WKU HILLTOPPERS (7-4, 5-2Â C-USA) vs.
MTSU BLUE RAIDERS (4-7, 3-4 C-USA)
Saturday, November 30 | 1 p.m. | Houchens-Smith Stadium | Bowling Green, Ky.
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MTSU BLUE RAIDERS (4-7, 3-4 C-USA)
Saturday, November 30 | 1 p.m. | Houchens-Smith Stadium | Bowling Green, Ky.
| GAMEDAY LINKS |
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| WKU HOSTS MIDDLE TENNESSEE FOR SENIOR DAY ON THE HILL, LOOKING FOR 8TH WIN OF SEASON The Hilltoppers will honor 13 seniors prior to the game vs. the Blue Raiders, which will be the 69th head-to-head matchup all-time |
NOTING THE GAME - WKU vs. MIDDLE TENNESSEE
- WKU and Middle Tennessee will meet for the 69th time, with the Blue Raiders hoding a 35-32-1 advantage. The Hilltoppers have won 3 of the past 4 meetings, although suffered a 29-10 loss last season in Murfreesboro.
- The first meetings between WKU and Middle Tennessee were in 1914 and 1915, with the Blue Raiders winning both by a score of 47-0. The two played 4 times in 5 years from 1921-to-1925, then in every year from 1928-to-1936. After not meeting in 1937 or 1938, they faced off once per year from 1939-to-1941. After a 10-year haitus, the two matched up in every season from 1952-to-1991 except for 1986. The Hilltoppers did not play their close rival from 1992-to-2006, but the two have faced off in every season since 2007 except for 2013.
- In 6 matchups from 2011-to-2017, 4 of them went into at least double overtime. WKU won 36-33 in 2011 in 2OT, Middle Tennessee won 50-47 in 2014 in 3OT, WKU won 44-43 in 2016 in 2OT and WKU won 41-38 in 2017 in 3OT.
- WKU is 19-15 all-time in Bowling Green, while Middle Tennessee is 20-13-1 in Murfreesboro. Since 1940, the past 52 meetings have alternated hosts.
TY STOREY WRITES UP REVENGE IN ARKANSAS
- On Nov. 9 at Arkansas, quarterback Ty Storey took advantage of one of the most unique opportunities in FBS history, as the graduate transfer returned to his former school and led the Hilltoppers to a signature win.
- He completed 22-of-32 passes for 213 yards and a 69-yard touchdown, while also rushing 17 times for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns; all career highs in the ground game. He completed 68.8% of his passes, marking the 6th consecutive game in which he has completed at least 68% of his attempts. Of his 213 yards passing, Storey had 202 of those in the first half, when the Hilltoppers built a 35-7 lead and cruised to victory in the second half.
- For his efforts, he was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week, then was also voted Manning Award National Quarterback of the Week – becoming the first Hilltopper in program history and only the fifth C-USA player to win the weekly award, which began during the 2011 season.
- Storey became only the third player in FBS history to grad transfer and then defeat his undergraduate school in the same season:
- Quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr., who transferred from Eastern Washington to Oregon, then helped lead the Ducks to a 61-42 victory over the Eagles on Sept. 5, 2015. Adams, Jr. had a similar performance to Storey, completing 19-of-25 passes for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns thru the auir while adding 94 yards on 14 carries on the ground.
- Cornerback Tyler Patmon, who transferred from Kansas to Oklahoma State, then helped the Cowboys defeat the Jayhawks by a score of 42-6 on Nov. 9, 2011. Patmon started but did not record any defensive statistics.
LUCKY JACKSON REWRITES 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 184 career receptions and 2,422 career 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.
DeANGELO MALONE CONTINUES DOMINANT SEASON
- Junior defensive end DeAngelo Malone just keeps racking up significant statistics. In WKU's 28-10 victory at Southern Miss, the Atlanta native notched 2 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks, and 7 total tackles on the day. Malone's biggest play of the game was the nail in the Golden Eagles' coffin, forcing a fumble on a strip sack, then recovering the fumble and taking it into the end zone for a 5-yard scoop-and-score touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was WKU's first "fumble six" since 2014.
- Earlier in the game, Malone surpassed the 18.5-tackle for loss mark on the season to set the Hilltoppers' single-season record in the program's FBS Era (since 2009). With 20 tackles for loss on the season, Malone is only the 11th defender in WKU's 101-season history to have at least that many. And with 10.5 sacks, Malone is only the 4th defender in the Hilltoppers' 101-season history to reach double-digit quarterback takedowns.
- With a career-high 3 sacks at Old Dominion earlier in the season, 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 would have had a 4th sack in the game if not for an intentional grounding call.
- For the season, Malone leads WKU in solo tackles (47), tackles for loss (20), sacks (10.5) and quarterback hurries (15), while ranking second in total tackles (83). Malone has at least 1 tackle for loss in 10 games (including multiple TFL's in 5 games), multiple sacks in 3 games and multiple quarterback hurries in 3 games.
- Malone leads Conference USA with 20 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks on the season; while among FBS defenders he is tied for 2nd in tackles for loss and 8th in sacks. Malone's 7.5 total tackles per game ranks t-88 among FBS defenders, which leads all defensive linemen. The next-best defensive lineman is Jessie Lemonier of Liberty, who is tied for 212th in the nation with 6.2 per game.
- Here are WKU's season-by-season TFL leaders in this decade:
- 2019 - DeAngelo Malone, 20.0 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
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 60 second-half points. For the season, WKU has outscored its opponents 110-to-81 in the second halves of games, and overall has forced a three-and-out on 35.8% (43-of-120) 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.
WKU AMONG FBS LEADERS IN HANDFUL OF DEFENSIVE CATEGORIES
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4th in Opponent First Downs Passing, with only 6.9 allowed per game.
7th in Opponent Third Down Conversions, with a rate of only 28.9% (41-of-142).
10th in Red Zone Defense, with opponents only scoring 69.2% of the time.
Tied for 10th in Opponent Red Zone Chances, with only 2.4 allowed per game.
Tied for 11th in Opponent Completion Percentage, with a rate of only 53.2%.
Tied for 14th in Opponent First Downs, with only 16.5 allowed per game.
17th in Opponent Total Plays, with only 62.5 allowed per game.
Tied for 17th in Red Zone Scoring Allowed, with the opponents only scoring a TD 50% of the time.
19th in Passing Defense, with only 191.4 yards allowed per game.
Tied for 20th in Scoring Defense, with only 19.5 points allowed per game.
28th in Total Defense, with only 326.2 yards allowed per game.
And these other statistics:
- Tied for 6th in Fewest Penalties Committed, with only 4.4 per game.
- Tied for 10th in Blocked Kicks, with 3 total (1 punt, 1 field goal, 1 extra point).
- Tied for 15th in Fewest Penalty Yards, with only 41.2 earned per game.
- 19th in Completion Percentage, with a rate of 65.9% for the season.
- Tied for 19th in Kick Return Coverage, with only 18 yards allowed per return.
- 20th in Time of Possession, holding the ball an average of 32:28 per game.
- Tied for 24th in Tackles For Loss Allowed, with only 4.7 by the opponents per game.
- Tied for 27th in Sacks Allowed, with only 1.5 by the opponents per game.
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