WKU HILLTOPPERS (6-4, 4-2Â C-USA) at
SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLESÂ (7-3, 5-1Â C-USA)
Saturday, November 23 | 2:30 p.m. CT | M.M. Roberts Stadium | Hattiesburg, Miss.
Â
SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLESÂ (7-3, 5-1Â C-USA)
Saturday, November 23 | 2:30 p.m. CT | M.M. Roberts Stadium | Hattiesburg, Miss.
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| WKU UP AGAINST THE BEST IN THE WEST, TRAVELING TO MISSISSIPPI TO FACE THE GOLDEN EAGLES The refreshed Hilltoppers emerge from their second bye week of the season, matching up against division-leading Southern Miss |
NOTING THE GAME - WKU at SOUTHERN MISS
- This will be the WKU's first trip to Hattiesburg to play Southern Miss, as the Hilltoppers and Golden Eagles meet for the 3rd time on Saturday, Nov. 23.
- WKU and Southern Miss met for the first time on Sept. 22, 2012, when a then-program-record crowd of 23,252 saw the Hilltoppers defeat the Golden Eagles by a score of 42-17 in Houchens-Smith Stadium. WKU outgained Southern Miss 560-to-264, which included 136 yards from Antonio Andrews and 132 yards from Leon Allen.
- The Golden Eagles returned to Bowling Green on Dec. 5, 2015, for the C-USA Championship Game, and the Hilltoppers came out victorious by a score of 45-28. WKU trailed Southern Miss by a score of 21-7 midway through the second quarter, and then 28-21 again early in the second half before scoring the final 24 points of the contest.
LUCKY JACKSON REWRITES THE HILLTOPPER RECORD BOOKS
- Despite WKU's 26-23 last-second loss to Marshall on Oct. 26, wide receiver Lucky Jackson was in a groove. The senior from Lexington caught a WKU program record 16 passes for 168 yards. Jay Davis' 15 receptions on Nov. 15, 1969, at Akron were the previous best mark in Hilltopper history. He became the first FBS receiver since SMU's Trey Quinn on Oct. 21, 2017, with 16+ receptions in a game.
- He followed that up with a 9-reception, 194-yard effort in WKU's 35-24 loss vs. Florida Atlantic on Nov. 2, which included a 54-yard score in the first quarter, as well as "chunk" catches of 45 yards, 40 yards and 20 yards later in the game. The 194 yards were a career-high for Jackson, and tied Taywan Taylor in the 2016 Conference USA Championship Game for the 4th-best receiving game in Hilltopper program history.
- With 177 career receptions and 2,386 career receiving yards, Jackson passed Willie McNeal (171) and Curtis Hamilton (2,324) for 3rd on WKU's all-time charts. Nicholas Norris (194 and 3,091) stands 2nd in program history.
DEFENSE INITIATES SIGNIFICANT SECOND HALF SHUTDOWN
- After allowing 21 points in the fourth quarter vs. Central Arkansas to suffer a 35-28 loss in Week 1, the WKU defense has been stellar in the second halves of games.
- Over the past nine games overall, the Hilltoppers have let up only 57 second-half points. For the season, WKU has outscored its opponents 103-to-78 in the second halves of games, and overall has forced a three-and-out on 35.8% (38-of-106) of their opponents' drives.
KEEPING THE FOURTH QUARTER QUIET
- In four games from Sept. 7 to Oct. 5, the Hilltopper defense silenced the opposition late in the contest, keeping points off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter against FIU, Louisville, UAB and Old Dominion. The Panthers didn't score for the last 21:03, the Cardinals for the last 16:26, the Blazers for the last 24:17 and the Monarchs for the last 44:56 of the game.
- Since 2007, this is the first WKU defense has posted scoreless fourth quarters in four-consecutive games. If not for a Army touchdown with 101 seconds left in the final frame, the Hilltoppers would have had a six-game scoreless fourth quarter streak from Game 2 to Game 7.
DeANGELO MALONE CONTINUES DOMINANT SEASON
- Junior defensive end DeAngelo Malone just keeps racking up significant statistics. In WKU's 30-14 Homecoming victory vs. Charlotte, the Atlanta native notched 2 sacks for 16 yards lost, as well as 3 quarterback hurries. For the season, Malone leads WKU in solo tackles (44), tackles for loss (18), sacks (9) and quarterback hurries (15), while ranking second in total tackles (76). Malone has at least 1 tackle for loss in 9 games (including multiple TFL's in four games), multiple sacks in three games and multiple quarterback hurries in three games.
- With a career-high 3 sacks at ODU, Malone became the first Hilltopper since the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl with 3 sacks in a game, and only the 4th different WKU defender since 2007 to have 3-plus sacks in a game.
- Malone leads Conference USA with 9 sacks and 18 tackles for loss on the season; while among FBS defenders he is tied for 2nd in tackles for loss and 11th in sacks. Malone's 7.6 total tackles per game ranks t-86 among FBS defenders, which leads all defensive linemen. The next-best defensive lineman is Jessie Lemonier of Liberty, who is tied for 181st in the nation with 6.5 per game.
- Here are WKU's season-by-season TFL leaders in this decade:
- 2019 - DeAngelo Malone, 18.0 TFL
- 2018 - Ben Holt, 11.5 TFL
- 2017 - Joel Iyiegbuniwe, 11.5 TFL
- 2016 - Keith Brown, 13.0 TFL
- 2015 - T.J. McCollum, 11.5 TFL
- 2014 - Dejon Brown and Ge'Monee Brown, 8.0 TFL
- 2013 - Xavius Boyd, 15.5 TFL
- 2012 - Quanterus Smith, 18.5 TFL
- 2011 - Andrew Jackson, 17.0 TFL
- 2010 - Thomas Majors, 14.5 TFL
WKU AMONG FBS LEADERS IN HANDFUL OF DEFENSIVE CATEGORIES
- Tied for 3rd in Opponent First Downs Passing, with only 6.4 allowed per game.
- Tied for 8th in Opponent Red Zone Chances, with only 2.3 allowed per game.
- 10th in Opponent Total Plays, with only 61.4 allowed per game.
- 10th in Opponent Third Down Conversions, with a rate of only 29.7% (38-of-128).
- Tied for 10th in Opponent Completion Percentage, with a rate of only 53.5%.
- Tied for 12th in Opponent First Downs, with only 15.9 allowed per game.
- 14th in Passing Defense, with only 181.5 yards allowed per game.
- Tied for 17th in Red Zone Defense, with opponents only scoring 73.9% of the time.
- 20th in Total Defense, with only 320 yards allowed per game.
- Tied for 24th in Scoring Defense, with only 20.5 points allowed per game.
And these other statistics:
- Tied for 6th in Fewest Penalties Committed, with only 4.3 per game.
- Tied for 8th in Blocked Kicks, with 3 total (1 punt, 1 field goal, 1 extra point).
- 9th in Fewest Penalty Yards, with only 38.9 earned per game.
- 17th in Time of Possession, holding the ball an average of 32:44 per game.
- Tied for 19th in Completion Percentage, with a rate of 65.7% for the season.
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