WKU Football: Tops Storm Back, Drop 26–23 Moonshine Throwdown Heartbreaker
The Western Kentucky Football team traveled to Huntington for the Moonshine Throwdown. WKU fell behind 17 points early but stormed back to…
The Western Kentucky Football team traveled to Huntington for the Moonshine Throwdown. WKU fell behind 17 points early but stormed back to tie it at 23 in the fourth quarter before Marshall’s all-league kicker would drill a 53 yarder to send WKU home with heartbreak with a 26–23 loss.
WKU started off the game on offense and quickly gathered two first downs but a trick play went awry as Jacquez Sloan floated a pass after an end-around play and got it intercepted by Kereon Merrell to stymy their opening drive.
Marshall would make WKU pay for that mistake as they would quickly drive 58 yards and take a 7–0 on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Isiah Green to Armani Levias.
WKU would once again move the ball on their next drive. They would gain 19 yards and cross into Marshall territory but a long-developing pass on 3rd and 2 resulted in a Ty Storey fumble that the Herd recovered at their own 42-yard line.
Marshall would once again make the Tops pay as they burned the secondary again on a 54-yard pass from Green to Broc Thompson to put WKU down 14–0 with 6:56 remaining in the first.
After a 43-yard kick return by Dayton Wade gave WKU good field position the offense would answer and drive into the red zone on a 27-yard pass from Storey to Jackson. The WKU offense would stall from there and Cory Munson would continue his struggles from the hash marks as he pulled a 32-yard field goal to keep the Toppers scoreless.
Marshall’s offensive momentum would continue as they would drive all the way to the WKU 22 until the Toppers defense would firm up and force a 46-yard field goal that Marshall’s kicker Justin Rohrwasser would make with ease extending the lead to 17–0 with 13:30 left in the 2nd quarter.
After another promising offensive drive stalled at the Marshall 33, WKU’s defense would finally get a stop getting the Herd to go three and out around the 7-minute mark.
WKU would get more good field position as they would start on their own 39-yard line. Gaej Walker would then get WKU back into the game, breaking a 33-yard touchdown run with 4:15 remaining to cut the Marshall lead to 10.
Marshall would respond by getting a big play on a 42-yard reverse by Willie Johnson to get into the red zone. WKU’s defense would force another field goal that Rohrwasser would drill from 32 yards to extend the lead to 20–7.
WKU got to the Marshall 49 in 33 seconds but Storey’s hail mary attempt would be intercepted at the 1 and the Tops would go to the locker room trailing by 13.
Marshall would get the ball to start the half and proceed to drive it back into Hilltopper territory but WKU’s defense would firm up forcing a punt from the 38-yard line. WKU’s offense would sputter on the next drive going three and out.
Marshall would then eat up more yards on WKU’s defense and extend their lead to 16 on a 43-yard field goal by Rohrwasser with 6:23 left in the third quarter.
The WKU offense wouldn’t go quietly as they would once again drive into the Marshall red zone. After a pass interference call against Marshall made it first down from the two-yard line.
Unfortunately, WKU would shoot themselves in the foot by taking a sack and getting a false start to move the ball back to the 14-yard line on second down. Storey would then connect on a pass to Josh Simon to make it third and four. Storey would connect with Lucky Jackson but he would be pushed out at the two and the Hilltoppers would be forced to go with it on fourth down. Jackson would then force a pass interference call that gave WKU first and goal from the 2 again.
Ty Storey would punch it in on the next play to get the touchdown. After a false start ruined a perfectly drawn up two-point conversion, The Tops would settle for an extra point that Munson would shank to the left. WKU would trail 23–13 with 45 seconds left in the third.
WKU would then attempt an onside kick that failed giving Marshall the ball at their own 45. Marshall would then go three and out and WKU would take over at their own 17 to start the 4th quarter.
The Tops would then march down the field methodically picking up chunks in the air and on the ground with Gaej Walker. WKU would have 1st and goal from the 10-yard line. Storey’s next three passes would sail high forcing a Munson kick to cut it to one possession. Munson would drill the field goal to cut it to seven with 12:10 remaining.
