GAME 10
WKU (5-4 Overall, 3-2 Conference USA) vs. New Mexico State (7-3 Overall, 5-1 Conference USA)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 11
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. CT
Location: Bowling Green, Kentucky (Houchens-Smith Stadium)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: WKLX (SAM 100.7 FM) and WWKU (ESPN Radio 102.7 FM) in Bowling Green
Social: @WKUFootball | @WKUSports
Game Notes: WKU Notes | New Mexico State Notes | CUSA Notes
Game Day Information: Tickets | Game Day Guide | Live Stats
NOTES
- It's homecoming on The Hill! WKU will celebrate with the theme "Big Red, White, & Blue" during Saturday's matchup with New Mexico State. The Hilltoppers are 56-32-3 all-time in homecoming games, dating back to the first homecoming game against Louisville on Nov. 5, 1927 – a 7-6 WKU win. WKU is 2-2 in homecoming games under Tyson Helton after last year's loss to North Texas.
- WKU has seen tremendous late-season success under Tyson Helton, who boasts a 13-3 overall record in the month of November and a 12-2 record in November in Conference USA games. WKU has won 10 consecutive CUSA games in November, and the only two conference losses in the month under Helton were both to FAU, who is no longer in the league. WKU has three games remaining in the regular season following last week's 21-13 victory over UTEP in El Paso, Texas – all of which are conference matchups. Following WKU's game against New Mexico State on Saturday, the Hilltoppers will host Sam Houston State before traveling to FIU to close the regular season.
- WKU enters the week sitting in fourth place in the CUSA standings, but still has plenty to play for with the possibility of making the league championship game still alive. Liberty is first in the CUSA standings at 7-0 and has already locked up a spot hosting the championship game. Jax State is second with a 5-1 mark in league play, but the Gamecocks are ineligible to play in the championship as they transition to the FBS ranks. New Mexico State is third at 5-1.
- WKU is one win away from bowl eligibility after taking down UTEP 21-13 last weekend. The Hilltoppers have gone to bowl games in each of Tyson Helton's first four years as head coach, with wins in three of those, including last year's R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. WKU has gone to nine bowl games in the 11 seasons leading up to the 2023 campaign, with a 6-3 record in those games.
- WKU is one win away from bowl eligibility after taking down UTEP 21-13 last weekend. The Hilltoppers have gone to bowl games in each of Tyson Helton's first four years as head coach, with wins in three of those, including last year's R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. WKU has gone to nine bowl games in the 11 seasons leading up to the 2023 campaign, with a 6-3 record in those games.
- With their next home win, the Hilltoppers will reach 200 wins in program history at Houchens-Smith Stadium, which opened in 1968.
QUOTES
- "Really excited to be back home this week. Able to get a big road win last week. Still get to control our own destiny. That's what you want in November. We're playing an excellent football team in New Mexico State. Coach (Jerry) Kill, their head coach, does a great job. They're playing really good football right now. Should be an exciting game. Both teams have a lot to compete for and try to control your own destiny. That's pretty cool. Then we get to have homecoming, so expecting a big crowd out there. It should be a great game, so looking forward to it." – WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton, on Saturday's game against New Mexico State.
- "I think coming out of it we kind of expected one thing from them, then we get into the game and obviously everybody's go a game plan for what we do and what we're good at. They did some things on defense that, really, throwing the ball, it made it hard early in those early downs. I tried to get us in some stuff early on first and second down throwing the ball, trying to get some shots down field, but dropping eight, throwing into a bunch of tight windows is hard to do. A couple drives of that, we had to figure out, kind of readjust what our plan was, and then figuring out running the ball against that was probably our best option. Really proud of our guys understanding the plan coming out of the first half to what we had to do to win the football game, and then credit to our backs and our backs and our offensive line and even to our receivers on some of those huge run plays getting down field and blocking them up. Huge credit to our quarterback, too, understanding what we had to do to win the game, and he had some really, really good run game checks that helps bring us and keeps those drives alive. It's all about winning ball games. Whatever we have to do to get the W at the end. If we've got to run it for 200 yards then we will. If we've got to throw it for 400, then we will. It's all about getting the win." – WKU Offensive Coordinator Drew Hollingshead, on last week's win at UTEP.
- "Really proud of our guys. Again, they continued to be resilient. Really proud of their effort. I think, collectively, we've had probably our best week or two of practice, truthfully, and kind of getting in the niche with some of the guys that have been new faces for two, three, or four weeks, and continuing to get them better and to have a little better role for them. I thought we made a lot of improvements just from a tackling standpoint. I thought we did that really well. We went into the game talking about being able to set edges and being able to build a wall backside. I thought that our perimeter guys did a really nice job of setting edges and our defensive ends, our inside guys did a great job being down the line. Some critical things that we were able to do well – I think we were 10-of-13 on third down, we had two big fourth-down stops. Those are a huge part of what we want to try to do to be successful. Great job by our defense in the red zone. I think they were 0-for-3 on touchdowns when we got them down there. Big plays, but we continued to have guys step up. TK (Williams) had 12 tackles from the free safety position, Dez Baker had another monster game playing the run inside, violent tackler, and there's a lot of guys to be able to help. I thought Deante McCray and Jayden Loving played really well at the defensive line position. Kendrick (Simpkins) had a huge sack and Sebastian (Benjamin) and Kylen (Guidry) really provided pressure on the guy all night. We've got to continue to do those things where we can continue to stop the run and not give up explosive plays, but I'm really, really proud of our guys." – WKU Defensive Coordinator Tyson Summers, on the defense against UTEP last week.
LAST TIME OUT
- After getting shut out in the first half, WKU scored three touchdowns in the second half to come away with a 21-13 victory over UTEP on Saturday at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. Elijah Young was the catalyst for the offense with his 64-yard touchdown run on WKU's second play of the second half, and the junior running back finished with 139 yards and two touchdowns on 12 attempts. Takulve Williams led the defense with 12 total tackles, while Desmyn Baker had 9, including 1.5 tackles for loss, and Davion Williams provided an interception.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO STATE
- New Mexico State has gotten off to a strong start in its first season as a member of Conference USA. The Aggies sit at 7-3 overall and 5-1 in CUSA play entering the weekend. New Mexico State is in its second season under head coach Jerry Kill, and last week became bowl eligible with a 13-7 win over Middle Tennessee in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
SERIES HISTORY
- Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between WKU and New Mexico State.Â
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