WKU Football: Tide Prove to Be Too Much For Toppers in 38–10 Loss
WKU was riding high last week following an offensive explosion against Rice, opening the Mike White era in style and beginning 2016 with a…
WKU was riding high last week following an offensive explosion against Rice, opening the Mike White era in style and beginning 2016 with a conference win.
And then, naturally, the had to go down to the #1 team in the country, as well as the defending national champions, to try and recapture that magic. As you might assume, it did not exactly go “well.”
The Hilltoppers fell to Alabama in week two, 38–10, but it wasn’t all bad, believe it or not. Taywan Taylor, with all the hype surrounding him from Bama head coach Nick Saban and the subsequent media storm following his comments, turned in a solid day, hauling in nine catches for 121 yards.
WKU also looked stout on defense, matching the Tide step for step in the first half, allowing just two offensive scores (a touchdown and field goal) in the opening 30 minutes, with the other first half touchdown coming via a pick-six by Eddie Jackson off Mike White.
And really, from there, the positives are what you see of it. The Tops scored more and threw for more yards than USC did against the Tide, but couldn’t get anything going on the ground.
They held Bama to 17 first-half points, but then the Crimson Elephants struck for 21 in the second half.
Oh, and not even to mention the Tops used all three quarterbacks throughout the game and didn’t score a touchdown until inside the final minute of the game.
But, through all of that, the Tops still gave Bama fits, which was summed up in what may be my favorite post-game quote I’ve ever heard.
So, in a way, the Tops won! Right?
The real bummer in Saturday’s game was the fact that the Tops looked good towards the end of the first half, but when they came back out for the second half, could not recapture that end-of-half magic.
The Tops also struggled to get Ace Wales involved in the offense, as he finished with 44 yards on 11 carries.
It’s hard to know how to feel — even still on the morning after — how to feel about this loss. Yes, I know of the accolades that Bama entered with. And yes, holding them to fewer points than USC did and scoring more than the Trojans did is something to certainly hold in high standard, but at the same time, the Tops offense didn’t do what we are all accustom to the Tops doing.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder — if you think the Tops finishing within 28 points of the defending champs is alright, great! (Also, if you’re a bettin’ person — the Tops covered for ya!) If not, that’s also great too.
But, as I’m literally writing this, the fact that the difference between WKU and the defending champs is 28 points — yeah, I’m gonna take that all day.
What were your reactions to the Toppers performance from yesterday? Have you had any feelings change from the final whistle to this morning? Let us know in a comment below or on twitter @TheTowelRackWKU.