WKU’s defense would force another quick stop and the Toppers would take over at their own 20 with 9:28 remaining. Storey would then engineer another long drive with his legs and arm connecting with Jackson on deep passes to get to the 22-yard line. From there the Tops would face a 3rd and 5 that Gaej Walker would pick up and take 16 yards to the house. Cory Munson would redeem himself and tie it up at 23 with 6:19 remaining.
Marshall would then reach midfield but a huge sack by Jalen Madden would force the Herd to punt with 3:16 remaining. Marshall would then get an illegal equipment call (having two players with the same number on the field) that negated a punt to the one-yard line. Roger Cray would then return the punt to the 35-yard line with 2:47 left.
WKU would then go 3 and out on the ensuing drive and WKU would be forced to punt with 1:34 left. John Haggarty would boom the kick to the Marshall five-yard line as the Marshall returner would take it to the 13 with 1:21 left in the game.
Marshall would then drive the ball to midfield. After a pass to Thompson was dropped that would have sealed the victory. Green would then scramble six yards to the WKU 36 and give Justin Rohrwasser a career-long 53-yard field goal attempt. He would get iced two times and make the practice kicks both times. He would then drill his official attempt to send WKU home with heartbreak and drop the Tops to 5–3 (4–1 in Conference USA).
Here are some post-game thoughts on today’s soul-crushing defeat.
The start of the game was about as bad as you could have. Two turnovers turned into 14 points. It was a hole that killed WKU’s margin for error and probably cost them the game
Jacquez Sloan just made a bad decision on that trick play. He should have just tucked it an ran it or thrown it away. His feet weren’t set and he sailed the throw for a pick.
WKU outgained Marshall 426 to 401 but lost the turnover battle 3–0 (really 2–0 since one of those was the hail-mary at the end of the half). That’s a big reason for the loss.
Ty Storey was great today. He did take a few sacks but that was more on the oline (more below) than anything. He finished 31 of 43 for 292 yards and has really developed a rapport with his receivers. He did enough to win and has elevated his play from a game manager.
WKU’s early-season secondary woes returned in a bad way early. Trae Meadows and Dionte Ruffin were burnt for passes of 25 & 54 yards. Luckily they tightened up the rest of the game and put the team in position to win.
The offense line play was bad today. They gave up 5 sacks and 7 quarterback hurries as well as multiple holds and false start calls. They still helped WKU gather 426 yards of total offense but several scoring opportunities were derailed by poor line play including WKU’s last drive on offense.
Lucky Jackson dominated today catching 16 passes for 168 yards. He has really stepped up the last two games and it’s no coincidence the offense has taken off as a result.
Gaej Walker outgained Brendan Knox 102 to 84 on the ground. This is another category that you’d think would have gone a long way to a WKU victory.
A running back not name Walker finally got a carry as Keshawn McLendon ran the ball twice for 25 yards. I still think that Helton needs to mix in other running backs to keep Walker fresh.
The defense wasn’t great today, especially by their standards. The early passes ended up biting them in the butt and their bend but don’t break tendencies allowed Marshall’s kicker to extend the lead despite the fact they weren’t finishing drives.
WKU only got one sack today (Madden’s). I thought that Marshall got away with some extracurriculars (especially on DeAngelo Malone) but Green’s ability to extend plays killed WKU up to the second to last play.
Cory Munson struggled but I’m glad his missed extra point didn’t cost us the game. While some of his misses were due to lace issues he should never miss extra points. Hopefully, he can turn into a steady player as he gets older. Marshall showed how much a veteran kicker can mean to a team.
Hats off to Justin Rohrwasser, I haven’t seen a college kicker that good in a long time.
The audience peaked at 8800+ fans on Stadium. When people wonder why WKU doesn’t get on normal TV often it’s because Conference USA’s fanbase just isn’t that large. I hate to say it but fans need to remember that when they complain about CUSA’s television deal.
WKU returns home next Saturday at 3 PM Central against Florida Atlantic looking to right the ship and stay in the Conference USA East division race. WKU is still tied for first in the East division so a win they’re still in good shape and are a Marshall loss away (they still play La Tech & FIU) from being back in the drivers seat.
Here are your final stats from today’s heartbreaker:
