WKU Football: Grading the Tops vs. Austin Peay

Breaking Down the Tops' Report Card for the Season Opener Against the Governor

Western Kentucky football (and college football in general) is finally underway in 2022. In a unique opportunity, WKU football had the chance to kick off all of college football, starting Week 0 off with a clash with a regional FCS foe, Austin Peay in the noon ET time slot, the true first game of the college football season.

It turned out the Governors of nearby Clarksville, Tennessee, were ready to play and gave WKU all they could handle. Although WKU largely controlled the game, the Governors were never out of it, and for a short period of time, they actually led 10-7, although WKU took control to end the half with a lead of 21-17.

WKU ultimately won, 38-27, walking away with the W. However, it was exceptionally close for a game against what is supposed to be a mediocre FCS opponent.

So one of the questions clearly should be, “Was Austin Peay really that good?” Or more troubling from a Topper perspective is the juxtaposition: “Is WKU going to be any good this year?”

Obviously, we know virtually nothing from one game against an inferior opponent. However, from an observation standpoint, Austin Peay was bigger than I expected. They had some big, FBS-sized bodies in the secondary. The defensive linemen were decent-sized. Tyson Helton went so far as to call them “kind of pretty lookin’”. This was certainly not your typical FCS team, where they’re just a smaller version of the bigger school. This team was big enough to be an upper-level team for the most part. In this case, I think they lacked some of the athleticism to keep up with a higher-level team.

But APSU was pretty well-coached, and they seemed to be engaged and operating under a reasonable direction and purpose.

Give them tons of credit. Maybe they can parlay this into an incredible season. I think we would all wish them well. A strong performance from Austin Peay in 2022 (although irrelevant) would suggest that perhaps WKU struggled Saturday more because of the quality of the squad they faced.

WKU definitely had its struggles, though. Just like 2021, there was no tight end presence on the stat sheet, for example. WKU had two receivers with excellent games and then had little else going on through the air, something I was concerned about heading into the game (see below).

Defensively, WKU had some pretty stats, like five sacks, two guys in the front six in with double-digit tackles, linebackers showing up and making plays, and a pick-six. However, how do we explain away the five scores and 27 points given up to an FCS team?

Obviously, there are some concerns heading out of this one. What are they and how did the Tops grade out in some key areas? We’ll start with my Keys to Victory.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Don’t Peay Down Your Leg: B-

Honestly, although this was a game that was pretty close most of the game, the Tops allowed Austin Peay to have a lead at one point, and the Governors even had a chance to take the lead in the second half, those issues weren’t because of WKU being lazy or unprepared. WKU didn’t “choke” in big moments, and ultimately, when the game was tight, the Tops made plays and stretched the lead back out efficiently. There are many ways to look at “just not messing it up”, and I think in most ways, WKU was solid against an opponent they were clearly better than on the day.

That being said, overall, WKU has to find a way to be a little more dominant against an inferior opponent at home. That’s the main reason for docking this down to a low B. Sure, WKU didn’t really do anything awful, but there were plenty of individual mishaps, some big plays that were missed opportunities, and a couple of moments that could have blown this game open that never really came to fruition.

Score 30: C+

Ok, sure, they obviously scored more than 30. That’s great. First of all, the benchmark was exactly right. Without 30, WKU doesn’t win that game. And I kind of figured that. Austin Peay could have (and did) have a pretty good offensive game and was incredibly unlikely to score more than 30. They still only mustered 327 yards to score their 27 points, so they were very efficient with their opportunities.

But here’s the issue and why this is a pretty low grade: How exactly did the Tops get there? First of all, a pick six really helped. Second, WKU had not one but two 51 yard touchdown drives. And Western was handed pretty good field position all night while still only putting up 38 points. Also, when given an opportunity to seal the deal, WKU kicked a field goal instead of punching it in for six. It was great to make a big long drive, but it would have been nice to just get the TD and make it virtually impossible for Austin Peay to come back at that point. WKU was really lucky to force a fumble on the kickoff and it became a moot point about the field goal. But with an 11 point margin, if Austin Peay scored before a minute was up with either a field goal or a touchdown, they were still in with a realistic shot if they could pull off an onside kick.

