WKU Football: Picks Lead to Points as Tops Defeat Rainbow Warriors, 49-17
It's the best start to the season for a WKU team since 2015.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are 2-0 to start the 2022 season, a feat not seen since the Brohm Squad opened with wins at Vanderbilt and against Louisiana Tech and they did it mostly with their defense as five WKU interceptions turned into 20 points in a 49-17 win in front of a sold-out Hawaii crowd Saturday night.
Er, Sunday morning.
It was late, okay?
Pick Party
WKU recorded five interceptions, tying a program FBS mark for the second-most in a single game (11/17/2008 vs. UTEP).
The only pick that directly resulted in points was a Juwan Jones pick six, which left me feeling some kind of way seeing him rumble down the field to get his first career touchdown.
Upton Stout, Kaleb Oliver (twice) and B.J. Wagner also came up with interceptions, a couple coming off of some wicked and unlucky Hawaiβi bounces.
Stoutβs third-quarter snag may have been the most impressive of the night.
Matthew Flint added a fumble recovery to mark six total forced turnovers by the Tops.
Hawaiβi was able to find gaps in the second and third levels of the Topper defense, throwing for 266 yards, but were only able to muster 94 rushing yards and the WKU defensive front was constantly in the Warriorsβ backfield, totaling eight tackles for a loss, six QB hurries and two sacks.
Yes, Hawaiβi is not good this year. Yes, the competition hasnβt been incredibly stout to open the year. But you have to like the foot the WKU defense is starting on this year.
Walking Before You Can Run
The WKU rushing attack is getting there and last night was a perfect blueprint of what we can hope to see all year long.
Three Hilltoppers finished with over 40 yards total rushing on the night - all of which scored touchdowns - and WKU combined for 141 yards on the ground, a mark achieved or surpassed just three times in the regular season last year.
Davion Ervin-Poindexter was the early workhorse as he totaled 42 yards on nine carries. He would have led the team in rushing if not for Kye Robichaux carrying the load over the final full-field drive of the game for the Tops, totaling 39 yards on five rushes (he ended the day with seven carries for 49 yards).
DEP got his first Hilltopper touchdown as the last score of the game late in the fourth quarter.
The final 40-yard rusher was Austin Reed, who took the rushing lanes the Hawaiβi defense gave him (one of my biggest critiques of last weekβs game against Austin Peay). He looked confident in doing it, too, rushing for a touchdown to cap off that Robichaux-dominant drive.
Something I know Iβll have to get adjusted to is this: The Hilltopper running attack seems to be more about the greater sum of its parts as opposed to individual cogs in the rushing machine. Itβs easy to not love a 49-yard day or a 42-yard day (though Iβll take 43 rushing yards from Reed every week, thank you very much), but when youβre nearing 150 as a unit, thatβs something I can live with.
A Different Kind of Dominant
Through two games, and with a majority of the Hilltoppersβ conference schedule looking unassuming this season, its safe to say this is how most, if not all, of the WKU games will go. Instead of what weβve become accustom to in the Brohm era, which we got a reminiscent glimpse of last year with Zappe and Kittley under center, where the Tops run-and-gun their way to a big lead and then cling to it for dear life, the Tops will take a more methodical approach down the field early in hopes that, by the time the game could potentially be in the balance, the Topsβ offense has worn out and worn down the opposing defense, allowing for large second-half point totals.
In both games to start the season, the Tops have score double-figure points in the second half to pull away and cement the victory. It might feel a bit weird to only have an 11-point halftime lead, but if things go to plan and the offense is working like it should, the Tops should get a chance late to expand and cement that lead, leading to a similar score from the Brohm or Zappe years, even if the ride to get there wasnβt the same.
Case in point: That final, full-field, Robichaux-dominated drive mentioned above. While it only took 3:14 off the clock, WKU was able to rush for all but 11 yards of a 53-yard drive over seven plays that, most importantly, resulted in a touchdown. Thatβs not something the Tops showed the luxury of being able to do late in games last year.
Red Threads
A few more quick, final thoughts on the Topsβ win in Paradise
Another tough day for Daewood Davis: He was once again Reedβs top target, catching five balls for 78 yards, but failed to find the end zone. However, it was great to see Joshua Simon get his first touchdown of the year, being the recipient of some backfield razzle dazzle. Dalvin Smith and Jaylen Hall were also touchdown catchers.
Speaking of Hall, I hope heβs alright. He made a gnarly catch along the sideline in the endzone but looked like he knocked himself out when he landed and was needed to be helped off the field. It looked scary for a minute. Hope youβre okay, my guy.
Malachi Corely was not used as a downfield threat in really any regard, a stark contrast to what we saw last week. He was used a lot on short routes and was also used on some sweep plays acting almost as a running back. Wonder if the coaching staff sees him as a utility receiver and continues to use him across the field in such a way.
I donβt know how we got so unlucky, but the first two broadcast crews of the season have been bad. It felt like, at times, Spectrum Hawaiβiβs crew was unaware of things happening on the field and was trying to tell you something was happening when you could see for yourself they were not happening in that way. The two biggest instances of this: The razzle-dazzle play that led to Simonβs touchdown went to a review and the broadcast crew was ready to die on the hill of there being a forward pass in the backfield (spoiler: there was not) and on Oliverβs second interception, they talked for five minutes as if it was incomplete, not realizing that the official along the sideline very clearly signaled immediately that it was an interception. It took halfway into the review for them to catch on.