BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football will welcome Louisiana Tech to Houchens-Smith Stadium for an 11 a.m. CT homecoming game on Saturday.
GAME INFO
- Louisiana Tech (3-6 overall, 2-4 CUSA) at WKU (7-2 overall, 5-0 CUSA)
- Saturday, Nov. 16 | 11 a.m. CT | Houchens-Smith Stadium
- Watch: CBSSN (PxP: Alex Del Barrio | Analyst: Taylor McHargue)
- Listen: SAM 100.7 FM/Varsity Network (PxP: Randy Lee | Analyst: Terry Obee | Reporter: Jared Holland)
- Social: @WKUFootball | @WKUSports
- Live Stats: wkusports.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
- Game Notes: WKU | Louisiana Tech | CUSA
AT THE GAME
- Purchase tickets to Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech HERE.
- Ticket booths at Houchens-Smith stadium will open starting at 8:30 a.m. CT. Gates will open 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
- For the full WKU Football Gameday Guide, click HERE.
- Saturday will be WKU's homecoming game, and fans are encouraged to wear red. For more information on WKU's homecoming activities, click HERE.
- Topper Walk, a tradition where the football team arrives at PS1 and walks down Avenue of Champions to Feix Field led by the band and spirit groups, will begin at 8:40 a.m. CT.
- The Topper Tailgate Show, a live pregame radio show that fans can watch and listen to from the tailgate area, will begin two hours prior to kickoff at 9 a.m. CT on South Lawn.
ABOUT THE TOPS
- WKU Football moved to 5-0 in Conference USA play with a 41-28 win over New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was the fourth consecutive win for the Hilltoppers (7-2 overall, 5-0 CUSA). WKU is one of two teams sitting at 5-0 in CUSA play after Saturday's games. WKU's defense forced five turnovers in the game, while the Hilltopper offense posted its third-highest point total of the season.
- The Hilltoppers sit atop the CUSA standings entering this week's games. They're one of two unbeaten teams in league play, along with Jax State, with both currently boasting a 5-0 record. It's the second time WKU has been 5-0 in league play and the first since 2015, when the Hilltoppers went 8-0 in regular-season CUSA play before claiming the conference championship. Sam Houston is behind WKU and Jax State at 4-1 in CUSA play, while Liberty is fourth at 4-2.
- WKU became bowl eligible for the sixth time in six seasons under Tyson Helton with its 31-14 win over Kennesaw State. The win marked the first time WKU has become bowl eligible before November under Helton and the first time the program has become bowl eligible before November since 2016. WKU became bowl eligible in October three times before – in 2012, 2015 and 2016. WKU is one of only 16 programs that played in a bowl game each of the five seasons from 2019-23, and one of only seven programs to win a bowl game each year from 2021-23.
- WKU is 4-0 at home for the first time since the 2015 season, when the Hilltoppers finished 6-0 in games at Houchens-Smith Stadium, including a win in the CUSA Championship game.
- WKU is 16-4 under Tyson Helton in games played in November, including a 15-3 record against CUSA competition. The Hilltoppers have won three straight games in November and five of the last six.
- WKU has been stout since the season-opening loss at Alabama. The Hilltoppers are allowing only 17.0 points per game over their last eight games, and have allowed more than 21 points in a game during that stretch only once. WKU has been especially good in the red zone all season, allowing scores just 62.5% of the time. The Hilltoppers rank first in CUSA and third nationally entering this week's games in the category. WKU posted five turnovers gained in the most recent game at New Mexico State, and are tied for first in CUSA in the category and are tied for 14th in the category nationally.
- Lucas Carneiro has made 11 consecutive field goals, which is tied for a program record.
- WKU has committed just one penalty over its last two games. WKU did not have a penalty in the win over Kennesaw State, marking the program's first penalty-free game since the Oct. 10, 2020, game against Marshall – a span of 57 games. WKU had one penalty at New Mexico State in its last game. The Hilltoppers are first in CUSA and tied for second nationally in fewest penalties and fewest penalties per game.