On the flip side of the coin, WKU could have easily scored three or seven more points if they wanted to on the final drive but elected to take a knee.

Win Special Teams: C-

Well, I thought the story and issue would be Topper punter Tom Ellard and that just wasn’t the case. Heck, he even made a touchdown-saving tackle. Sure, he had some short punts that we’re not used to. His ball has way more wobble than some recent WKU punters. However, the man averaged nearly 46 yards per punt and had two go for more than 50. Whatever the details, that’s All-Conference level punting and I think WKU has to be thrilled with his overall performance. It was looking ugly early, though, and I would look out for him to have a few games where he averages well under 40 yards per punt.

That being said, go figure that the one area we all were most concerned about was the best part of Special Teams. Now, Brayden Narveson was very good, as well. He did his job, making his short field goal opportunity and making his extra points. Other than that, who had “Cory Munson kicking it out of bounds twice and only getting a touchback three of seven times” on your Austin Peay Bingo Card? He can’t have another two kicks out of bounds all season or he will have a worse year kicking the ball off than all of last year. Think about that! That’s how off he was Saturday.

Kickoff coverage was good and forced a turnover. Punt coverage was not good, losing contain, missing tackles, and handing a surefire turnover back to the return man, who almost busted through a crowd by breaking a few tackles before he was corralled. Also, from a pure opportunity perspective, APSU kicked two long field goals, both of which were important to the scoring margin at the time they were kicked. So that’s a ding just by Austin Peay’s ability to kick a couple of long field goals that gave them a chance. Without them, it was a 17-point ball game and not a one-score game most of the way through.

Definitely, Special Teams could be better. If it weren’t for Tom Ellard, ironically enough, this would have been a stone-cold failing grade.

Have Some Defensive Line Presence: A

Well, there was certainly defensive line presence. And really, with the defense WKU plays, I think a “Front six” presence is a more appropriate definition here. Western showed (and definitely should, given their personnel this season) more of a 3-3-5 look on defense. The Tops generally run a 4-2-5 base defense, but I think due to linebacker strength should absolutely allow some linebackers to rush the passer on most plays. A 3-3-5 allows the defensive coordinator to have at least five guys in coverage on almost every play while still having a good five or six available to throw different looks at the offensive line.

But production-wise, Jaques Evans had 2.5 sacks (nearly 3.5 with a forced intentional grounding) and 13 tackles, Juwuan Jones showed up with ten tackles, although all of them were in front of the line of scrimmage, and FCS-transfer Lorenzo Hernandez was all over the field making big plays in the middle. Now, a huge concern is the health of Brodric Martin, the Defensive MVP from the spring. He went down early, came back in trying to work it out briefly and ended up in street clothes by the end of the night. If Evans and Jones can both produce double-digit tackles, I think this unit will be fine. But can defensive linemen really contribute 30+ tackles per game by themselves every week? That’s a tough ask.

Produce in the Middle: C+

Keep in mind, this was not the “middle” in terms of the front line of defense, but the literal middle of the field, meaning your second-level players like slots, tight ends, linebackers, and maybe we’ll throw in your nickel, as well.

We know the linebackers produced. Evans is kind of the DeAngelo Malone type of player that can both roam and produce and get in the backfield. Can he sustain that pace at a Malone level? Technically listed a linebacker, he’s spending a lot of his time at the line of scrimmage rushing the passer. Regardless, he was great. Will Ignont, Jaden Hunter, Aaron Key, and Derrick Smith all contributed nice games, along with some others dropping in tackles here and there. So close to full marks for the linebackers.

However, the tight ends…ugh. It’s very frustrating. The one time Joey Beljan was wide open and thrown to, Austin Reed was scrambling, I think Beljan stumbled a little, and so did Reed. Nobody’s fault there, but that was the only moment Beljan stood out positively besides a huge block inside the five yard line on a touchdown pass. As for Joshua Simon, we don’t know if he’s still nursing his injury, needing to strengthen back up, can’t explode, or whatever. Maybe he’s fine. But he definitely should be a huge part of the tight end equation and WKU needs him or Beljan or River Helms or Dalvin Smith or whoever to step up. WKU was not able to open the middle of the field, and I think that was because Austin Peay was clogging up the middle and forcing Austin Reed to beat them to the sideline. That’s a pretty brilliant plan, to be honest, considering WKU’s woes in the middle of the field last year. Fortunately, he and the receivers made enough plays without making a ton of mistakes later in the game to bring home the W.

