WKU HILLTOPPERS (2-4, 1-1)
at FIU PANTHERS (1-5, 0-2)
Saturday, October 23 | 6 p.m. CT
FIU Stadium | Miami, Florida
at FIU PANTHERS (1-5, 0-2)
Saturday, October 23 | 6 p.m. CT
FIU Stadium | Miami, Florida
| LEARN ABOUT THE TEAM: |
| Game 7: PREVIEW STORY WKU Weekly Game Notes Coach & Player Interviews |
| DEFENSE CARRIES MOMENTUM INTO HILLTOPPERS' MEETING AGAINST PANTHERS Zappe leads top offense in Conference USA to Miami, as WKU looks for third consecutive win over FIU |
NOTING THE GAME
- WKU and FIU have played 14 times on the football field since the programs' first meeting in 2002; a 56-7 victory by the Hilltoppers in Bowling Green.
- In Conference USA competition, WKU claimed back-to-back victories in 2015 (63-7 in Miami) and 2016 (49-21 in Bowling Green), and then the Panthers rattled off back-to-back series wins of their own in 2017 (41-17 in Miami) and 2018 (38-17 in Bowling Green). Now, the Hilltoppers boast a two-game win streak over FIU, with a 20-14 victory in 2019 in Miami and a 38-21 win in 2020 in Bowling Green.
NUMBERS TO WATCH
- 438.7 — Bailey Zappe leads FBS with 438.7 pass yards per game, with the next-closest being Virginia's Brennan Armstrong at 403.4 yards. Zappe is tied for the FBS lead with 26 TD's and ranks ninth with a 170.7 passing efficiency rating.
- 35-5 — Bailey Zappe's TD-INT ratio in 11 career games against FBS teams. He has completed 360-of-551 passes (65.3%) for 4,386 yards (398.7 avg) in those 11 games.
- 50.5 — With 2.5 TFL's at Old Dominion, DeAngelo Malone pushed his career total to 50.5. He surpassed Tony Towns (49.0) for third in WKU history. Chris Carpenter (52.0) ranks second.
CHASING GREATNESS
- Through six games, Zappe's numbers are comparable to Brandon Doughty's 2015 season in which he set WKU's all-time passing record (5,055) in 14 games, as well as Texas Tech's B.J. Symons' 2003, in which he set the FBS all-time passing record (5,833) in 13 games:
- Bailey Zappe: 207-of-297 (70%) for 2,632 yards, with 26 TD and 4 INT
- Brandon Doughty: 171-of-229 (75%) for 2,359 yards, with 20 TD and 3 INT
- B.J. Symons: 222-of-330 (67%) for 2,954 yards, with 27 TD and 6 INT
STERNS: ALSO A STUD
- Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns is also nipping at the heels of the all-time greats. Through six games, Sterns' numbers are comparable to Taywan Taylor's 2016 season in which he set all-time records (98 catches for 1,730 yards, with 17 touchdowns) in 14 games. East Carolina's Zay Jones set the FBS record with 158 receptionsin 12 games in 2016, and Nevada's Trevor Insley's 2,060 yards in 11 games in 1999 is the all-time FBS mark.
- Jerreth Sterns: 69 receptions for 962 yards, with 8 touchdowns
- Taywan Taylor: 42 receptions for 673 yards, with 4 touchdowns
- Zay Jones: 84 receptions for 840 yards, with 3 touchdowns
- Trevor Insley: (In search of game-by-game stats for TI's 1999)
STAFF SHUFFLE
- Of WKU's 10 full-time assistant coaches, only one (special teams coordinator and safeties coach Andy LaRussa) has the same role as last season. Four have new roles: Maurice Crum (linebackers –> defensive coordinator), Bryan Ellis (now co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach), Kenny Baker (defensive ends –> defensive line) and Stephen Hamby (quality control –> offensive line). Five are new faces: Zach Kittley (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks), Pat Bastien (linebackers), Josh Crawford (outside receivers), Keynodo Hudson (cornerbacks) and Carlos Locklyn (running backs).
THE PORTAL
- Of the 106 players on WKU's 2021 roster, 27 of them (25.5%) are incoming transfers. Of the 27, 15 are coming directly from FBS programs –10 from Power Five programs and five from Group of Five teams. Of the 27, eight are from FCS programs – including four from the Houston Baptist offense. Of the 27, four are from the JuCo ranks, however three of those spent a year on Power Five teams.
ZERO TO 10,004
- WKU returned zero passing yards from the 2020 season. Enter graduate transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe, whose 10,004 yards at Houston Baptist from 2017-to-2020 led all active Division I passers to begin the season. Now at 12,239 yards after 2,235 through his first five games as a Hilltopper, Zappe still tops the list.
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