Hilltoppers Sack FIU Seven Times, Zappe Passes for 382 Yards in 34-19 Victory

Saturday, October 23

Miami, FL

6 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

3-4 , 2-1

FIU

1-6 , 0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Western Ky.

FIU

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Hilltoppers Sack FIU Seven Times, Zappe Passes for 382 Yards in 34-19 Victory

10/23/2021 10:50:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Postgame Interviews: HC Helton | QB Zappe and OL Brooks | LB Days and DE Pitts

MIAMI, Fla. — WKU Football's defense recorded seven sacks and the Hilltoppers scored 27 unanswered points to defeat FIU by a score of 34-19 on Saturday night. With the win, WKU improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA action.

Quarterback Bailey Zappe completed 39-of-49 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns – a 32-yarder to Mitchell Tinsley to end the first half and two to Jerreth Sterns in the second half – while running back Adam Cofield added an eight-yard scoring rush. On the other side of the ball, Marcus Bragg, Demetrius Cain, Nicholas Days, Juwuan Jones, DeAngelo Malone, Michael Pitts and Darius Shipp each had one sack.

Kicker Brayden Narveson made field goals of 23 and 26 yards and was 4-for-4 on extra points. Punter John Haggerty III punted five times and averaged 50 yards per kick to help give the Hilltoppers a field position advantage all night.

WKU's upcoming game will be the school's Homecoming celebration on Saturday, October 30. Visiting Charlotte (4-3 overall, 2-1 C-USA) comes to town for the 3 p.m. kickoff at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

Postgame Quotes

Head coach Tyson Helton
Opening statement:
"Going on the road and getting a win is always hard. We talked all week of having that complete team win, I thought we got really close to that tonight. Defense had another really good night, that was great to see. Offensively, early we struggled, they were playing drop eight coverage and I thought our offense did a good job of slowing that down, started to look at them, mix in the run more and we started to have success when we did that. So those are things smart football teams need to do to win. I was happy with the overall performance of everybody and can't say enough about the defense and their performance."
On the defense making numerous big plays once again:
"I think our defense is doing a really good job of changing up the looks and schemes and making it hard on offenses and bringing pressures from all over the place and getting the best players in the right place, I think that is really big. I'm really excited about our defense, back-to-back weeks having good performances. It's going to take a big one next week, Charlotte is a really good offense so that will be a big test for us defensively. But it was good to put all those pieces together tonight."
On the mood in the locker room after back-to-back wins:
"It's right. It's right and it's always been right. But winning games solves a lot of problems and when you win games, like we have done back-to-back weeks, it gives you momentum. Now you get to go home, get to play a tough Charlotte team, you want to have that momentum and good look in your eye, and you want to feel good about what you are doing. Our locker room is in a really good place."

Graduate senior defensive end Michael Pitts
On the defense finding its rhythm:
"Definitely, defensively, we're getting back on track. We're getting more into the flow of things, working more together, building a bond will all our teammates. So, we're definitely building each week."

Redshirt sophomore linebacker Nicholas Days
On tonight's defensive performance:
"Week by week we've just been getting better and better, that's all it was. From Week One to now, we're just getting better and better as a team and as a defense. We know the offense is going to score, but as a defense we hold ourselves to a standard and that standard is to not give up any points. So, even though we've come out and had two good performances, we want to continue to bounce back and build on both of them and be even better the next time we come out."

Junior offensive lineman Mason Brooks
On his thoughts about the overall team performance:
"I mean my hat's off to the defense right now. They're rolling. You saw in tonight's game, the d-line couldn't be blocked. So, I love to see those guys rolling. Obviously, like Bailey [Zappe] said, a little momentum on offense that I'd like to see us continue over. But, seeing the defense do stuff like that two weeks in a row now has been fantastic. That's I think what we're most excited about."

Graduate senior quarterback Bailey Zappe
On the momentum from the team's strong finish to the first half:
"It was big for us momentum-wise. I think we got the ball back with about a minute left, and for us a minute is enough time with the way we play and our tempo. So, to be able to march down there and get that touchdown to go into the half was great momentum-wise going into the second half. We kind of carried it over going into the second half. But, the defense had the momentum the whole game."