Honorable Mentions: Run the ball effectively (B-), Protect the Back End (C-), Reed the Defense (B-)

WKU can definitely run the ball. We didn’t really know they could if they needed to until Noah Whittington emerged as the main feature back later in the season last year. However, against Austin Peay, they didn’t really break loose for any kind of significant long run, which really could’ve opened up the middle of the field and helped Western have an explosive option not named Daewood Davis or Malachi Corley. Despite that, there were some flashes, and keep in mind that this offense just isn’t going to run the ball terribly often. But again, let’s get into the 120s at least, if not the 150s fairly consistently and the defense will absolutely have to account for your (now) capable running game. Barely scraping 100 yards scares no one.

The back end was one of the only issues for WKU. It’s not that there was no DB presence, but WKU absolutely had some brain farts and allowed some huge plays in the passing game that ultimately allowed APSU to hang around. Without two long touchdown passes, WKU would have won by 20+.

Austin Reed finally got his rhythm in the second half and produced nearly 200 yards in the third and fourth quarters.

Here’s the major concern: Is he healthy? He definitely did something to his shoulder on a long touchdown pass. It looked like they were checking inside his armpit, he went into the locker room, and came back out and went straight back in. But Darius Ocean definitely starting warming up and was motioning to others saying Austin was hurt and that he thought he was going in. If you noticed on the option pitch to his left late in the game, Austin really had to use both hands to get the ball out to the running back. Hopefully he’s fine, but don’t be surprised to see a little shoulder brace on him, or to hear later in the year that he’s been battling a left shoulder issue.

Position Grades

Offense

Quarterback: B

I think Austin Reed (280 yards passing, 4 TD, 1 INT) was solid, especially in the second half. Set aside your ridiculous expectations of throwing 70% and an offense scoring 44 points per game. That’s unlikely to happen this year. Austin Reed was not the problem, although he did take some time to settle in, really not producing a ton of yardage himself until the second half. Austin Peay really packed the middle of the field, not allowing Reed to do much inside the numbers. Given the fact APSU really packed the middle of the field, it’s remarkable that Reed didn’t take a sack all game. If you recall, the outside of the field was much more open, and the offense did a nice job adjusting to what was available and hitting the Governors to the sidelines in the second half.

Austin finished with one interception, which was his fault. However, I think that’s a simple fix. If he was to throw that ball again, he just needed a little more zip and he had Joey Beljan open. He threw a soft lob kind of “3 ball”, if you will. A “3 ball” for a QB is really lofting the ball in the air and letting the receiver run under it. The problem is in this case, that lofting ball allowed the DB to track it, high point, and snatch it. A “2 ball” is not a bullet but still has some force behind it to get into a window, often over the threat of midlevel defenders. A “1 ball” is a laser beam, a bullet, so to speak. Depending on the situation, you throw a different type of ball depending on the design of the route and where the defense is in relation to you and the receiver and the depth of the route.

Overall, Reed was fine. He had some shaky moments, probably had a couple of times he could have been intercepted, threw a couple of balls inaccurately. He also was at minimum in discomfort from some kind of shoulder tweak later in the game. Keep in mind, the man threw 57% completions at the University of Western Florida. His calling card is not pinpoint accuracy, anyway. There was plenty of room for him to improve going forward, but he did throw nearly 300 yards against a team making it difficult to get an easy pass off. Way to manage the game and put the Tops in good position to win.

Running Back: B-

I thought the running backs did about as well as could be reasonably expected, but obviously WKU will not be an elite team if they barely average 100 yards per game, or if this is the ceiling, considering this was an FCS team. I honestly believe Austin Peay intentionally made it difficult to breathe inside, and consequently, the run game had a tough time as well as the tight ends, slots receivers, and the offense in general between the hashes. Really, very little hay was made inside the numbers for WKU. Credit to Austin Peay.

