WKU Football: On Expectations, Success and How to Enjoy the 2018 Season

The calendar flips to August this week, which means we are so. close. to the start of the 2018 football season.

The calendar flips to August this week, which means we are so. close. to the start of the 2018 football season.

Ever since the disappointing loss in the Cure Bowl to end the 2017 season, there’s been a bad taste in the mouths of many Western Kentucky fans.

And that’s putting it mildly.

From swearing off the Mike Sanford hire as a mistake to damning the Tops to a three-win season before we see this year’s team even takes the field, if there’s a negative prediction to be had about this Hilltopper’s team, it’s been voiced.

And here’s the thing — there’s a glimmer of truth to a lot of that dismay. There’s a chance this season wont be very fun. By the end of week three, we very well could be talking about a team that is 1–2 with a couple of 21-plus point losses under their belt.

After the glitz and glam that was Brohm Squad football, it’s definitely been a change of pace, and one season (especially a season that ended the way 2017 did) is far from a pallet cleanser from that brand of pigskin to what it appears Sanford wants to build.

But, that doesn’t mean we should be throwing in the towel so easily.

2018 isn’t going to be a “successful,” season by a number of margins; the Tops, most likely, wont be in the hunt for the CUSA conference, yet alone East Division, title. The Tops, most likely, will have to be happy with a 6–6 record, something that WKU fans haven’t had the desire to settle for since 2010. And the Tops are probably going to lose a few games by a ton of points (getting a taste of their own medicine over the past handful of years, without a doubt).

All of that being said, that isn’t to say there can’t be success found in 2018.

The conversation we’ve had with many of those fed up with Sanford and Co. on Twitter boils down to “expectations”; it’s expected WKU should be competing for C-USA titles. It’s expected WKU should be able to compete with the likes of Louisville and FAU. It’s expected WKU should be in the same conversation as Marshall and Louisiana Tech as opposed to Charlotte and Marshall.

But, expectations are usually the product of reality. It’s been chronicled in the lead up to the season how, for all intents and purposes, the cupboard is fairly bare at key spots, and while a bounce back is certainly possible for WKU this season, it isn’t that likely.

If this were 2015, the expectations would be much different. Yes, a conference title wouldn’t be out of the question. Yes, a 10-plus win season wouldn’t be out of the question.

But it isn’t. It’s 2018, and WKU fans have to realize where the team is, and what’s in reach.

So, that begs the question, what is in reach?

We’ll, it’s already been kind of touched on, but with a schedule that features Wisconsin, Louisville, a Lane Kiffin-led FAU, Marshall, La Tech and MTSU, a 6–6 record isn’t the worst thing you can turn. Bowl eligibility is a moral victory (I know we aren’t out here playing for moral victories, but you’ve got to take the wins as they come in a year like this).

Another thing I’ve touched on a lot on Twitter; WKU can have a better season and not replicate last year’s win total. If the Tops look competent, composed and engaged, that’s a win. In the late stages of the first half, and for essentially all of the second half in the Cure Bowl, the team — especially on defense — looked disinterested. The body language, on the field and on the bench, was essentially non-existent. It was something I had never seen from a Hilltopper team before, and something I hope I never see again.

One of the things that has been echoed at Florida State, where Willie Taggart is getting ready to make his debut season, is that he has made football fun again for the players in the wake of Jimbo Fisher’s departure. While it’s a different circumstance for WKU from this year to last, if Sanford can find a way to make that type of culture change from his first to his sophomore year, it’ll be a successful year for WKU.

I’ve said it several times on Twitter, and I know this isn’t the best way to say it but I can’t think of another way to word it; I, personally, am taking this season much in the same way I’d take a similarly-circumstanced season for one of my favorite pro teams. I’m going to keep a keen eye on the development, as well as the talent that commits to come for 2019 and beyond, and start building up those expectations for then.

There are ways to enjoy this season, I promise you. No, it isn’t going to be the same kind of enjoyment as we’ve had over the last half-decade or so, but the low expectation seasons aren’t going to last, if everything goes according to plan.

Having said all of that, I hope you’re ready for some Hilltopper football, because I know I, and the rest of our crew, are. There’ll be ups. There’ll be downs. But just remember the bigger picture — 2018 is going to be a small blip on the screen once the ball gets rolling down The Hill once again.