will be believing they can shock the world. Beat Indiana and the entire world of college football will stare at Bowling Green in disbelief. They could maybe do it. Why not, Tops? You have our attention, fellas.