These guys showed some flashes for sure, though. Jakairi Moses started and produced given his opportunity, but Davion Ervin-Poindexter was productive and had a pretty spin move to have a nice flashy run. Kye Robichaux also got his chances and was good enough. The RBs did contribute another 22 yards through the air, including a 19 yard reception by Ervin-Poindexter. This performance given the expectation was acceptable, but I really would like to see the Tops average nearly 150 on the ground. As a unit, the RBs produced 97 yards on the ground. Austin Reed and Daewood Davis chipped in 21 yards themselves. You’d like to see 120 from the running back room alone, at least, even in an Air Raid offense. Also, as a final note, I did notice a couple of plays that the pass protection was not pristine. An underrated need for a running back group is to provide some extra protection in the backfield when they’re not out in the field running the ball or running a route.

Wide Receiver: B

Malachi Corley and Daewood Davis were an A+, but where’s the help? It’s concerning to only have two guys contributing significantly. My formula for success in air raid is two guys consistently threatening 100 yards and two more threatening 50 per game. They don’t need to actually average that, but the wide receiver room needs another player or two that can really produce. Josh Sterns was in street clothes, so for now, that third person is not going to be him. However, he could certainly help once he’s healthy. This is not a disaster, but someone definitely needs to step up and take the pressure off of the top two receivers.

Tight End: D

Joey Beljan was present on Special Teams and in the blocking game. In particular, he for sure made an impact block in the red zone, smashing a defender off to the left to open a hole for Malachi Corley to bust through for one of his touchdowns. However, the overall tight end woes continue, at least for a game. Josh Simon was non-existent and possibly still isn’t 100%. Beljan was wide open for one pass that Austin Reed just missed on. Beljan tripped a little, too, so the play looked a mess. Also, the still young tight end did not go up and high point the ball on the lone interception on the night for the Tops. That was partially on the tight end, although Reed did him no favors by throwing him an underthrown softball into late coverage.

Offensive Line: B

Obviously the offensive line was better than my impression at the game, giving up zero sacks and two quarterback hits. However, didn’t it feel like Austin Reed was taking some hits and scrambling around more than the stats show? There definitely was some issue with rush from the outside, and the line did take some heat into the backfield. Reed did a good job sliding around in the pocket and making some things happen despite some pressure. All told, this was a solid performance at the end of the day. The running backs could run and the receivers had time to run their routes for the most part. But there are definitely some issues to continue to work on. I think we do know this unit is not terrible and certainly has enough to be a pretty good offensive line moving forward for this season at minimum. Maybe they’ll jell and blossom into another elite offensive line for WKU Football.

Defense

Defensive Line: A-

I’m not sure WKU could have asked for a much better performance from its overall pressure up front, its defensive line, and the often outside linebacker rushing the passer. Jaques Evans is technically a linebacker, but the man almost had 3.5 sacks if Austin Peay QB Mike Diliello had not intentionally grounded the ball. He officially notched 2.5 sacks along with a wonderful 13 tackles. Juwuan Jones had ten tackles and was used to prevent cutbacks pretty often. He was not asked to rush the passer much, often holding back a little bit to make sure and cover the weak side of the defense. Lorenzo Hernandez is also a really nice find via the transfer portal, really showing up big in this one. He looks like a really solid producer at the defensive tackle spot. I’ll give the D-line a very, very slight ding for a few missed assignments and allowing some big runs. Also, a huge roughing the passer penalty by Darius Shipp on a completed pass gave up 31 yards all at once. But overall, if this is what the defensive line does every game, my goodness! That would be incredible and way more than expected!

