WKU Game Notes
ULL Game Notes
Sun Belt Conference Weekly Notes
Monday Press Conference Transcript
Press Conference Audio - Coach Taggart
Press Conference Audio - Bobby Rainey and Quanterus Smith
The Hilltopper football team hits the road again this week, taking on Louisiana-Lafayette at 4 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday at Cajun Field. With this week's game, three of the four all-time meetings between the Hilltoppers and Ragin' Cajuns will have been played in Lafayette. ULL has won all three previous meetings between the schools, including a 30-22 victory last season in Bowling Green.
Another Rainey Day - After going for over 100 yards in each of WKU's first three games, junior running back Bobby Rainey had been held below the century mark in two straight contests. However, the Sun Belt's leading rusher got back to form last week with 169 yards on a career-high 32 carries against ULM. That was his second highest rushing total behind his 184-yard effort at Kentucky. Rainey also scored his sixth and seventh rushing touchdowns on the season. He has scored a pair of rushing TDs in each of the last two games.
Carrying The Load - Rainey now has two games this year with 30 or more rushing attempts. He had 30 in the season opener at Nebraska, and bettered that total by two last week. Through six games, Rainey has 154 rushing attempts - more than any other back in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He has also already eclipsed his career high for rushes in a year. In fact, Rainey came into the season with 186 career rushes.
All-Purpose Duo - Rainey and freshman wide receiver Willie McNeal rank as two of the best all-purpose performers in the conference and in the nation. Averaging 151.2 all-purpose yards per game, McNeal ranks second in the league and tied for 20th nationally, while Rainey is third in the Sun Belt and 27th in the FBS with 143.0 all-purpose yards. While Rainey had a solid day against ULM, McNeal had a memorable outing, catching his first career touchdown.
Behind Enemy Lines - The defensive duo of Thomas Majors and Quanterus Smith are making a habit of making plays behind the line of scrimmage. The duo has combined for 12.5 of WKU's 26 tackles for loss. Majors' 1.33 stops behind the line per game (8 total) lead the Sun Belt and rank 37th nationally. Smith also ranks among the league leaders with 2.5 sacks on the year.
Big Day For Beard - Junior Ryan Beard got the start at free safety against ULM last week, and responded with one of the best performances of his career. The Bowling Green native registered a career high 11 tackles, a total that nearly doubled his previous high of six two seasons ago at Kentucky. Beard now ranks second on the team with 34 tackles, including 19 solo stops.
Another Freshman Starts - Freshman Antonio Andrews made his first career start against ULM, lining up at wide receiver before coming around to take the ball and complete a 37-yard pass to Marcus Vasquez on WKU's first offensive play. Andrews becomes the fourth true freshman to start at least one game for the Toppers this season - and the first to do so on offense. After factoring in redshirt freshmen, a total of seven first-year players have started at least one game in 2010.
Streak Stands at 101 - Despite the Hilltoppers' recent struggles, an impressive streak has remained intact for the ninth season in 2010. WKU has not been held scoreless in a game since a 14-0 home loss to Western Illinois on Sept. 14, 2002. The streak reached 101 games last Saturday with 30 points against Louisiana-Monroe. That is also the longest streak without being shut out of any team in the Sun Belt Conference. The previous record for consecutive games scoring was 88, set between the 1965 and 1973 seasons. After being blanked by the Leathernecks, the Hilltoppers dropped just one more game in that '02 campaign as they went on to capture the I-AA National Championship.
