WKU Football: Tops Comeback Falls Short As FAU Prevails 35–24.
WKU Football returned to the Houch and lost a game of runs as their late comeback bid came short in front of 14,212 at Houchens Industries…
WKU Football returned to the Houch and lost a game of runs as their late comeback bid came short in front of 14,212 at Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium.
WKU started off the game on offense after gaining a first dow their drive would stall out on their own 33. FAU would quickly move the ball on their first drive crossing the 50 but WKU’s defense would hold at their own 43 as they stopped FAU on a 4th and 3 pass to give the offense great field position.
On the very next play, Ty Storey would connect on a beautiful 54-yard pass to Lucky Jackson as he took it to the house to give WKU a quick 7–0 lead with 9:16 remaining in the first quarter.
WKU’s defense would then force a three and out on the ensuing FAU drive and the Hilltoppers would take back over at their own 20-yard line. WKU’s offense would move the ball again to midfield and then would hit Lucky Jackson on another deep pass (40 yards) to get inside the 12-yard line. WKU’s run game would then go into high gear and they’d gain the last 12 yards on the ground as Ty Storey would punch it in from two yards out to jump out to a 14–0 lead with 3:31 remaining.
WKU’s defense would get another three and out from the Owls and the Tops would take over at their own 2 as Roger Cray let a punt sail over his head. WKU’s offense would push out of their own goal line and reach the 30 before a sack would force WKU to punt with 11:30 remaining in the second quarter.
The WKU defense sacked Robison on the first play of the next drive and FAU went three and out again. WKU had all of the momentum until a familiar problem surfaced for Ty Storey as he fumbled on a sack that Chris Tooley took 25 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14–7 with 8:36 remaining in the half.
The momentum turned as WKU would go three and out on their next drive. FAU would then install back-up QB Nick Tronti on the next drive and a reverse pass to him would get FAU in the red zone.
FAU would then even it up at 14 with 5:16 remaining in the half on an 11 yard run by Larry McCammon and what looked like a possible WKU route turned into a dog fight.
WKU would go three and out again on their ensuing drive and FAU would take over on their own 22 with 3:02 remaining in the half. FAU would then gouge WKU through air and move into the WKU redzone and FAU would take the halftime lead on a 9-yard pass from Robison to Tavaris Harrison as WKU looked listless after that fumble going to the locker room down 21–14.
That momentum would carry over to the second half as FAU would continue to confound WKU’s defense as the Owls would draw a pass interference call that would set up a 51-yard touchdown pass from Robison to Willie Wright to double up WKU barely a minute into the third quarter.
Ty Storey wouldn’t do the Hilltoppers any favors on the next drive overthrowing a receiver on a pass that would get intercepted and give the Owls the ball again at the 38-yard line. WKU’s defense would finally break a long streak of poor play as they would turn over the Owls on downs and stop the Owls at the 29.
That little burst of momentum carried over to WKU’s ensuing drive as the Tops would quickly cross into FAU territory and face a fourth and four from the FAU 30-yard line. Unfortunately, Storey’s pass to Jernhighan would sail high and the Owls would take over. WKU’s defense would then force another three and out with 8:13 remaining in the third.
With the slide stopped WKU’s offense finally came back alive as Ty Storey would connect on a 45-yard connection to Lucky Jackson to get the ball to the FAU 10. The Tops would then cut the lead to seven as Storey scrambled and found Jaquez Sloan for a 5-yard pass to the end zone with 3:46 left in the third.
The Toppers defense would force another three and out but FAU would fake a punt from their own 21 to extend the drive. FAU would then convert a 3 & 5 to get into WKU territory. WKU’s defense would hold from there forcing a punt as WKU would take over at their own 5-yard line with 14:09 remaining.
WKU would push out of the shadow of their endzone and cross over into FAU territory on a Jet sweep by Jaquez Sloan. Storey would then connect with Pearson on a 29-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson to get to the 14-yard line. After getting to the 10 the drive would stall out and Cory Munson would drill a 28-yard field goal to cut the lead to four with 9:51 remaining.
FAU would speed it up on their next drive and go straight up the throat of the Hilltoppers defense running and getting to the WKU 3 before the Tops would call a time out. The defense would hold and block a 25-yard field goal attempt that Devon Key would return to the FAU 42.
Unfortunately, Ty Storey would throw into triple coverage on the next play and get picked as FAU would take back over at their own 41.
FAU would then drive down into WKU territory again and convert a huge 3rd and 5 as FAU’s receiver would break tackles on a jet sweep to put WKU on the brink with less than 3 minutes left. Nick Tronti would get another first down and WKU would burn timeouts as the exhausted defense would give up a 22 yard run to Nick Tronti and FAU would go up 11 with 2:04 remaining.
WKU’s offense would drive downfield again despite the game being out of reach. Ty Storey would get WKU inside the FAU 30 but throw his third pick of the game to seal the 35–24 defeat moving WKU to 5–4 (4–2) on the season.
Here are some post-game thoughts on today’s missed opportunity
After back to back slow starts it was great to see WKU fire on all cylinders to start the game. When they had the ball up 14–0 it looked like it could have been a route.
The sequence from Storey’s returned fumble in the second to the turnover on downs in the third was the worst sequence of football I’ve seen since the fourth quarter of the UCA game. WKU couldn’t do anything right in all facets of the game and it dug them another hole they couldn’t dig out of.
Ty Storey’s yolo throw after the blocked kick return was bad. WKU had all of the momentum at that point and he forced the throw into triple coverage. He had his best game through the air (380 yards) but all four of his turnovers were huge for FAU.
WKU’s offense continues to pile up yards (444 today) but can’t convert to points. No reason this team shouldn’t top 30 points easily.
Lucky Jackson continues to emerge into the receiver we thought he would be. 9 Catches and 194 yards will do it and the rest of the passing game is opening up as a result. Let's hope they can rally to send him out with a bowl game.
WKU’s pass rush was ineffective again today getting just one sack for the second straight week
WKU’s defense was also shredded for the second consecutive week giving up 448 yards and their most points since the UofL game. You could tell their lack of linebacker play is costing them against better teams.
It was good to see Cory Munson drill his only field goal and all of his extra points. Nice confidence boost game for the freshman kicker
With Marshall and FAU both owning tiebreakers against the Tops the East division title is now on life support. We’re now firmly in just make a bowl territory. Six wins may get there but they’ll have to win two out of their last three to guarantee a postseason spot.
WKU steps out of conference next week to take on SEC bottom-feeder Arkansas in Fayetteville. The Hogs are reeling (2–7)but still have the talent advantage against WKU. If Helton can swing the upset then he’d match Taggart, Petrino, and Brohm for number of P5 wins at 1. Let’s hope we get back on track because the season could get desperate quickly.
Here are your final stats from today’s setback.