Linebacker: B

Certainly Jaques Evans bumps up this score, although I’m not fully including him in this group. However, other LBs contributed, as well. Now, the LBs need to do a little better job contributing in pass coverage. For the most part, the linebackers we know the most are pass rush guys like Will Ignont and Evans, who produce sacks and clog up the line. However, the lesser known linebackers like Jaden Hunter and Derrick Smith (both Power Five transfers)—who had solid games production wise—are the ones who need to make a bigger impact in my opinion. You would like to see a linebacker or two that can just be solid guys that read and react and make plays all over the field. Evans and Juwuan Jones did that and masked the deep need for a super productive inside linebacker, but an inside linebacker that could produce eight tackles or more per game consistently would just be huge for the middle of the defense.

Defensive Back: C+

I know this may come across harsh, considering Khalef Hailassee was all over the field, and that pass interference call to put the ball on the one yard line was ridiculous. Upton Stout had an incredible game, with really nice production in the punt return game as well as a pick six. Then again, though, what is the job of the defensive backfield? Prevent big plays. There were two huge running plays, which I dinged the defensive line and linebackers for in their grade. The huge plays in the passing game generally lie on the DBs. For the most part, these guys were good all game. APSU relied on several busted plays to gain some chunk yardage, though. Otherwise, they were pretty well stifled.

There were still seven plays of 16 yards or more given up by the defense, and only a couple were rushes. Plays of 44 and 39 yards happen sometimes, but when you only give up 327 total yards and 184 yards (199 including a 15 yard penalty on a 16 yard pickup) are given up on big plays, that’s a sign of a secondary that a) Is doing its job on most plays but also b) a secondary that’s still figuring out assignment football and eye discipline.

Special Teams: C-

Overall expectations as the “bigger” school is you should win Special Teams outright. Austin Peay won that, and I believe it wasn’t terribly close. It wasn’t a complete and utter “blowout” in this department. WKU had a few nice moments, but Special Teams can’t be this bad going forward or any close game is going to put the Tops on the back foot because of the field position battle.

Punter: A-

Why not give him the perfect score? Well, before he boomed two in the second half, he was not having a very good day. Ultimately, Tom Ellard, a guy who just is not going to average upper 40s to 50+ on his punts most days, nearly did just that by booming a 61 yarder that nearly caused a turnover inside the 10 yard line in the rain. He also had another 50+ yarder that used a very generous roll to amount to a nice punt. Heck, Ellard also helped save a touchdown by making a tackle on a long return by the Governors. He immediately went and talked smack when he did it, too, which was hilarious.

But this was a really nice performance and if he can perform to this level game in and game out, that eliminates one of my biggest concerns heading into this season. However, I just don’t see him booming punts for 46 a pop. He’s got to work on his drop technique to be to that level. If you look at his punts, the ball is angled differently coming out of his hand each time. That’s something to watch going forward. When you drop the ball, if you want a spiral, the ball need to tilt slightly forward, but if you were to not kick it and it hit the ground, the ball should bounce straight back up off of the ground. That angle gives you the ability to spin the ball and also get an outward trajectory. If you want an end over end, the ball needs to be facing more downward. Anyway, this was a great start and it really helped later in the game when he put the opponent inside the ten.

Kicker: A+

Brayden Narveson did his job, making all of his opportunities. He wasn’t asked to do anything more than kick from 23 yards, so it didn’t show off his prowess as a kicker, but good for him showing up ready to play, and going out there and doing his job and putting up eight points on the board.

Kickoff Specialist: D

I give such a harsh grade, because Cory Munson was so incredibly good last year and it was a huge swing from last year’s feel to this year’s first game. I’m sure he would grade himself as having one of his worst games ever on kickoff. Munson only had three kicks out of bounds all year last year, kicking off more than almost anyone else in the country. He had two roll out of bounds in this game. He also didn’t get touchbacks on his other kicks. It was a tough day for him, but we all know Munson is great kicking off and hopefully this was a blip and he moves on.

Special Teams Coverage: C+

The redeeming quality of forcing a turnover on special teams in a huge moment really changes things. However, a turnover that basically ended the game only raises this to a C+ for a reason. WKU missed several tackles and missed out on another turnover that really would have possibly broken Austin Peay’s will to fight. Western had and lost contain on a punt that allowed a huge return, only to be bailed out by the kicker. Against an FCS opponent, why was WKU struggling to dominate on the one unit that should be clearly better than the opponent?

