WKU Football: Grading the Hilltopper's 38-29 Loss to New Mexico State

WKU is officially out of the conference championship race. In fact, it’s over with two weeks to play. How did WKU grade on an individual basis against the Aggies?

Welp. Fears confirmed.

A team that has seemed to sleepwalk through most of a year of destiny has finally confirmed its role as an also-ran in the cliff notes of WKU history.

That is truly unfortunate.

This was the year, right? We’d be remiss not to cover that part of the story. WKU was picked to be the clear favorite, and a season of lackluster chemistry, injuries and frustrating execution and regression by all involved has left WKU battling for bowl eligibility with two games remaining.

Western seemed to be outmatched against New Mexico State. In a season where WKU has yet to put a true two halves together, this may have been the first game where WKU showed up in both halves and competed. Yes, there were lulls, but the frustrating thing is they were more competitive and perhaps played the more complete game in terms of focus and responding to the opponent, but they still lost to a team that they frankly should have beaten.

Also, given that WKU started out 14-0 and lost by nine may suggest that even this game was not that consistent, either.

Regardless of the semantics, WKU, a true clear front runner for the CUSA title, and especially a minimum of a title game appearance, is out of the race with two games to play. Furthermore, the Tops sit hoping against hope to at least get to bowl eligibility and salvage a bowl game out of a frustrating season.

Grading the Keys

We didn’t post any Keys to Victory last week, but if I did, they would have included the following.

Take away some of Diego Pavia’s Options: D-

NMSU could pretty much do whatever they wanted all night. If they wanted to run up the middle, they could. If they want to run Pavia or run the read option, they could. When they needed to pass, they were competent enough. The only good thing was keeping NMSU from having a decent game through the air.

Slow Down the Run: F

Once again, WKU’s defense could not stop the run. There were a few times WKU bowed up a little bit, but ultimately NMSU could pretty much do whatever it wanted the entire night.

Ride Your New Horse: A

Elijah Young has emerged as WKU’s best running back, and he didn’t disappoint in this one. With another 160+ total yard performance, Young is establishing himself as the clear best option in the WKU running back room. It was nice to see Elijah getting the ball and producing.

Control the Line of Scrimmage: C-

It wasn’t utter domination by most standards, but WKU did not really control the line of scrimmage as often as it has in 2023. Although the statistics just show a few TFL and no sacks, NMSU offensive line was certainly the more impactful in big moments. There were times WKU’s defensive line especially just looked insignificant compared to the NMSU line that was blasting them backward. WKU’s offensive line had a few moments, but there wasn’t much there to be thrilled about, either.

Overcome the Injuries: F

I understand this team has been battered and bruised from camp, but despite all of that, you were favored in the game and you got ran off of your home field on Homecoming. At sone point, it’s time to man up and make things happen. For whatever reason, they just haven’t. We keep waiting for it all to click into place and it just isn’t happening.

Position Grades

Quarterback: C+

Austin Reed was not the problem against New Mexico State. However, he wasn’t much of a solution, either. He did throw for 270 yards, but it wasn’t an impressive 270 and he had some really, really rough patches where he just threw ducks in the dirt and wasn’t even close.

Running Back: A+

The one major “wow” position for WKU, the running backs overall did a great job producing. Explosive plays, reasonable gains in the run game, and contributing significantly in the pass game helps make the offense more versatile. Heck, zero sacks can also be attributed to the hard work of the running backs.

Wide Receiver: C

Malachi Corley was good and productive with a decent performance Saturday. However, he had very little help from his receiver room. Tight end and running back accounted for over half of the yards, and if Malachi didn’t do what he did, WKU’s receivers would have barely crested 50 yards.

Tight End: C-

River Helms went out with an injury in the middle of the game. He did not return. His replacements did a decent job making noticeable plays and at least being available for Austin Reed to have wide open while trying to squeeze the ball into Malachi Corley.

Offensive Line: C+

A huge bright spot of this WKU team this season has been its excellent offensive line protection, especially through the air. WKU once again did not surrender a single sack. Now, this unit was not elite in certain areas, such as allowing pressure, especially on the edge.

Defensive Line: D

WKU’s defensive line did very little in terms of production. In addition, they didn’t really hold NMSU down from its normal, either. No sacks and few TFL suggest what was obvious: WKU’s defensive line struggled to do much against NMSU.

Linebacker: D

You look for production out of your linebackers. That didn’t really happen. There was some production, but very little impact on the game.

Defensive Back: C-

WKU’s DBs helped hold NMSU under 150 yards passing. However, overall, it was a rough day defensively.

Special Teams: D-

Tom Ellard was unable to play for personal reasons (trust me, it’s stupid and not his fault) and WKU’s punters struggled. Lucas Carneiro also continues his struggles from field goal. It was nice to see WKU try to return the ball some when given the opportunity on kickoff returns.

Coaching

Head Coaching: F

Yeah this is a cumulative “screw this” grade. WKU still ran a (barely) draw on 3rd and more than 10 and then missed a field goal. The Tops still don’t have energy, and that starts with the head man getting the Tops ready to go in every way. The Helton “devil may care” attitude worked most years, but this year, WKU needed to be on a mission to be great, and instead, they’ve been “pretty good” and have had no sense of urgency.

Offensive Coaching: C

This was actually one of the better jobs by the offensive coaching staff. WKU’s offense did enough to be in the game, but obviously the overall impression of Drew Hollingshead has not been good and is not good. There were a few bright moments, but WKU’s offense still had trouble figuring out what the plan was and still had trouble getting on the same page together, with plenty of miscommunication, especially between Austin Reed and his receivers.

Defensive Coaching: D-

This was one of Tyson Summers’ worst games this season, if not in his tenure at WKU. This time, the offense wasn’t the reason WKU lost. The offense did miss some opportunities, but the reason WKU lost was because the Tops couldn’t stop Diego Pavia and his band of runners from doing whatever they wanted when they needed to. Summers’ blitzes did not work, and NMSU looked completely fine despite his high intensity defense trying to get at the Aggies’ front all night. The Tops had some effect at times, but far too often, the Tops were at the mercy of an overthrow, a bobbled snap, a poor read. Tyson Summers has overall been phenomenal given what he was handed this year and last year. This was not his best.

Overall: D-

It’s just such a frustrating experience all around. WKU was favored, because Vegas believed WKU was the better team, especially at home. Well, Western proved its inconsistency when the Tops got up 14-0 only to get slapped around the rest of the game, 38-15. The Tops possibly were the team most in control of the outcome, although in this case, it did just feel like NMSU was better on the night.

Regardless, WKU was too sloppy, whether it was on special teams, miscues on routes, the Austin Reed interception, the Austin Reed misfires in the dirt, or the defense allowing NMSU to do whatever it wanted.

WKU now sits with two games left and honestly has a battle on its hands to become bowl eligible. What should have been a foregone conclusion this season could possibly end up being a completely missed objective. Sam Houston comes to Bowling Green with momentum and confidence and a defense that has been stellar all season.

Will the Tops move on and conquer what’s left of 2023? Stay locked in with the Towel Rack.