Oct. 25, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - After spoiling the Homecoming weekends of both Northern Iowa and Southwest Missouri State this month, the Western Kentucky University football team will get a chance to return home and experience the event from a friendlier perspective Saturday afternoon.
Gateway Conference foe Indiana State visits L.T. Smith Stadium/Jimmy Feix Field for a key match-up in the league race as Western's campus celebrates Homecoming 2002, "Once Upon A Hill."
And the Hilltoppers have fared well when hosting Hoosier State schools for Homecoming, having defeated both Evansville (54-14 in 1963) and the Sycamores (27-20 in '96) the only two times an Indiana institution has served as the opposition.
Western enters play tomorrow tied for first in the Gateway at 3-1 after last week's 31-7 victory at SMS. The Hilltoppers - who are working on a 12-game winning streak in the month of October - held a 179-yard advantage in total offense and a 13-minute edge in time of possession against the Bears.
QB Jason Michael (100-64-5, 881 yds, 2 TDs) both ran for and passed for 92 yards last week as the offense collected 404 total yards. He rushed for a pair of 14-yard scores to tie the game and give Western the lead in the first half, then helped seal the victory with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Reaves (8-190, 2 TDs) midway through the third quarter. Michael has accounted for seven scores - five rushing and two passing - in WKU wins the last two weeks.
RB Jon Frazier (130-673, 5 TDs) has emerged as the Toppers' go-to back, collecting a career-best 172 yards and a touchdown on 31 attempts against the Bears. The senior has led WKU in rushing the last five weeks - the first time that has happened on the Hill since 1995-96 - and now ranks fifth in the Gateway in both rushing (84.1 yards per game) and all-purpose (117 ypg) yards.
Michael (93-393, 8 TDs) and RB Maurice Bradley (93-371, 4 TDs) give the Western attack three players ranked in the top 10 in the conference in rushing, as the Hilltoppers are the only team in the league to make that claim.
Michael has an array of weapons to choose from in the aerial game, with FB Jeremi Johnson (17-166), and WRs Casey Rooney (16-279) and Shannon Hayes (13-134) all are in double figures in the reception category. And, Reaves averages a team-best 23.8 yards per reception.
Defensively, WKU has allowed only 135 yards rushing and 579 total during its current three-game winning streak. How deep is the Topper linebacking corps? Consider that as starters Erik Dandy and Jon Drummond have each missed a game in the last two weeks, replacements Karl Maslowski and Shawn McCrimon have combined to make 19 stops in their place.
ILB Charles Thompson (46-37 / 83) led the Hilltoppers with 14 tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage, in the SMS win last week, the second time this month he has paced the team in stops.
CB Jeremy Chandler (29-5 / 34, 5 INTs) has intercepted three passes in the last two weeks to take over the league lead with five on the season, and now ranks 18th in the country with 0.63 per contest.
The Hilltoppers recorded five sacks last week, and now have 26 on the season. Drummond (six for 35 yds), OLB Sherrod Coates (five for 36 yds) and Thompson (four for 25 yds) all are among the Gateway's leaders.
Western PK Peter Martinez (9-11 FGs, 20-20 XP) hit another milestone last week with his 100th career extra point, becoming just the third player in school history to reach that mark. He ranks fourth in the conference with 1.12 field goals per game and is ninth in scoring (5.9 ppg). And a week after the Hilltoppers didn't need his services, P Brian Claybourn (33-1,392, 42.2 avg, 11 I20) averaged 42.4 yards on five kicks against SMS - he ranks third in the league and 18th in the nation in the category on the season.
The Sycamores enter play 0-5 away from home, though it has been a tough road for ISU. The first two losses were against I-A competition, while this contest will present the team with its fourth straight road game against a ranked I-AA opponent.
QB Julian Reese (106-375, 1 TD, 197-104-6, 1,321 yds, 9 TDs), a preseason all-conference selection, leads the team in both rushing and passing. RBs Jake Shields (55-307, 4 TDs) and Soso Dede (85-303, 4 TDs) have also run for more than 300 yards.
Dede (15-172, 2 TDs) and TE Ryan King (15-171, 2 TDs) are tied for the team lead in receptions, as six Sycamores have caught at least 10 passes and 14 individuals have at least one catch.
ISU allows 351 yards per contest, with LB Dietrich Lapsley (65-44 / 109) among the Gateway leaders in total tackles. LB Ryan Merriwether (33-25 / 58) and DL Richard Harris (31-22 / 53, 14 TFL) - another preseason all-league choice - are part of a group of five players with at least 50 stops.
As expected, Homecoming has been kind to the Hilltoppers. Western has won five of its last six contests on Homecoming and has an all-time mark of 47-22-3 (67.4 percent) on that weekend, including a 23-10-1 (69.1 percent) record at Smith Stadium.
For a chance to claim the Gateway Conference championship and a third consecutive berth in the NCAA I-AA playoffs, the Hilltoppers will have to continue their Homecoming success today.
- WKU -
