WKU Football: Hilltoppers Takedown Defending CUSA Champs UAB 20–13
WKU Football won with defense for the second time this season as they picked off UAB quarterback Tyler Johnston four times and pulled out…
WKU Football won with defense for the second time this season as they picked off UAB quarterback Tyler Johnston four times and pulled out a 20–13 win against defending Conference USA Champion UAB in front of 20,304 at Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium.
WKU started off the game in the worst possible manner fumbling the ball on an incomplete backward pass from Ty Storey to Gaej Walker. Luckily for WKU, their defense held inside the red zone and gave up only a field goal trailing 3–0 less three minutes into the game.
After a stalled drive for WKU on their next possession, UAB would take over at their own 24. After gaining a first down, linebacker Kyle Bailey got the first Hilltopper interception of the season putting WKU at their own 39-yard line.
Ty Storey would calm down and start to get into a rhythm, connecting with Lucky Jackson and getting first downs with his legs and forcing a first and goal from the six-yard line. Gaej Walker would then get a touchdown called back on a Kyle Fourtenbary offensive facemask, pushing WKU back to their own 16. Cory Munson would then drill a 35-yard field goal to even up the score at 3 with 2:55 left in the first quarter.
UAB would then piece together a 15 play, 80-yard drive that would be capped off by a 2-yard Spencer Brown touchdown to give UAB a 10–3 lead with 10:21 left in the second.
WKU would get some help with some UAB penalties on their next drive and would get to the UAB 8 yard line with 7:47 remaining. Storey would then dump screen pass to freshman tight end Josh Simon to even up the score at 10 with 7:03 remaining.
Tyler Johnston would throw his second interception of the game to defensive tackle Jeremy Darvin to give WKU the ball on the UAB 27 yard line with 5:15 left in the quarter.
WKU was in amazing field position. After an intentional grounding penalty forced a 3rd and 15, Ty Storey would connect with Lucky Jackson for a 23 yard gain to get WKU to the 9-yard line. A holding penalty would push WKU back and they would settle for a 28-yard field goal attempt which Cory Munson would drill to make it 13–10 with 2:05 remaining in the half.
UAB would drive to the Hilltopper 38 but DeAngelo Malone would get a huge sack forcing a 3rd and long that got pushed even farther back on an ensuing hold. Johnston would then throw his third interception to Kyle Bailey but there were only 12 seconds remaining. WKU took a knee and the 13–10 lead into the locker room.
UAB would open up the second half by driving down the field again and making it to the red zone. But WKU’s defense would hold and UAB would tie the game at 13 on a field goal with 9:17 left in the third. Coco Darden made a big play in the backfield that helped the Tops defense stimie the drive.
After a three and out by the WKU offense, UAB would drive to midfield before Johnston would throw his fourth pick to Trae Meadows and WKU would take over at their own 35 with 3:36 remaining.
WKU wouldn’t take advantage and was forced to punt. Fortunately, WKU’s defense answered, forcing a punt of their own to keep the score tied at 13 as the fourth quarter started.
WKU would discover their passing game to start the fourth quarter as Storey would connect on passes to Pearson, Simon, Sloan & Jernighan to get down to the 17-yard line. After a three-yard run by Storey, he would connect with Jahcour Pearson again for a 7-yard touchdown to give WKU a 20–13 lead with 11:17 remaining.
WKU’s defense continued to gain confidence as they forced a UAB 3 and out and take over at their own 25 with 10:24 remaining.
WKU would then get its biggest gain of the game on a 68-yard screen pass to Jahcour Pearson, that got dinged 10 yards on a controversial hold downfield. WKU would continue their drive at the UAB 35. After a holding call and a bad sack, WKU was forced to punt and pin UAB deep on their own 5-yard line with 6:38 remaining.
The Blazers wouldn't go away as they would pass all over the field and drive down to the WKU 38. Jeremy Darvin would respond with a sack that resulted in a 9-yard loss. After a dropped game-sealing interception by Omari Alexander, UAB was faced a 4th & 19 with 2:11 left. Johnston would drop back to pass and get sacked by DeAngelo Malone, turning the Blazers over on downs.
WKU would then take several knees and seal a huge 20–13 win moving to 2–2 on the season and more importantly 2–0 in Conference USA.
Here are some post-game thoughts on tonight’s big victory over the Blazers
Ty Storey had some trouble getting comfortable, but he definitely showed some moxie tonight. He finished 15–24 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. He may not have the arm strength of Duncan but was a better game manager tonight.
He’s definitely more of a running threat than Duncan was even. He ran 13 times (more than Gaej Walker’s 12 attempts) for 26 yards but did keep quite a few drives going with his legs.
WKU’s running game wasn’t good tonight, only gaining 33 yards on 29 carries. They’ll have to get that back going if they want to compete for a bowl game.
Finishing drives has been a problem for the offense all season. Tonight was no exception. Penalties led to two field goals and a few punts. If they can clean those up, then they can start scoring in the 30’s and 40’s like we think they’re capable of.
WKU’s Defensive backs accomplished their mission of not getting beaten deep tonight. While they let UAB have the short passing game, they didn’t get killed by a deep ball as they had against UCA and Louisville.
WKU finally won the turnover battle tonight 4–1 and that was the difference in the game. The UAB quarterback looked like the sophomore he is.
WKU’s defense wasn’t aggressive during the first three quarters but came up huge in the fourth as Johnston was forced into a do or die situation.
I’d like to see P5 transfers Jaden Hunter and Malik Staples step up more. They combined for just 4 tackles and aren’t playing up to their talent level yet.
WKU actually got outgained 298–222 but the interceptions and critical sacks proved the difference.
Josh Simon got slightly more involved than he has recently. He caught 3 passes for 26 yards and a touchdown. Helton needs to double that to help the offense take off.
Cory Munson is starting to become automatic within 35 yards. That has proven invaluable in both wins as his leg has made the difference.
The ESPN+ broadcast was solid. The picture was great and the camera team did a good job. Compared to FIU this was night and day.
Brandon Doughty had a lot of trouble staying professional and often said we when referring to WKU. He’ll need to clean that up if he wants to take his broadcasting career to the next level. Other than that he was great with his analysis tonight.
UAB has the best attendance in C-USA but didn’t travel the short 3.5 hours up I-65. That surprised me.
Old Dominion lost at home to East Carolina 24–21 to fall to 1–3 on the season. WKU has a golden opportunity next week to move to 3–0 in C-USA. They have to take advantage of it.
Here are your final stats from tonight’s crucial win:
