WKU Football: Hilltoppers Show No Mercy, Dismantle FIU, 73-0
The Hilltoppers had their way with the Panthers, pulled their starters midway through the third quarter and are 1-0 in Conference USA play.
We all knew things had the potential to get ugly. WKU is a team on a mission and FIU is in the first year of what looks to be a long rebuild. The Hilltoppers were upset over blowing their shot to take down a Big Ten team and FIU just happened to get in the way.
The end result was worse than any of us predicted. Literally. The Hilltoppers covered the Vegas line by halftime and not only set a program record with a 73-0 win Saturday afternoon, but sent FIU back to the Sunshine State with their worst defeat in school history.
Reed It and Weep
You were inundated with it all off season. People who know little to nothing about Western Kentucky snickered and sneered at the thought that anyone would even come close to replicating Bailey Zappe’s 2021 record breaking year.
They won’t be able to replace him, they said. The offense has too many question marks, they claimed. I don’t know how they’ll be able to replicate last year’s success, they bemoaned.
Through four games, here’s how Reed and Zappe stack up:
Reed: 105/143 (73.4%), 1,263 yards, 14 TD, 3 INT (Sports Reference Rating: 175.7)
Zappe: 133/183 (72.7%), 1.712 yards, 16 TD, 2 INT (SR Rating: 177.9)
Ladies and gentleman: We’ve won. The war is over. Those of us who dug in our heels and pushed back at the “ridiculous” notion that the Hilltoppers would be able to plug someone in and get the offense back, or even close, to last year’s record-breaking unit are being rewarded and reaping the benefits.
Reed was electric yesterday. I can think of only one poor decision from him: On the first drive of the game, the Tops went five-wide on third down. FIU put five linebackers in the second level to counteract, along with a cornerback, leaving two safeties deep and a three-man front. Reed, though, had his internal clock miscalculated, and instead of looking to the near-side and finding what would have been a wide open Daewood Davis, he went to Michael Mathison along the Tops’ bench.
That’s it. And the decision wasn’t even that poor - it was still a gain of about seven, which on any other down or distance you would have taken.
Reed finished throwing for 381 yards, a season high up to this point, completing 29 of his 35 pass attempts, including completing 18-straight passes at one point, the second-longest such streak in Hilltopper history (guess who he is behind?). He also threw five touchdowns and played turnover-free football in a game he saw little to no pressure from the FIU front, leading to a QBR of 221.4 (for comparison, Zappe had just one 200+ rating game last year - 211.9, in the win over Rice).
Austin Reed has arrived, ladies and gentleman. This coming week against Troy will go a long way into putting this week’s performance into some perspective, but that’s to take nothing away from what happened Saturday afternoon.
Committee, Adjourned
You can say goodbye to the three-running back rotation deployed through the first three games, because Kye Robichaux is now your entrenched RB1 for the Hilltoppers.
It’s hard to compare and contrast Robichaux’s 100-yard day, in a tight contest, against his 63-yard day in a game he was spelled for early. But make no mistake, if the Tops aren’t in a game that sees them take a 30-point first-half lead, Robichaux will be the workhorse.
He led all Hilltopper rushers in carries (10) and was second in yards to L.T. Sanders (63), who took four garbage time rushes for 73 yards and looked really, really good in the process. He didn’t get a carry in the second half, but you won’t hear any complaints here: Gotta keep him fresh for Troy next week.
Davion Ervin-Poindexter’s first rush of the game didn’t come until the second quarter, when he got the rock for a 19-yard touchdown.
Of Robichaux’s 10 rushes, all but two of them came on first down (as did one of his three pass catches).
II Fast II Contain
We began this recap by issuing a mea culpa on behalf of the rest of the college football media world for not believing Austin Reed was the a) right guy and b) could work in the Tops’ system. but now, it’s time to issue a mea culpa of our own.
We thought Daewood Davis would be the top dog in the receiving corps. And, to an extent, he is: Through four games, he leads the Hilltoppers in receptions, receiving yards and yards per catch. But while Davis is the “We need a positive yardage play” security blanket for Reed, it’s Malachi Corley that is quickly becoming the most dangerous receiver the Hilltoppers have at their disposal.
Just take a look at his first touchdown from the day.
It’s second and two. This play is designed to pick up a first down, maybe get across midfield. But, he gets the edge and high-steps out of a would-be tackle, slides out of another (along the sideline, no less) then turns on the burners en route for a 76-yard house call.
His hands are smooth. He’s slippery in tight spaces and has the speed to get home when there’s room between him and a defender. Davis might be the “I’m afraid to tackle this guy” receiver in the room, but Corley is becoming the “I’m not sure I can tackle this guy” receiver, and that’s the best of both worlds for Reed and company.
Red Threads
A few more quick, final thoughts on the Tops’ romp, en route to a 1-0 C-USA record.
I want to shoutout Darius Ocean and Caden Veltkamp real quick. Nothing in particular, just shoutout to those guys. Ocean had a zipping touchdown pass across the middle to Easton Messer for a 44-yard touchdown and Veltkamp looked comfortable in his first D1 action. WKU hasn’t truly developed a quarterback since…Jakes? Doughty?…and it’s more than likely the Tops will again head to the portal one Reed enters the draft, but they have two competent in-house decisions come that time, and I’m glad they both got to see the field (in a conference game, no less. Still a bit mind blowing).
It may be premature to begin making comparisons, but this team is starting to feel like the 2015 Hilltopper team. Yes, that team had some all-time names, but did we know that at the time? Would it shock you if Reed, Davis, Corely, Stout and others enter the same echelon as Doughty, Wales, Taylor, Iworah? Even if this year’s team doesn’t end up being as dominant as that 2015 squad was, I think we are in the midst of watching a team that is very, very special.
On the theme of “remembering some dudes”, remember Cam Taylor? How dominant he was on the outside, that teams were a bit scared to throw to him? I’m starting to get the feeling Upton Stout might become a similar type of guy.
We aren’t even 24 hours removed from the win and I’m already thinking about the Troy game, and what would constitute a successful win, in the event the Hilltoppers do win. Are we to expect a close game decided by one score? Are we to expect to be disappointed if the Tops don’t have 50 on them? Regardless, we were all Trojans this week: They played (and defeated) Marshall to notch their first Sun Belt win of the season.
I don’t know who all saw this graphic this week, but it perfectly encapsulates how WKU has and will continue to operate in the everchanging college football landscape.
In a world that used to be insanely unfair for a program like the Hilltoppers (have a good player, they get national attention, they leave for greener pastures) who have had to be savy with transfers prior to the new rules, this levels out the playing field a little bit and we are seeing WKU do it better than, quite literally, anyone in the country.