Special Teams Return Units: B

Upton Stout was awesome, having two double digit yard long punt returns, something you rarely see in today’s game. Western didn’t get to return a kickoff, so that was irrelevant in this case. Since that opportunity didn’t exist, I took down the grade a little bit more just because of the absence of opportunity. But Upton Stout just came out of relatively nowhere and had a heck of day defensive and on Special Teams. I’ll know his name going forward, for sure. Good for him.

Coaching

Head Coach: B-

Ok, first of all this isn’t head hunting for Tyson Helton. I don’t really remember anything he specifically did wrong that was just awful. His team was ready. They played hard on all sides of the ball. If I’m digging for anything, there were three main things that could be questioned. The first was taking a holding penalty on third down. You’re up 21-17 in the second half in the rain. Your opponent is barely in field goal range and the penalty does push them out of it, but it also gives them another crack at getting a first down. If they wanted to go for it on 4th-and-8, by all means, we’ll decline the penalty and go ahead in my opinion. Ultimately, the Governors gain enough yards to still kick about the same length field goal and they made it. So zero sum ultimately was gained, but you also risked them busting a play for 18 yards for a first down and going down and taking the lead. Or gaining 15 yards and going for it on 4th-and-3 and making it. In the third quarter, I don’t see huge value in giving up three points on a long field goal in the rain that just brings them a little closer versus giving the opponent a chance to take the lead. Again, personal opinion.

My second issue that could absolutely be questioned was not going for it on 4th-and-inches inside your own territory. You may have booed that decision. A lot of people did. However, on this one, I was ok with the decision. You’re inside your own territory, and as a reminder, you’re in the rain in 21-20 ball game. Sure, you could get a first down. But what if you don’t? Anybody remember Mike Sanford doing that in a 21-all game against Maine from WKU’s own 20 yard line? In this case, it was a little farther out, but if you don’t get it, you still hand the opponent the ball with a good kicker that needs another ten or 15 yards to kick a field goal to take the lead. You don’t want that, and look what happened. Ultimately, Ellard booms it, the Tops nearly recover, and end up winning the field position battle by getting a short 51 yard field and capitalizing with a touchdown to stretch it back out to eight points.

The final issue was passing the ball late in the game up two scores with about 11 or 12 minutes left. I understand your offense is good at passing. Fine. Why did you call all long routes with no safety valve on first down? Why would you then turn around and pass again right after? At some point, air raid be darned, let’s play some percentages here and run the clock for at least a minute and a half on this drive instead of burning maybe 30 total seconds. The percentages for the opponent go way down just by running the ball three times than throwing a couple of incompletions and still not getting the first down. Or even getting a first down and not scoring still doesn’t move the needle toward victory. Clock or points, please. Run the former down or run the latter up, but don’t forsake both when the game is close. Or how about slowing down and still passing, but when the clock is running, don’t snap the dad gum ball at 28 on the clock? Ultimately, it worked out, but watch for the Air Raid philosophy to bite the Tops once or twice and put a close game in jeopardy.

Ultimately, I’m nitpicking here and I think Tyson did a fine job. But 38-27 against an FCS program that’s never come within 12 of an FBS opponent is not the best performance and most fans probably left feeling at minimum a little anxious for Hawaii and the rest of this season.

Offensive Coaching: B

Again, I was not a fan of passing the ball late. They actually got more conservative down one possession, interestingly enough. I think that response was maybe opposite of how it should have been. One method worked and one didn’t, so again, no actual harm, no foul. Overall, in terms of strategy, they made really nice adjustments in the second half, helping Reed to nearly double his first half production. They figured out how to attack Austin Peay and went after it, mainly staying away from the middle of the field. They also found ways to get running backs involved enough to keep the defense honest, and the Tops really do seem to be well-coached and engaged. It’s hard to really give crappy grades when there’s nothing really there to complain deeply about.

