WKU Football: Notebook - QB1 Named, Doege Finds New Program
We are inching closer and closer to the start of the season as Thursday night had a bevy of news drop seemingly all at once.
This time next week, we’ll be just one sleep removed from the start of the 2022 WKU football season and the final pieces to the puzzle are starting to be filled.
Within a 62 minute span on Thursday, WKU officially named its starting quarterback while the long-presumed Hilltopper starter found his new program.
Reed Officially Named QB1
“He’s had a lot of good drives that have finished with touchdowns,” WKU head coach Tyson Helton said in the team’s video officially announcing West Florida transfer Austin Reed as the Hilltoppers’ starting quarterback. “That’s the name of the game, to put the ball in the endzone.”
Helton also confirmed Jarrett Doege’s entrance into the transfer portal, saying “We wish him the best of luck. What a great guy. He’s a competitor, a really good quarterback. Hate to lose him, but understand; he’s a competitor, but I get it. I don’t blame the guy, but I’ll miss the guy.”
Reed led the Argonauts to the 2019 Division II championship as a redshirt freshman and threw for 3,418 yards and 38 touchdowns (to just eight interceptions last season while completing nearly 55% of his passes.
As Matt explained in his lengthy breakdown of what Reed being under center will mean for the Tops in 2022, it isn’t just what he’ll be able to do with his arms, but he’ll be able to hurt defenses with his legs, too, bringing a new dynamic to WKU’s air-raid-but-not-quite-air-raid offense this season.
Doege Lands on New Roster
The Jarrett Doege sweepstakes didn’t last long, as just about an hour before Helton officially named Reed WKU’s starter, it was reported that Doege was joining the Troy Trojans to be their signal caller for 2022.
Troy averaged 238.7 passing yards per game last year. That’s…that’s about all the analysis I have on this one.
I hope you already have your Oct. 1 tickets, because the intrigue level for that game just shot through the roof.
The Other Football
The 2022/23 athletic season opened last night for WKU, and several other athletic programs across the country, as WKU soccer traveled to Cincinnati to take on #24 Xavier.
It was a game the Lady Tops should have come away with at least a tie, but an unlucky shot in the closing 40 seconds of the first half proved the difference in a 1-0 Musketeers win.
I mention this not only to shout out the soccer team, a program we will work to try to cover more (if you’re interesting in providing that coverage, shoot us a message on Twitter), but to say that it was an absolute pleasure to be able to attend that game, and was the first WKU athletic competition I have been able to witness in person since the Cure Bowl loss. Despite the loss, it was a joy to see the Tops in action and person, as well as to be able to speak with head coach Jason Neidell after the game.