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WKU (1-9, 0-6 C-USA) vs. UTEP (1-9, 1-5 C-USA)
Saturday, Nov. 17 | Houchens-Smith Stadium | 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, Nov. 17 | Houchens-Smith Stadium | 6:30 p.m. CT
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| IT WILL BE SENIOR NIGHT ON THE HILL. WKU's 10 seniors will play their final home game on Saturday night. |
The Matchup
It will be Senior Day on The Hill as WKU honors the 2018 senior class in their final home game. This senior class is currently 30-22 including double-digit winning seasons their first two years on The Hill.
The Hilltoppers have closed out seven consecutive home slates with victories on Senior Day. The last time WKU failed to send its senior class out with a home win was in 2010.
WKU is still seeking it's first home victory and first conference victory of the season. The last time WKU failed to reach either mark was during the 2009 season.
UTEP head coach Dana Dimel is in his first season at UTEP, marking the first first-year head coach the Hilltoppers have faced this season. Last year, WKU faced UTEP in their first game under interim head coach Mike Price.
Scouting UTEP
UTEP (1-9, 1-5 C-USA) plays its final road game of the 2018 season at WKU (1-9, 0-6 C-USA) on Saturday.
The Miners won their last road game, 34-26, at Rice on Nov. 3. That ended a 13-game road losing streak dating back to the 2016 season. UTEP is seeking back-to-back road wins for the first time since October of 2005 (won 45-21 at Tulane, won 38-31 at Rice).
The Miners are in their 15th year as a member of Conference USA and only once have posted two league road wins in a season, in 2005.
UTEP is shooting for only its fourth C-USA road victory in the month of November. The Miners won at UAB on Nov. 10, 2006 (36-17), at Southern Miss on Nov. 17, 2012 (34-33), and at North Texas on Nov. 28, 2015 (20-17).
2018 Team Captains
WKU's season-long team captains were voted on at the end of fall camp, entirely by the players. In 2018, the Hilltoppers will have just two captains, both from the defense: senior DB DeAndre Farris and junior LB Ben Holt Holt's older brother, Nick, was a 2015 team captain at linebacker and both played for their father, Nick Holt, during his time as WKU's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2013-16.
Holts on The Hill
When Ben Holt was voted a team captain, he and his brother, Nick, joined a very unique and exclusive group as one of just two sets of brothers to both serve as WKU captains.
Elmer (1965) and Lee Murray (1962) also served as captains and for over 50 years were the only sets of brothers to both serve as captains until the Holt's in 2018. Lee enjoyed a Hall of Fame career on The Hill in various roles as an assistant coach under Jimmy Feix and administrator as well as color analyst on WKU's radio broadcasts in the early 2000s.
Young Stars Shining on Defense
Junior linebacker Ben Holt and defensive end Juwuan Jones - both in their first seasons as starters - are putting up impressive numbers.
Holt's 10.4 tackles per game is currently the highest mark in the FBS era, outpacing Andrew Jackson's mark of 9.38 set in 2012 (122 over 13 games). Jones' team-leading four sacks has tied the FBS era record for sacks by a freshman set by Tanner Reeves in 2014.
Within Striking Distance
The Hilltoppers have lost four of six by a combined 12 points - three point losses in four games. WKU has been within striking distance of all four (vs. Maine, at Louisville, vs. Marshall, vs. ODU), and they aren't alone in being close to having their records flipped.
| TEAM | ONE-SCORE GAMES | RECORD |
| Arizona State | 7 | 3-4 |
| Eastern Michigan | 6 | 2-4 |
| WKU | 5 | 1-4 |
| Air Force | 5 | 1-4 |
| Old Dominion | 5 | 2-3 |
Youth Movement
WKU is in the midst of a youth movement and rebuilding a roster which lost multiple three- and four-year starters at a number of positions after the 2016 Conference USA Championship season.
Last season, 24 players earned their first career start as Hilltoppers on offense or defense, the fourth-most nationally, and 11 true freshman saw game action. WKU trailed only Ball State (33), Illinois (31), Baylor (27), and Coastal Carolina (25) for the most first-time starters. On the 2018 roster, 66 percent of the roster is comprised of underclassmen.
| CLASS | # ON ROSTER | O/D STARTS |
|---|---|---|
| Seniors | 10 | 116 |
| Juniors | 21 | 116 |
| Sophomores | 27 | 129 |
| Redshirt Freshmen | 10 | 15 |
| True Freshmen | 27 | 1 |
Rebuilding Up Front
WKU's 2018 starting five entering the season was also one of only three offensive lines in the nation to have all five position starters earning their first career starts at their position (UTSA, Fresno State).
LT Cole Spencer started five games at RT to close the 2017 campaign while Tyler Witt started the final six at RG. Both have now swapped to the left side while center Seth Joest and RG Jordan Meredith earned their first career starts at any position at Wisconsin. RT Miles Pate has been primarily a guard during his time on The Hill but bumped outside this fall under the direction of new offensive line coach TJ Woods.
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