WKU Football: Tops Survive USM 10–7 to Get 3rd Win of 2020
In a season where nothing has come easy for the Hilltoppers, they found a way to come out ahead against an equally flawed Southern Miss…
In a season where nothing has come easy for the Hilltoppers, they found a way to come out ahead against an equally flawed Southern Miss squad 10–7 to get their 3rd win of the season.
Everything started out great for the Hilltoppers as the defense forced a Golden Eagle punt to start the game. WKU would then follow that up with their best offensive drive of the game as Tyrrell Pigrome would lead a 9 play 91-yard drive capped off by his own 5-yard touchdown run to give the Hilltoppers a 7–0 lead just 6 minutes into the game.
Nothing would come easy for either team the rest of the half as both teams would combine for just one more score, a 24-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson and the Hilltoppers would take a 10–0 lead into the locker room at the half.
WKU’s defense continued their late-season renaissance holding USM to just 221 yards on the day and getting six total sacks on the day against third-string quarterback Trey Lowe.
WKU’s offense would struggle to stay on the field and the Golden Eagles would get a late fourth-quarter touchdown by running back Tim Perkins but that would be as close as USM would get as DeAngelo Malone and the defense would close the door and finish off a 10–7 win moving the Hilltoppers to 3–6 (2–3 in CUSA) on the season.
Here are some thoughts on a much-needed win:
The defense was lights out again tonight. While the competition level wasn’t very good considering USM was on their third string quarterback, they obviously earned the win tonight and put together their third great performance in four games. It’s great to see the unit with such high expectations live up to their standards as the season has progressed
Two veteran defenders set all-time records tonight for the WKU defense as Devon Key set the record for most tackles (327) and DeAngelo Malone set the record for most sacks (25) during the FBS era. We’ll definitely miss both when they’re gone soon. They’ll get to pad those totals over the last two games
The offense continues to find ways to struggle as they put up just 10 points against a Southern Miss unit that gave up an average of 37 points per game. 307 total yards was a small step forward but only 10 points shows how much this team struggles to execute on a game to game basis
Tyrrell Pigrome only passed for 183 yards on the day, he didn’t commit a turnover but still struggles to push the ball downfield and execute in the redzone. At this point, he is what he is and you can tell that Helton and staff are just looking for him to game manage his way to wins late in the season.
Xavier Lane had perhaps the best performance by a skill position player this season gaining 90 yards on 5 catches. He has been one of the few bright spots for the anemic offensive unit.
Getting a third win of the season matches Sanford’s worst performance (with three fewer games), should Helton get the favored win over FIU next week, fans can exhale but it’s still baffling how much the offense continues to struggle as the season has progressed
Should they win next week it will be interesting to see if Todd Stewart tries to find a way to get another game on the schedule to give this team a shot at a 6–6 season, FIU & Charlotte are both winnable and maybe they push for that to have a strong finish to sell to fans and potential bowl committee.
WKU (3–6) hosts FIU (0–4) on senior day at 1 PM CT at Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium. WKU can continue to try to finish a disappointing season on a high note with another favorable matchup. Let’s hope the defense can continue to carry the team to a few more wins.
Here are the final stats from a much-needed victory
