WKU Football: Ranking the 2017 Opponents — #4–1
We’re now 80 Days from WKU’s football opener against Eastern Kentucky. Over the course of the next 2+ months we’ll be have a lot of content…
We’re now 80 Days from WKU’s football opener against Eastern Kentucky. Over the course of the next 2+ months we’ll be have a lot of content previewing the upcoming season. On Monday, we started with the ranking of WKU’s opponents from easiest to hardest, and yesterday we continued with the middle tier teams. Today, we finish up with the four biggest games on the schedule.
4.) @ Illinois Fighting Illini
Anytime WKU plays a Power 5 team, it’s bound to be one of the season’s marquee games. Illinois is up there, despite being a perennial cellar dweller in the Big Ten coming off a 3–9 season. WKU has never beaten a Big Ten team, going 0–6 since the school’s first meeting with a Big Ten program in 2001. One of those attempts was back in 2014 during Jeff Brohm’s second game as head coach. WKU couldn’t hold on to a 27–21 3rd quarter lead, and lost 42–34.
This year, the trip will once again come during Week 2 but Mike Sanford will have a chance to already do something Brohm couldn’t do on the Hill. Former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith is in his 2nd season with the Illini, and it remains to be seen if the hire will pan out.
Last year Illinois really struggled and that was with a decent senior QB in Wes Lunt. They did bring in the JUCO National Championship winning QB in Dwayne Lawson (formerly of Va Tech) as the signal caller of the present and he does have some talent around him including now junior receiver Mike Dudek returning from injury. Dudek had four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown against WKU in 2014.
Illinois still only has 11 total starters (five offense and six defense) back from last season’s dumpster fire and no one really knows what to expect from Lovie’s squad. This one will be really intriguing to see how Coach Sanford will handle going into a Big Ten environment (even Illinois) and how he handles playing against a team with better talent.
3.) @ Old Dominion Monarchs
Old Dominion sneakily tied WKU for the Conference USA East Division title last season, finishing conference play at 7–1. Bobby Wilder’s program has only been playing football since 2009 and has only been FBS since 2013. They are seen as a sleeping giant in Conference USA due to their proximity to the Tidewater area talent and good community support.
In 2016 they took a big leap forward, although they didn’t play competitively with superior programs. During last year’s Week 8 matchup, WKU showed the Monarchs they still have some ways to go. WKU raced out to a 52–14 halftime lead that quickly dashed ODU’s C-USA hopes in a game that will be more remembered for a 3rd quarter fight than a 59–24 victory.
Moving on to this year’s team, ODU returns 14 starters (eight offense, six defense) but must replace their starting quarterback David Washington. They have several weapons on offense including the rushing duo of running backs Ray Lowery and Jeremy Cox.
ODU’s defense includes the #1 ranked defensive line in Conference USA, and overall was solid by Conference USA standards last season. The reason this one really scares me is that its WKU’s first Conference USA road challenge of the season (sorry UTEP) and it comes with a short turnaround on a Friday evening. If Bobby Wilder can find a QB to run his team this looks like a Conference USA contender and with Brohm gone, they’ll be trying to take the crown from WKU and will use that fight as motivation.
2.) Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
Rick Stockstill has been nothing but steady in his decade plus at MTSU. They’ll consistently win 6–8 games a season but find a way to lose the conference title. Last year in Murfreesboro, WKU used a Deon Yelder blocked extra point to win a wild 44–43 shootout in Double Overtime.
The Blue Raiders bring back Preseason All-Conference USA QB Brent Stockstill and wide receiver Richie James. They are the top duo in the conference and even beat Missouri in Columbia last season.
They return 12 starters in total (six on offense and six on defense) and have proven to be consistently explosive over the past few seasons. Defense is a concern for the Blue Raiders but they’ll be in the top 3–4 contenders for the Conference-USA crown when the season starts.
The reason they’re listed so high is because of the date in the season. Being the second-to-last game of the season, this could be a de-facto elimination game for the Conference USA East. The fact that it was moved to a Friday night brings it to an even higher concern level . The Blue Raiders should have a chip on their shoulder as they try to establish themselves as the class of the conference post-Brohm. Building on WKU’s two game winning streak in the 100 Miles of Hate would be one of the biggest conference goals for the season.
1.) @ Vanderbilt
This is the Rubber Match of a three-game series between the Tops and the Commodores. The Tops survived an out of rhythm effort to escape on opening night 14–12 in 2015. Vandy returned the favor last season at the Houch 31–30 in OT on Mike White’s deflected 2-point conversion attempt. Vandy has been a measuring stick for WKU’s program in recent years. This year’s game is at back in Nashville in November during the middle of conference play. If WKU is having a successful season, expect Vanderbilt Stadium to be packed with Red again:
Derek Mason broke through last season (with the help of that victory over WKU) to save his job and take the Commodores to the Independence Bowl. Vanderbilt returns 17 Starters from last season (nine offense, eight defense) including all-time leading rusher Ralph Webb & starting QB Kyle Shurmer. This will be Vanderbilt’s best team since the series started & the most talented on WKU’s schedule. That being said, they are still very beatable and a win in Nashville could lead to WKU’s fourth SEC victory since 2012.
What do you think of our rankings? Were we way off or just right? Let us know with a comment below, on twitter @TheTowelRackWKU or on our brand spankin’ new Facebook page!