WKU Football: Tops Fall Short To Army 38–35
On an emotional day all around the nation, the Hilltoppers fell just shy of knocking of Army in West Point on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers traveled to West Point, New York on Saturday to play the Army Black Knights. As the day was honored in tribute to the 20-year mark of the events of September 11th, the Tops found themselves in humble standing in sharing the field with our armed forces. With an 11:30 kickoff time, the Tops were looking for win number two on the season.
WKU received the kickoff to start the game. After driving the ball into Army territory, Bailey Zappe’s pass was intercepted on the opening drive. After a defensive stand, the Tops got the ball hoping to score early. However, another drive was wasted due to turnover on downs.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Black Knights came up with the opening scoring touchdown. Tyrell Robinson capitalized on a 24-yard run to score. With 1:51 in the second quarter, Army led over the Tops 7–0.
Throughout the first half, the Tops offense struggled to create any form of momentum. This translated into a complete defensive breakdown once Army received the ball again. Christian Anderson threw a 40-yard pass to Braheim Murphy, resulting in another Army touchdown. With 11:30 left to play in the second half, Army continues to read 14–0.
After finding themselves in a deficit, the Tops offense had enough. In the next drive, Zappe was successful in leading down the field. He went back to a familiar target in Jerreth Sterns. Deep in their own territory, Zappe threw a 72-yard strike to Sterns to score a touchdown.
With 10:40 left in the 2nd quarter, Tops now trail 14–7.
The Tops defense continued to struggle with the option runs against them. Army had a more offensive tempo was they were able to convert on 3rd & 4th down conversion plays. In a 15 play drive that lasted eight minutes, Army scored again, Jakobi Buchanan ran the ball on a one-yard touchdown, putting WKU in a deeper hole. With 2:02 left in the first half, the Black Knights were up 21–7.
On the next offensive drive, the Tops wasted no time trying to stop the bleeding. After driving down the field on six plays for 75 yards, Zappe scrambled for a ten-yard touchdown. With only 30 seconds to go in the half, the Tops now trailed until halftime, 21–14.
In the third quarter, the Army Black Knights didn't let up at all. Using their execution of long possessions, they were able to score again. Anthony Adkins was the recipient of a three-yard touchdown up the middle. With six minutes taken off the clock in the third quarter, Army still led the game 28–14.
In the fourth quarter, Army scored again. After going for a touchdown that was called back from a going penalty, they managed to score again from a 13-yard play from Jakobi Buchanan. With 10:31 left in the game, the Black Knights extended the lead to 35–14.
WKU started the comeback effort as the offense traveled down the field. Zappe was able to hit Mitchell Tinsley for a 21-yard touchdown.
With 7:50 left in the game, the Tops still trailed 35–21.
After a fourth-down stop from defense, the offense quickly went back to work. Zappe once again hit paydirt as he found Sterns for their second scoring hookup on the day with a beautiful pass:
With 4:56 left in the game, Army still leads 35–28. The Black Knights went down the field again and capitalizing on a field goal attempt. With 1:52 left on the clock, Army extended the lead to 38–28.
WKU was able to get the ball back and score on more as Adam Cofield scored on a running play. With 19 seconds left, the Tops now trailed 38–35. Army ran the clock out as they were able to win the game with the same score as the final decision.
Thoughts of today’s game:
After last week’s offensive explosion, today was a Jekyll & Hyde effect in terms of repeating the same success. Zappe’s day at the helm was better as the game went on. However, given the game situation, this was not the best overall offensive effort until the second half. The fourth quarter was very balanced as Zappe found multiple targets in Mitchell Tinsley & Jerreth Sterns.
This was a day for mixed emotions among our defense. The Army Black Knights did a stellar job of keeping the offensive drives long and draining. Despite a few stops, there were a lot of missed coverage opportunities on passing plays. Army played the clock possession game on our defense very well. Taking A LOT of time off the clock hurt our chances for any type of offensive success.
The rushing game continues to be a problem for Western. With game number two in the books, it would be nice to see at least some improvement on the rushing attack. Despite facing a stiffening Army defense, this won’t be excusable as the season deepens.
Looking ahead next week to Indiana, you can’t deny that this is a team that can fight their way back. Over the open week before September 25th, WKU will have enough time to rest but more importantly, prepare against a Hoosiers ball club that opened the season in the Top 25.
Here are the final stats from today’s loss in West Point:
