BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Football concluded practice Tuesday evening as the Hilltoppers are set to face the UTEP Miners in their last home game of the season, this Saturday, Nov. 17 at Houchens-Smith Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with the game being broadcasted on beIN Sports.
With this Saturday's game being Senior Night, there will be 10 Hilltoppers who will play in their final game on Feix Field.
The 10 seniors include: Mik'Quan Deane, Drew Eckels, DeAndre Farris, D'Andre Ferby, Drell Greene, Julien Lewis, Der'Quione Mobley, Ryan Nuss, Evan Sayner and Masai Whyte.
"Getting a win for them to send them out the right way is something that I want to do, and I will do anything I have to do to get that win," redshirt sophomore quarterback Steven Duncan said of the group.
In WKU's last game at Florida Atlantic, the tight end Deane had career-highs of 10 receptions and 112 yards with a 15-yard touchdown reception. He caught 10-of-11 targets and 8-of-10 receptions went for 1st downs. His 10 receptions were the most by a C-USA tight end in a game this season and 112 yards was the 2nd-most. His 10 receptions and 112 yards were the most by a WKU player in a game this season.
Deane has 39 receptions for 413 yards and a team-high 5 touchdowns so far this season, and looks to add to that total this weekend against UTEP.
"We're just locked in, not worried about the weather, not worried about everything that's going on social media," he said about the team's focus this week. "Everyone needs to do their 1-of-11; everyone needs to do their job."
Last season, the Hilltoppers just edged out a win against the Miners, winning 15-14 in a low-scoring game at the Sun Bowl. Quarterback Mike White scored both touchdowns on the ground, with one coming in the second quarter from five yards out, then the second coming in the third quarter from just outside the goal line.
This time around, UTEP is coming in at 1-9 with their lone win coming against Rice, 34-26, on Nov. 3. During his weekly press conference, head coach Mike Sanford spoke on what they are going to see from UTEP this weekend.
"You watch them on film, there are some really good things they do, schematically. Mike Cox, their defensive coordinator, has been around a long time," he said. "He has a great background having been around some great defensive coaches and he runs a good scheme, there's a lot of variety to what he does."
Sanford continued, "Offensively, with Kai Locksley, you have to be ready to stop the quarterback run game. They always are trying to get a numbers advantage in the run game and nowadays it's tough, so you have to use your quarterback to get one more number by using a running back to be a lead blocker."
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