Quarterback, Steven Duncan
- Came in at quarterback to begin the 2nd half and played every offensive snap thereafter.
- Completed 12 of 16 passes for 94 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.
- Also had 6 rushes for 55 yards on the ground, including a 27-yard rush in the 3rd quarter. It was the 1st 20-yard rush for WKU in the Mike Sanford Era (on the 520th carry dating back to the beginning of the 2017 season).
- Completed 5 of 5 passes for 27 yards and rushed 5 times for 54 yards during his 1st drive. It was a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown shovel pass to Mik'Quan Deane.
Quarterback, Davis Shanley
- Started his 1st career game and played the entire 1st half, completing 13-of-19 passes for 158 yards with 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Also had 5 rushes for 16 yards on the ground.
Tight End, Mik'Quan Deane
- Tied a career-high with 5 receptions, posting 48 yards and his 1st-career 2 touchdown game.
Wide Receiver, Lucky Jackson
- Led the Hilltoppers with 8 receptions for 91 yards, including a team-long 41-yard catch-and-run in the 2nd quarter.
Running Back, Joshua Samuel
- Led the Hilltoppers with career-highs of 19 carries for 91 yards and his 1st career touchdown.
- The 5-yard score came on WKU's final drive of the game. On the drive, he had 7 rushes for 49 yards.
Running Back, Gino Appleberry, Jr.
- Had 4 carries for 14 yards and 1 touchdown. The 1-yard score tied the game at 7-7 in the 2nd quarter and was the 1st rushing touchdown by a WKU running back in a road game in the Mike Sanford Era.
Nickelback, Ta'Corian Darden and Linebacker, Ben Holt
- Had 12 tackles apiece to lead the WKU defense.
- Darden recorded his 1st double-digit tackle game of the season and added 2 quarterback hurries and 1 pass breakup.
- Holt set a career-high mark with the dozen tackles and added 1 tackle for loss to push his team-leading total to 6.5 on the season.
Defensive Back, Drell Greene
- Had a career-high 10 tackles (7 solo) while adding 1 pass breakup.v
Defensive Lineman, Jaylon George
- Had a career-high 6 tackles (1 solo) while adding his 1st career solo sack, a 7-yard loss.
Defensive Back, Devon Key
- HHad 2 assisted tackles while adding a career-high 2 pass breakups for the 2nd straight week.
HILLTOPPER TEAM NOTES
- WKU's team captains for the game were DeAndre Farris, Drell Greene, Ben Holt, Der'Quione Mobley.
- There was an attendance of 15,873 in Schuemann Stadium for the 3:05 p.m. ET kick off.
- WKU avoided falling to 0-4 on the season. The Hilltoppers have not started a campaign with an 0-4 record since 2011, when they finished 7-5.
- WKU improved to 3-2 all-time against Ball State, including 1-1 in games played in Muncie.
- In back-to-back wins in the series, WKU has outscored Ball State 14-7 and 16-7 in the fourth quarter.
- WKU and Ball State combined for 21 accepted penalties for 122 yards. The Hilltoppers had 11 for 102, while the Cardinals had 10 for 120.
- WKU improved to 17-3 against teams from the Group of Five or FCS dating back to 2012. The Hilltoppers broke a 2-game losing streak to such teams.
- WKU broke a 5-game losing streak in true road games. Previously, the Hilltoppers' last win away from Bowling Green was a 35-31 game at Old Dominion on Oct. 20 of last season.
- WKU improved to 10-6 (dating back to 2013) while wearing white jerseys and white pants.
- It was WKU's 1st win when scoring 20-29 points since a 21-17 game at Army on Nov. 9, 2013. The Hilltoppers had lost 4 straight such games.
- WKU's 192 rushing yards (on 40 carries) was the most for the Hilltoppers in the Mike Sanford Era.
- WKU did not turn the ball over for the 1st time since Oct. 7 of last season at UTEP, a span of 11 games in-between.
