Hot First Half Leads to 43-20 Victory for Hilltoppers Over Monarchs

Saturday, October 16

Norfolk, VA

2:30 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

2-4 , 1-1

Old Dominion

1-6 , 0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

WKU

Old Dominion

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Hot First Half Leads to 43-20 Victory for Hilltoppers Over Monarchs

10/16/2021 7:40:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Postgame Interviews: HC Helton | WR Sterns and QB Zappe | LB Ignont and DE Malone

NORFOLK, Va. — WKU Football led wire-to-wire for the first time this season, as the Hilltoppers defeated Old Dominion by a score of 43-20 on Saturday.

Jerreth Sterns became the second wide receiver in program history to eclipse the 200-yard mark, as the junior from Waxahachie, Texas, caught 13 passes for a career-high 221 yards and a career-long 74-yard touchdown. The all-time WKU record is 276 yards by Joey Stockton at Austin Peay on September 16, 1995.

In a three-game span – against undefeated Michigan State, undefeated UTSA and what was previously the No. 2 defense in Conference USA – Sterns has accumulated 46 receptions for 602 yards and four touchdowns. He became the fifth player since 2000 (as far back as records go on www.Sports-Reference.com) with 46 or more receptions in a three-game span and the 14th with at least 600 yards in a three-game span.

On the year, Sterns has 69 receptions for 962 yards and eight touchdowns in six games. He leads FBS with 11.5 catches and 160.3 yards per game; which is on pace for 138 catches and 1,924 yards in a 12-game season.

At the helm of the offense, quarterback Bailey Zappe had yet another huge performance. The graduate transfer completed 36-of-54 attempts (67%) for 398 yards and five touchdowns, compared to one interception. He was 26-of-38 (68%) for 329 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone, as the Hilltoppers built a 30-3 lead at the break.

During WKU's four-game losing streak, the team fell behind 14-0 three times and 14-3 most recently against UTSA. But against the Monarchs, first-quarter touchdowns catches by wide receivers Malachi Corley and Dakota Thomas flipped the script and put the Hilltoppers ahead 14-0. Corley's 26-yard score was the 100th passing touchdown of Zappe's collegiate career, as the gunslinger entered Saturday with 21 in his first five games at WKU after 78 in four years at Houston Baptist.

Touchdown passes to Daewood Davis and Sterns in the second quarter – sandwiched around a Nick Rice field goal for ODU – put the Hilltoppers ahead 27-3, then kicker Brayden Narveson capped the half with a 20-yard field goal as time expired to push the lead to 27 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

Rice and Narveson traded field goals in the third quarter and it was a 33-6 game entering the final frame. The Monarchs showed some fight with back-to-back touchdowns to open the fourth quarter to bring the score within 33-20, but a 41-yard Narveson field goal and Thomas' second touchdown of the game iced the win for WKU, who left S.B. Ballard Stadium with the 43-20 win.

The Hilltoppers defense had its most disruptive performance of the season, with five sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Linebacker Will Ignont led the way with nine tackles, two sacks and an interception in the fourth quarter that iced the game. Defensve end DeAngelo Malone had eight tackles – surpassing the 300-mark for his collegiate career with his second of the game in the first half – including 2.5 for loss and a forced fumble on a sack that was recovered by defensive tackle Jeremy Darvin.

Defensive backs A.J. Brathwaite, Jr. and Miguel Edwards each had 10 tackles and combined for three pass breakups, while senior Antwon Kincade grabbed his first interception of the season and returned it 29 yards. Defensive ends Juwuan Jones and Michael Pitts had one sack apiece, with Pitts adding a pass breakup of his own.

On special teams, punter John Haggerty III had a 67-yard punt and a 51-yarder with only one return yard allowed. Graduate transfer DeAngelo Wilson had a 64-yard punt return in the third quarter that looked destined to be a touchdown, but he tripped up just before reaching the end zone.

WKU improved to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in C-USA, while ODU fell to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in C-USA. The Hilltoppers have another road game next week, as the team travels to Miami to face FIU (1-5 overall and 0-2 in C-USA) on Saturday October 23 for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff.

Postgame Quotes

Head coach Tyson Helton
Opening statement:
"It was a great team win tonight. I can't say enough about how our guys have just kept fighting, scratching and clawing. Hats off to our defense man – creating turnovers and sacks – that was really a big part of the game for us. Offensively, we started out good the first half and then kind of stalled in the second half. We weren't as efficient as we wanted to be in the red zone in the second half, but when we needed to go score at the end to put it away they did a great job. But again, great night for our team as a whole. Got the monkey off our back, and now we just have to start stacking those wins up."
On the keys to tonight's defensive performance:
"Well, I thought Coach Crum did a great job of bringing interior pressure, changing up the coverages, getting our best guys on the field. He rotated a lot of guys tonight as well. It made a major impact. Their quarterback wasn't comfortable in the pocket all night. He didn't want to have to throw it – got off his spot – now he's throwing it to us. That's what good defenses do. So, it was great to see tonight. They did a fantastic job."

Junior wide receiver Jerreth Sterns
On what motivates the offense:
"There were a few comments made that we weren't necessarily the best offense in the conference, and we kind of just took that personally. We took it as a challenge, and we're going to keep showing that we are."

Graduate transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe
On the benefits to starting the game with the lead:
"It's nice to be able to look at the scoreboard and know that we have the lead. It feels different I guess, because the past five games we've been playing from behind and battling and clawing our way back. So, it feels good to have a lead like we did and be able to carry that throughout the game. Just being able to look at it and know and understand that we're able to keep that lead and be able to score when we want to score and be able to keep the distance between our opponent. It feels good, so I'm excited and ready to go celebrate."

Senior defensive end DeAngelo Malone
On the importance of tonight's defensive performance:
"It's very big. Me and Will [Ignont], personally, we strive for things like that. Every day we put the work in and it showed today."

Redshirt junior linebacker Will Ignont
On the keys to forcing turnovers defensively:
"We focus on that in practice – turnovers, ripping the ball out, interceptions, big plays. The offense, they can score points, but we can score points too. So, we're trying to put it in our favor and make it easier on our offense."