HUNTSVILLE, Texas – WKU Football shut out Sam Houston in the second half and pulled away for a 31-14 win on Wednesday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium to improve to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in Conference USA play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- WKU scored on the game's opening drive to take an early lead. The Hilltoppers capped off a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a 17-yard reception by River Helms on a pass from Caden Veltkamp.
- Sam Houston tied the game with a 37-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.
- WKU took a 10-7 lead with 10:41 to play in the half with a 51-yard field goal from Lucas Carneiro.
- The Bearkats used another big play – a 50-yard touchdown pass – to take a 14-10 lead with 8:46 remaining in the second quarter.
- Elijah Young found the end zone from 11 yards out off a pass from Veltkamp with 2:59 to play in the first half to take a 17-14 lead into the break.
- The Bearkats drove down the field to the WKU 31-yard line, but missed a 47-yard field goal attempt and the 17-14 score held through the third quarter.
- Sam Houston had another field goal try with 13:05 to play, but the 32-yard attempt was blocked by Hosea Wheeler.
- Three plays later, WKU extended its lead with a 74-yard touchdown reception by K.D. Hutchinson off a pass from Veltkamp.
- Veltkamp capped off the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run with 9:31 to play. The play was set up by a fumble recovery from Zach Edwards.
NOTABLES
- WKU is 3-0 in CUSA play for the first time since the 2019 season. They started that season – Tyson Helton's first leading the program – with a 4-0 mark in league play.
- The game was the third all-time between WKU and Sam Houston and the second in Huntsville. WKU improves to 2-1 all-time against Sam Houston with the win.
- For the sixth consecutive game, WKU allowed 21 points or fewer. The 14 points allowed to the Bearkats were the second-fewest allowed this season by the Hilltoppers.
- Caden Veltkamp threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-29 passing, and added 27 yards and a touchdown rushing. It was Veltkamp's third game this season throwing for at least three touchdowns. It was Veltkamp's fifth rushing touchdown of the season and the second straight game he has recorded a rushing touchdown. It is his fourth game this season with at least one passing and one rushing touchdown.
- Six different WKU players caught multiple passes in the win, and five caught at least three passes. K.D. Hutchinson led WKU in receiving with 88 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.
- Hutchinson's 74-yard touchdown was the longest play of his career, surpassing a 72-yard touchdown reception he had at Middle Tennessee earlier this season. It was the longest play this season for WKU.
- The Hilltoppers rushed for 130 yards in the win, led by 97 yards on 23 attempts from Elijah Young. The running back added 61 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.
- Fifteen Hilltoppers recorded multiple tackles in the win, led by Kylan Guidry, who finished with seven tackles, including a sack.
- WKU had three sacks in the game – one from Guidry, one from Sebastian Benjamin and one from Zach Edwards.
- Zach Edwards recovered his first career fumble with 10:14 to play in the fourth quarter.
- Upton Stout recorded an interception in the fourth quarter – the first for him this season and sixth of his career.
- Lucas Carneiro's 51-yard field goal was his eighth consecutive make, and his second straight make of 50-play yards. The 51-yard field goal was the second-longest of his career, behind a 54-yarder against UTEP the game prior.
- Captains for the game were wide receiver Mike Mathison, Lucas Carneiro and Hosea Wheeler.
- Reported attendance at Bowers Stadium was 8,914.
QUOTABLES
- "I thought it was a great team win tonight. This is a tough place to go on the road and get a win like we did. The first half was a total back-and-forth battle like I expected and then slowly but surely in the second half we were able to make some big plays. Defense had a big turnover in their area, we get it back. Just a great team win and this is the time of the year where you need these wins. When you go on the road, it says a lot about our football team. We get to recover a little bit, we get a bye, so that's good. We've got some bumps and bruises. Guys need to heal. But sitting in a good position." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on Wednesday's win at Sam Houston.
- "First of all, all glory to God. You've got to give him all the credit. We worked all week. It's not nothing we were so surprised about. We came in here with a good game plan and just got it done and trusted each other." – WKU Football wide receiver K.D. Hutchinson, on Wednesday's win at Sam Houston
- "That's a big win. That's a really good football team, so to walk out of here with a win – the defense played well, the offense put up points, and here's definitely things that we need to correct for sure on my end, but I thought we played really well as a team." – WKU Football quarterback Caden Veltkamp, on Wednesday's win at Sam Houston.
- "They were marching down on us. They had a lot of momentum. So, we just lined up and I was telling my coach that I feel really good about the game plan, I feel like I can block this, so he changed the game plan a little bit, put us to the field and me and my boy (Dallas Walker) just got pressure – it was really the whole D-line, the whole front line. We all got pressure, we all got up. I was just the one to block it. It's really kudos to everybody because they rushed hard." – WKU Football defensive tackle Hosea Wheeler, on the blocked field goal in Wednesday's win at Sam Houston.
- "We are just trying to focus on the small things and make sure we're communicating, running to the ball, playing as one and that's it. When we start trying to play it on our own, we never really finish strong, so we just try to all come together and just make it happen." – WKU Football linebacker Kylan Guidry, on the defense's strong play over its last six games.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will be off until Oct. 30, when they host Kennesaw State in a Black Out game. Kickoff at Houchens-Smith Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. There will be a free Flo Rida pregame concert on South Lawn starting at 5 p.m. CT.
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