WKU Football: Reviewing the 2023 WKU Spring Game

What do we know heading into summer workouts?

Western Kentucky Football is unquestionably in good shape. What shape are they really in? That can’t be determined definitively until they get on the field in August, but all indications seem to be the Tops are in a pretty good position.

WKU Football has made a bowl game every year under Tyson Helton, and they’ve won a bowl game in three of those seasons.

Not only does WKU return its coach and a lot of the staff and plenty of players, the Tops return superstar talent on the offensive line, at wide receiver, and at quarterback. The brilliant tandem of Malachi Corley and Austin Reed were electric, with Reed putting the ball on the money and Corley being able to take the ball at the line of scrimmage and turn it into immediate success for the Topper offense.

WKU does have some holes, and the spring game exposed some of that. Also, we just know when you have a defensive lineman drafted in the third round (Brodric Martin) and lose several other key starters to graduation and the transfer portal, you’re going to have some question marks.

So what’s going on and how should Topper fans feel heading in to the 2023 season?

The Tops are in Great Shape

Whatever the details, you’ve got arguably the best quarterback in the country back in your offense for a second straight season. You’ve also got the self-proclaimed (and legitimately claimed) YAC (Yards After Catch) king in the country, as well. Running back has several promising options from a room that wasn’t asked to do that much last season. The offensive line returns three starters and several other contributors from a record setting offensive line performance from last season.

Defensively, there are a lot of pieces around that could easily fill in most of the puzzle. Jaques “Donut” Evans is back after flirting with the portal. Several other big names grace the Topper defensive two-deep.

So Where are the Holes?

Well, one obvious question mark would be the offensive line. WKU’s O-Linemen had to play all game long in the spring game simply because they had no backups. For a college offensive line to be relatively deep and able to know there will be enough bodies to carry the load, you need ten guys that can play, and you probably need close to 15 (or more) that can fill out some depth in case a few guys go down. Heck, you need three capable snappers just so you can run pregame warmups. Sometimes that’s hard to come by.

The second question mark would be running back. Is WKU deep enough (or capable enough) to be a really good unit? It’s a fair question. Tight end is probably the roughest individual position offensively. Both Joshua Simon and Joey Beljan have transferred out from WKU. Both had been solid contributors for the Tops in multiple seasons.

Defensively, there’s a little bit of everything lost, but there are capable bodies at every level. We can go into depth if we want, but suffice to say each level defensively has some losses, but has capable bodies that can at least fill holes and not be terrible.

Special teams should be in pretty good shape. Kickoff specialist Cory Munson returns, as well as Australian punter Tom Ellard. Brayden Narveson leaves WKU, but Cory Munson (who has a bowl game winning field goal already under his belt), who virtually did nothing on the field the past couple of years besides kick the ball off. A very capable kicker with a big leg, Munson has excellent career numbers, but lost his job to Brayden Narveson over the last couple of seasons.

How to Fix the Holes

Develop Players

It seems simple, but WKU definitely has some guys that have been role players (even starters) who now have to step up and be difference makers. Instead of just being in the right spot defensively, or gaining yardage that most people would gain, it’s about taking it to the next level and playing fast enough to be ahead of the opponent. That’s going to have to be one element is just straight up developing talent.

Go Portaling

The other way WKU needs to fix some issues is to get into the NCAA Transfer Portal and going to get a few more fellas to fill out some depth and hopefully steal a couple of starting jobs from those who would be assumed the starter at their position.

By all accounts, despite the decent position on paper, WKU does feel the need to improve by going to get some players that can immediately contribute. According to multiple sources, some graduations created a few holes, and a few transfers really made things rough at certain position groups. The two main positions I would think need to be addressed would be offensive line and tight end. Offensive line has good pieces, but do they have five solid starters, and one for every position? At tight end, holy smokes. Not one player has statistical data available beyond high school.

FAQ

How Did the Quarterbacks Look?

Good.

Obviously Austin Reed is amazing, and hopefully he’s going to rein in the “gunslinger” thing a little bit and make his case as the greatest quarterback in WKU history. He’s potentially what Bailey Zappe could have done if Bailey Zappe had two years on The Hill instead of one. Caden Veltkamp continues to come along. He has a really nice arm and made some eye popping throws. This guy is a really nice young prospect and hopefully WKU can hold on to him and let him be a star one day. Hopefully he has the patience to understand quarterbacks OU their dues and then get their shot. Willie Taggart, Jr. aka “Lil Will” also showed some of his dad’s pizzazz and really impressed a lot of fans.

WKU fans should feel good about both Austin Reed and the backups, as well. I think the last two seasons, the starter has been great, but I wouldn’t panic if a backup came in, whether it was Veltkamp or Taggart.

What’s the News on the Practice Facility?

It’s still on. The major projected sponsors have not wussed out this time, and it looks like the WKU practice facility should start to begin to transition to a higher quality level within the next few years, and the money will come from refinancing debt and state funding instead of strapping the university for cash.

Are they ever going to fix that nasty pressbox?

Why yes, they are working on that. The press box will actually be going above the Jack and Jackie Harbaugh Club, so instead of the WKU coaches having to not only climb the ramps and stairs but also come all the way across the field to get to the press box, it now makes it where WKU staff could be fully in place as quickly as a couple of minutes after leaving the WKU locker room. As it stands now, WKU coaches have to head across the stadium ten or more minutes before the second half begins. It’s incredibly inconvenient.

