Quarterback, Drew Eckels
- Completed 23 of 41 passes for 347 yards with 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
- He was sacked 6 times for 42 yards. Otherwise, he had 5 carries for 11 yards.
Wide Receiver, Lucky Jackson
- Had 4 receptions for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- His 66-yard touchdown reception on the first play from scrimmage was his 6th career catch of 50-plus yards. The 1-play, 18-second drive was the shortest in the Mike Sanford Era.
- It was the 4th 100-yard receiving game of his career and the 1st 2-touchdown game of his career.
Running Back, Garland LaFrance
- Led the Hilltoppers with 7 rushes for 33 yards on the ground. He also added 4 catches for 90 yards and 1 touchdown.
- His 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run in the 4th quarter was his 1st career touchdown and brought WKU to within 31-28 with 7 minutes remaining.
Safety, Devon Key
- Had a 45-yard interception return for touchdown in the 1st quarter to put WKU ahead by a score of 14-0, only 1:43 into the game. It was the first pick six for the Hilltoppers since Joe Brown's 34-yarder to seal a 33-21 win over Ball State last season.
Linebacker, Ben Holt
- Tied for the WKU lead with a career-high 8 tackles (3 solo), while adding a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 pass breakup.
Cornerback, DeAndre Farris
- Had 5 tackles (4 solo) and contributed 1 tackle for loss and a team-high 2 pass breakups.
Defensive End, DeAngelo Malone
- Had a career-high and team-high 1.5 sacks, to go along with 3 tackles (2 solo) and 1 QB hurry.
HILLTOPPER TEAM NOTES
- WKU's team captains for the game were Drew Eckels, DeAndre Farris, Ben Holt and Antwon Kincade.
- There was an attendance of 15,781 in Houchens-Smith Stadium for the 6:34 p.m. CT kick off.
- WKU fell to an FCS opponent for the 1st time since 2011 (44-16 vs. Indiana State on Sept. 17), breaking a streak of 10 consecutive home victories over FCS or non-conference Group of 5 teams since then.
- WKU has lost consecutive games to FCS or non-conference Group of 5 teams (27-17 vs. Georgia State in the 2017 Cure Bowl on Dec. 16). The Hilltoppers had won 14 straight games against such opponents.
- WKU fell to 17-4 in home openers over the past 21 years, and 74-21-5 all-time in program history.
- WKU fell to 4-3 against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
- WKU fell to 7-3 (dating back to 2013) while wearing red jerseys and red pants.
- WKU had 3 sacks (for the 2nd consecutive week ) for 11 yards lost. In 2017, the Hilltoppers had game-highs of 2 sacks on 3 occasions.
