WKU Football: What I Think I Think Ahead of FIU

WKU should be 3-0, 100%. But they showed that they are a true force and are just as much a threat to win Conference USA as anyone.

I can’t quite remember the last time a WKU football loss has sat with me like this.

The Hilltoppers had it won. I know it. You know it. Everyone in the locker room and in the coaching box knows it.

And yet here we are, the Monday after the first loss of the season wondering what could have been.

But, enough of that. Lets talk positives. The Hilltoppers are officially a force to be reckoned with. All of the offseason questions are answered.

“How are you going to replace Bailey Zappe?”

Austin Reed has thrown for 880 yards, nine touchdowns and has a rating of 159.8 through three games. That’ll do.

“How are you going to replace Jerreth Sterns?”

You know what’s better than one do-it-all wide receiver? Two, which is what the Hilltoppers have in the combination of Daewood Davis and Malachi Corley. Combined, that duo are out producing Sterns (33 catches, 429 yards, five touchdowns) in every category except touchdowns (23/360/7) through three games.

And those three games, both in 2021 and 2022? An FCS home opener, a road G5 game and Indiana (home last year, away this season).

“How are you going to replace the brightest up-and-coming offensive mind in Zach Kittley?”

WKU’s 30 points scored on Saturday is the fewest they’ve scored in the regular season since a 10-7 win vs. Southern Miss on Nov. 14, 2020. That’s 17-straight (not including two bowls or last year’s CUSA title game). And trust me: A lack of offense, or offensive creativity, is far from the problem (until entering the red zone in the second half on Saturday, but that’s a different conversation).

Not to mention how improved the defense has been.

Conference play starts Saturday and now wins and losses will truly matter for WKU’s most attainable goal this season: Winning a conference title which, even the most skeptical WKU observer would have to agree is more than a reasonable outcome.

With all of that being said, I think…

• I think we have ourselves a football team, folks. And it’s kind of a new era of WKU football. In the Hawai’i recap, I talked about how the Hilltoppers are employing a different kind of dominance. Instead of running and gunning out to big leads, the Tops are going to wear out and wear down the opposition. Even in Saturday’s loss, you kind of saw that happen in the IU game. If the Tops had been able to truly capitalize in a second of their second half red zone trips, we are talking a WKU victory and aren’t even questioning this point. But, even in the loss, I think it stays true. The Tops opened Saturday by dinking and dunking for short gains, making IU respect the the flat and not only opening up the opportunities for deep passes, but allowing WKU’s run game to be the most effective it’s been in nearly three years.

• I think I touched on this above, but you’d almost be a fool not to put WKU in the top two of your C-USA rankings after this week. I still think this is a three-headed race between the Tops, UAB and UTSA (some popular dark horse candidates such - looking squarely at you, North Texas and FAU - haven’t looked all that impressive as of yet), and UTSA no doubt has had the tougher of the three schedules so far, but even if at the beginning of the season you thought “Yeah, WKU might be the third best team in the conference, but this is UAB and UTSA’s year to lose,” you’ve got to be at least impressed with the Hilltoppers through three games.

• I think the Tops’ running game is here to stay. I don’t foresee another nearly three-year gap between 100-yard rushing games. More than that, I think Kye Robichaux will be the RB1, even if only on the stat sheet, moving forward. Long time readers and followers know I was at the head of the Robichaux hype-train, thinking he’d be a great backup to Noah Whittington. Well, with Whittington off to the Pacific Northwest, Robichaux has stepped up in a big way, and I think he’s going to have a big rest of the year.

• I think the strides made by the defense this year have been phenomenal, almost to the point where I can’t believe with my own eyes I’m seeing it. They played well late last year - a lot of us (myself included) still had

• I think it odd the Chrome Domes have yet to wear, well, the chrome domes. My thoughts on the black Tops helmet are well documented and I know folks like them. And I know the all-white look is sharp. But I miss the chrome. Hoping we bust them out for FIU this week, at the very least.

• I think it’ll be fun for the national college football media to eat the largest bowl of crow this week after the enormous egg the “Best G5 Football Conference” laid. A week after seeing three teams win road games against P5 opposition, the Sun Belt logged just one FBS win this week (Coastal Carolina beating Buffalo, thanks in large part to a 21-point fourth quarter). Not only that, but some key losses this week for the Belt include a previously winless Bowling Green State (Marshall), an also previously winless Charlotte (Georgia State, what are you doing?) and Rice (Louisiana-Lafayette, who I’m always happy to see lose in anything).