WKU (6-6) vs. Georgia State (6-5)
Saturday, Dec. 16 | Camping World Stadium | 1:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, Dec. 16 | Camping World Stadium | 1:30 p.m. CT
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| HILLTOPPERS LOOK TO SECURE FOURTH-STRAIGHT BOWL WIN WKU faces Georgia State for the second time in program history. |
| GALLERIES: Hilltoppers in Orlando Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
The Matchup
WKU is aiming to win its fourth consecutive bowl game, extending its already program-record streak of three consecutive years with a postseason victory. The Hilltoppers are currently one of only eight schools in the country who enter this bowl season on a similar streak.
WKU has played in Camping World Stadium in the postseason before, but the stadium was much different in 1963 when the Hilltoppers, led by head coach Nick Denes, won the 1963 Tangerine Bowl, 27-0, over the Coast Guard Academy. WKU also played UCF here twice, in 1985 and 1994, splitting two games. WKU is 2-1 all-time in the venue.
The Hilltoppers and Panthers meet for the second time in program history and first since 2013. It was WKU's final season in the Sun Belt and Georgia State's first.
Since 2012, the Hilltoppers are 19-10 against non-conference opponents including a 16-1 mark against opponents from outside the Power 5 conferences, including 14 straight dating back to a 2012 loss to Central Michigan in the Little Caesar's Bowl.
Scouting Georgia State
The Panthers enter Saturday's AutoNation Cure Bowl game with a 6-5 record after a regular season matchup with Houston was canceled due to hurricane complications. Led by quarterback Conner Manning and wide receiver Penny Hart on offense and linebackers Trey Payne and Chase Middleton on defense, Georgia State is in its first season under head coach Shawn Elliott.
Hart is one of the nation's best wide receivers, tallying 99.5 receiving yards per game - good for eighth-most nationally. Hart's 1,094 receiving yards represent 37 percent of all of Georgia State's receiving yard totals with 2,972 on the season.
Georgia State ranks No. 62 nationally in total defense, allowing 391.4 yards per game, and No. 127 nationally in tackles for loss with 4.18 per game. Defensive lineman Julien Laurent has racked up 6.5 of GSU's 46 tackles for loss to lead the team.
2017 Team Captains
WKU's season-long team captains were voted on at the end of fall camp, entirely by the players. Under Sanford, the team has one offensive captain, one defensive captain, one "trenches" captain (from either offensive or defensive line) and a rotating special teams captain.
Offenive Captain: QB Mike White
Defensive Captain: LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe
Trenches Captain: DL Derik Overstreet
Youth Movement
For the year, 24 players have earned their first career start as Hilltoppers on offense or defense, the fourth-most nationally, and 11 true freshman have seen game action. WKU trails Ball State (33), Illinois (31), Baylor (27), and Coastal Carolina (25) for the most first-time starters while East Carolina (24) and Utah State (24) have as many.
The 11 true freshman who have seen game action include: Kyle Bailey, Roger Cray, Antwon Kincade, DeAngelo Malone, Jakairi Moses, LA Rogers-Anderson, Ben Reeder, Dionte Ruffin, Cole Spencer, Jacquez Sloan, and Steven Witchoskey.
Three Consecutive Bowl Victories
With wins in the 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, 2015 Miami Beach Bowl, and 2016 Boca Raton Bowl, WKU is one of just eights teams in the nation heading into the 2017 bowl season with bowl wins in each of the previous three years. Those teams are: WKU, Clemson, Georgia, LA Tech, Stanford, Utah, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin.
Senior Legacy
A number of Hilltoppers will have an opportunity to play in, and for some, start in, their fourth consecutive bowl game. Cornerback De'Andre Simmons missed the 2017 season, however, and will not participate in the bowl game. Those players include: Joe Brown, Derik Overstreet, Brandon Ray, De'Andre Simmons, Jimmie Sims, and Kylen Towner. Both Overstreet and Ray are aiming to start their fourth bowl game.
Season Helmet Stickers
WKU will wear a pair of helmet stickers this season, honoring two former Hilltoppers who passed away during the offseason: former assistant coach Butch Gilbert and former tight end Mitchell Henry.
Gilbert regularly passed out butterscotch candies to players and coaches during his visits to practice, which WKU commemorates with a wrapped candy as a helmet sticker. To commemorate Henry, WKU has an "MH" sticker on the helmet.
Who's Next?
With the graduation of Forrest Lamp, Darrell Williams, Max Halpin, Taywan Taylor, Anthony Wales, and Nicholas Norris, the opportunity to make a name for yourself is wide open for the 2017 Hilltoppers. All six had NFL opportunities following their senior campaign and three (Lamp, Taylor, and Williams) made rosters. Between the three offensive lineman (Lamp, Williams, and Halpin), they combined for 140 games played and 129 starts - nearly all of them together. Wales tallied 1,621 rushing yards and led the nation in scoring and touchdowns, while Taylor and Norris combined for over 7,000 receiving yards for their careers as they went 1-2 in the record books in every major receiving category both season and career.
All totaled, those six played in 289 combined games with a staggering 209 combined starts.
Conference USA vs. Sun Belt and Group of Five
Neighbors in most geographical regions, there is a long history between Conference USA and the Sun Belt Conference in both the regular season and postseason. In the 2017 regular season, C-USA teams played SBC teams five teams with C-USA coming away with a 3-2 mark.
Over the past five seasons, C-USA has also fared well in bowl season against the Sun Belt and other group of five leagues, boasting a 16-6 mark overall.
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