Now the press box will be on top of the home side of the field, and opponents will have to deal with the longer trip. The press box will be modernized and set up to handle everything visiting media crews as well as coaches and admin could possibly need. It will even have air conditioning and an elevator! That should begin after this season ends. How exactly will it take shape? Will they add or subtract seats from either side to accomodate for the changes? We won’t really know until they start doing it, but things should get a lot nice football facility-amenity-wise.

How BEAUTIFUL is that new locker room?

Listen, it’s impressive. It was nice in 2009 when it was brand new, but those lockers started wearing out a couple of years in, and there would be things you had to work around related to the players’ lockers. Some of the magnets wouldn’t work, the lockers and locks would get stuck, or something else would be a little bit off. The film room and gaming area was nice, but the level they’ve taken that is out of this world, too. When I was there, it was four or five computers to watch film, a couple of couches, a pool table, and a ping pong table. They’ve got a whole theater, a place for them to cut their hair, and everything is just several steps up from what it used to be.

Are they doing anything for Alumni?

This has not always been the case, but the last two coaching staffs have especially made massive efforts to take care of WKU Football’s alumni and their subsequent traditions. Jeff Brohm opened the door again after Bobby Petrino completely starved alumni relations, treating former players like outsiders, but Mike Sanford should get all of the credit for restoring relationships and actively attempting to include WKU Football alumni back in the program. Before Petrino, Willie Taggart (a former WKU player) had brought a lot of people back to Western.

If you’re a former athlete, coach, or support staff member, you should feel proud to be represented on The Hill, because you are. Tyson Helton has taken the torch from Mike Sanford and has really given the Football Alumni Council and W Club (and other athletic funding organizations) a lot of attention and has really helped grow the number of former players that come back home every year.

As both a lifetime WKU fan and a WKU Football alum, man, it feels good to know that the effort fans have put forth to their Toppers are paying off, and alums should know that their efforts on the gridiron are not unnoticed or unappreciated.

If you’re a Topper alum, come out to the tents at football games, join the W Club, and get involved at Western again.

Transfer Portal has Proven Extremely Risky for Players Leaving WKU

In this article by Fletcher Keel, the argument is made that many WKU players have struggled once exiting WKU to “get their chance”. Now, this is not bemoaning every transfer. Sometimes, it’s time for the kid to go. The coaches are ready for them to leave, they’re not happy, and they’re not producing like they used to. That’s fine in that case. Let a kid leave and find a less toxic situation or hopefully learn from things in his past that have forced him to think about big picture questions, like hopefully getting a degree and getting a job after it’s all over.

Several players have left the Tops. Several would likely be playing pro ball and could easily have been drafted at WKU. Mason Brooks and Mitchell Tinsley both left WKU hoping to see massive success. Tinsley saw action and played a big role, but was just not draft material. Mason Brooks was almost certainly a shoe-in to be a late round draft pick at WKU, but instead, he went to Ole Miss and was a role player. He’s been offered a spot in the XFL and does have a chance to play in the league. But where would he have been if he graded out at some ridiculous number (Like he did while at WKU) at WKU? If he repeated what he did from his last year at Western, he probably wouldn’t have been able to make it through draft night without his name being called.

Other players in other sports have left and wondered. Some have worked out and some have not. In Brooks’ case, imagine if Forrest Lamp had transferred out for his final season. Could he have killed it somewhere else? Maybe. But he stuck around and nearly got drafted in the first round. If he goes to, I don’t know Missouri, and doesn’t have a monster year, does he get drafted? Probably not.

Now Western has some serious cards to play when a player decides he wants to run on to the next big shiny object. It’s not manipulation. Oftentimes it’s still just better to sit where you know you have a good chance instead of rolling the dice somewhere else.

Internal Goals

I think within the building, the feeling is “this is our year”.

It’s time to break all the way through. Bailey Zappe got the Tops to the championship. Austin Reed was extremely close, too and beat a Sun Belt conference championship by a billion in the bowl game. Brandon Doughty and Mike White won championships, but that’s been 7 seasons at this point since winning back-to-back championships.

This season, the Tops are looking to get some guys in the portal here during the summer and go chase a New Years Six Bowl. Will they do it? That’s a really tall order, but the Tops have what you would have to call a “winnable” schedule besides playing at Ohio State. Obviously Ohio State is a national title contender, so if WKU could stay close or (let’s not put it past them) win against the Buckeyes, the Toppers could seriously be flirting with major bowl status.

I believe that is the realistic feeling within the walls of the Houch. Obviously coach speak and how they speak to the players is, “One game at a time. Every game is important. Yada yada.” But in terms of how you talk away from the environment of those that need to stay focused and execute, the prevailing feeling is 11-1 is completely and utterly doable. 10-2 for sure. Conference USA should be weaker. Many of the perennial contenders are leaving. The complete list of main threats to WKU’s C-USA superiority in football is pretty much Liberty and Middle Tennessee. Everyone else feels like a step below the Tops, assuming Western fills some key gaps.

The Topper ceiling is high, and post-spring game, WKU fans should feel great and looking forward to finally getting news once transfers fall into place and fall camp rolls around.

Lots of good things are happening on The Hill, and once again, hope springs eternal.