Defensive Coaching: B+

I don’t blame the coaches for the busted plays. If that continues well into the season, then that will then turn on the coaches as a responsibility to find a way to adjust. I think one of the big plays, the Tops were in man-to-man, the Tops miss a tackle, and they’re off to the races. Ok maybe you should have been in zone there? Ehh. I believe Coach Tyson Summers did a heck of a job getting pressure while not taking huge risks for the most part. Five sacks for a questionable defensive line with injuries is incredible. He didn’t make it complicated, and he certainly made Mike DiLiello think, which is what you want a QB doing instead of knowing where he’s going with the football every time. I think the Tops will need to do a better job spying or at least containing a mobile quarterback going forward, but sometimes, those guys are really hard to play against because sometimes they’re just going to make individual winning plays from time to time.

Discipline: B

WKU’s back end discipline was obviously not its best it could possibly be, giving up over half of its defensive yards to chunk plays, most of which came through the air. Imagine if they shored that up, though! Also, another major issue was penalties. WKU only had eight penalties, which is not awful, but 86 yards is well on the high end of what you ever want to see. A late hit, pass interference, etc. are just not what you want to see. But every other area of discipline was pretty good to great. The Tops were focused, they were poised, and most importantly, they didn’t choke. They stuck to their guns, they stepped up, and they made plays when they had to. And there’s no question that the team was engaged and playing hard. That’s all a very good indication of discipline and good coaching and preparation.

Overall: C+

I know an 11 point win over Austin Peay is not glitzy or glamorous. But first of all, what did WKU do wrong? They gave up a few big plays and they had some marginal plays just not work out (Hernandez fumble called back, freakish fumble recovery goes right back into the returner’s hands, tough pass interference calls). Whose fault is that? I don’t blame anyone, but I think it just means as I’ve been grading, I stuck mostly to the middle of the road and didn’t give glowing reviews. Few positions were bad or non-existent, and honestly, give Austin Peay some credit. They were WAY bigger and better than I thought they would be. That did not feel like an FCS team. They have filled in their holes, and they have a QB that could win in multiple ways.

When evaluating this, we can look at it as Western just not being very good, or we can look at it as Austin Peay is possibly much better than advertised. Here’s the thing: There were signs of good things from the defense. The offense and defense came to life in the second half after some necessary adjustments. The defense buckled down in the second half, allowing 1/3 of the yards they allowed in the first half.

Five sacks to start the season is incredible. Forcing turnovers is A+ work. Only allowing 327 yards is an acceptable effort. There was some bad luck involved here. Austin Peay had several drives where WKU just completely overwhelmed them, swarming to the football. Then Austin Peay made some good play calls on other drives, got some rhythm, and scored when they were given an opportunity.

Isn’t it a sign of a ton potential that this WKU defense showed it can stone cold stop a team if it fires on all cylinders? Last year, they would bleed to death by pinprick. They would give up five yards a play with pretty good discipline and just couldn’t “get there” to stop the play before they gained yardage. Offenses could run curls for first down on third down whenever they felt like it. WKU was not incredible on third and fourth down, but it was so much more difficult for Austin Peay to do anything than it was last year in general against the WKU defense.

I think the potential is there for this WKU defense to be elite. If WKU cut the big plays in half to just three or four, you’re talking allowing way less than 300 total yards, and that’s where elite status comes in as a defense. The good news is they didn’t give up 400+, they forced some field goals, and they were able to get stops when they needed to. That didn’t happen early in the season for the Tops in 2021.

Offensively, Austin Reed is not 70% accurate like Bailey Zappe was. He’s got an arm like Zappe in some ways, but he’s not as accurate. God forbid the passing offense come back to Earth! But the Tops can make up for it with hopefully a better running game and a better defense early in the season. Once the team rounds into shape and hopefully stays healthy, this could be a really nice formula for winning.

All of the issues are fixable: A kickoff specialist who was elite last year had a bad game, return game issues missing tackles and losing contain, big plays given up on defense because of mistakes, early season offensive line concerns, wide receiver depth, and tight ends that need to come along and be fully healthy.

How many of those are fixable quickly? They should all be pretty easy to rectify in theory. Sure, bumps in the road happen. But as long as the Tops progress in these areas, WKU seems to have some nice pieces and should be in the running for a C-USA title once again.