WKU Football: Thoughts and Reactions to Bill Connelly’s 2018 Tops’ Preview

It’s the best time of the year for college football fans, as SBNation’s Bill Connelly, advanced statistic guru and all-things CFB know it…

It’s the best time of the year for college football fans, as SBNation’s Bill Connelly, advanced statistic guru and all-things CFB know it all, is rolling out his 130-team preview using all the advanced stats and metrics you can shake a stick at.

WKU had a surprise stumble. Bounceback start in 2018?
It's tough when there's almost literally no place to go but down. Mike Sanford took over the WKU job having put…www.sbnation.com

Before divulging any further, I recommend reading the whole thing — he lays out cases for (and, unfortunately, against) reasons to be positive as we begin to look ahead to and think about the Tops 2018 campaign.

Below are some of my biggest takeaways from his preview, which left me feeling optimistic for the future. (Something that, I’m sure, will shock no one.)

The youth movement is here, but we already know them

If there’s a thesis statement to the Tops’ preview from Connelly, it’s that before the Tops are going to have to play younger before they get better. This is something we obviously knew once the 2017 season ended, and while in some areas on the field it’ll hurt more than others (it’s going to be another completely retooled offensive line), we know we can trust the youth at the skill position.

Junior Lucky Jackson leads the way in experience and production, while Quin Jernighan, Xavier Lane, Jacquez Sloan and Jakairi Moses will be who the next QB relies on, and that’s okay.

If enough things are done elsewhere on the field with the “youth movement,” (could that have been a more vague sentence?), the youth at the skill position should be able to do enough for the Tops to win games.

Not another turbulent offensive line season

This…pretty much speaks for itself. I’m not convinced it wont be another year of struggling to run the ball and get pass protection.

The pieces are here, it just might be another disappointing season

Towards the beginning of the preview, Connolley speaks the truth when talking about how disappointing 2017 was in comparison to the Brohm era.

A bowl bid and top-90 S&P+ finish would have felt acceptable before 2015. It did not in 2017.

Yup. Nailed it. A bowl appearance and a .500 regular season before Brohm’s tenure is an acceptable WKU football season. But, the bar was raised so high, that when the Tops finally fell back to earth, they did so harder and faster than we all thought would happen.

Well, when I say “another disappointing season,” this is what I’m talking about. If the Tops win seven games, it’ll be a success, but it’ll be hard to see and even accept that success with 2015/16 still fresh in our minds. A winning record, bowl appearance and bowl win is the dream scenario for 2018, with 2019 as the circled date to plan for the Tops to compete for the top spot in CUSA again.

2019 and beyond…watch out

Connelly’s preview has convinced me — Mike Sanford is safe until, at the very least, after the 2019 season. Again, WKU should be set up for success beginning with the 2019 campaign. If it’s a struggle come then, then Sanford isn’t the guy for the job.

As far as Connelly’s projected outlook for the Tops this year, see for yourself.

If I had to pick, right now, to come up with a record for WKU in 2018, I’m saying the Tops finish with seven wins; Maine, Ball State, Charlotte, ODU, FIU, UTEP and either Marshall or La Tech.

What do you think of Connelly’s projections and preview? What do you think of my assessments of them? Let us know in a comment below, on Twitter, our Facebook page or forums.