- Dalvin Smith has 19 touchdown receptions in his WKU career after catching a 30-yard scoring pass in the win over UTEP. The 19 touchdown receptions are tied for seventh most in program history with Jared Dangerfield, Curtis Hamilton and Jay Davis. Taywan Taylor holds the program record with 41 touchdown receptions.
QUOTABLE
- "Really excited about being back home. We get to come back home for homecoming and a really good opponent that we're going to play in Louisiana Tech. They had a great game last week against Jacksonville State, hard-fought game, so this time of year you've got to be playing your best football because we're about to hit a stretch where we play some really good football teams and that starts with Louisiana Tech. They do a really good job, so we've got to have a championship mentality about ourselves." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech.
- "We have to improve a lot. I didn't think we played very well last week at times. There was a stretch there where we didn't play like I'd like for us to play. That can't happen this week. This team is really good on defense. You put the tape on and they do great. When you put the tape on and watch a team on defense, the first thing that jumps out at you is they tackle well, and then the next thing is they play hard, and they don't line up and don't give you any gifts by alignment. To me, that's just a well-coached defensive football team with good players and I think it'll be the biggest challenge. It'll be the best defense we've played all year, with the exception of maybe Alabama, but they are really, really good, so we're going to have to have a great week of preparation for this ball game." – WKU Football Offensive Coordinator Will Friend, on keys this week for the Hilltopper offense.
- "We kind of always talk about the good, the bad, the ugly and the awesome. That's how we try to talk to them when we get in there. I would say certainly the good, that is exactly what you talk about – five takeaways. Some of them came at some key points in time. What that means to us – that 14-point swing, the seven that we didn't give up and the seven we're hoping our offense is able to get – are all huge parts of it. The bad, we've got to be better on third down. We talked about that in here last week. That continues to be something that we've got to continue to improve upon and continue to work towards. The ugly, we've got to be better in the rushing game. Give New Mexico State a lot of credit – their running backs played out of their mind, played really, really well, and we knew it was going to be probably the most rushing attack we've had to face all year. They certainly proved it. Their coaching staff did a great job. Give them a lot of credit. But the awesome part of it is obviously the win and being able to find a way to do that. New Mexico State's got a good football team and have done a good job with their offense and continuing to try to figure out ways to move the ball, and I thought they did a good job. I'm really excited about a couple of guys, like Anthony Brackenridge. At the end of the game, he was unbelievable for us on special teams the other night and then gets in late in the game and creates a big fumble for us that was huge. Sebastian Benjamin has really kind of been dinged up for a while and comes back – tough, gritty. Dallas Walker was in on two takeaways – an interception to start the game. Like anything, there's a lot of good and there's a lot of things you've got to improve on. I'm still really proud of our guys, just at their work ethic and their belief and trying to continue to find ways to win the game. All things that we need to continue to work on and continue to strive to get better at." – WKU Football Defensive Coordinator Tyson Summers, on the success of the Hilltopper defense.
SERIES INFORMATION
- WKU and Louisiana Tech are knotted up with five wins each in the all-time series, which dates back to 1939. The Hilltoppers have won the last two meetings, which were both played in Ruston, Louisiana. Last year's meeting was the first since 2018. The Hilltoppers are 3-1 against the Bulldogs in Bowling Green, Kentucky. WKU held on for a 35-28 last season at Louisiana Tech, and were led in the game by receiver Malachi Corley, who had eight receptions for 207 yards and three touchdowns.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Louisiana Tech sits at 3-6 overall and 2-4 in CUSA play entering Saturday's game. The Bulldogs have wins over Nicholls, Middle Tennessee and UTEP, and their three losses have come by an average of six points, with three of those being in overtime.
- Sonny Cumbie is in his third season as Louisiana Tech's head coach. He is 9-24 leading the Bulldogs and 11-27 overall.
- The Bulldogs have the fourth-best scoring defense in CUSA at 22.7 points allowed per game, while allowing the fewest yards in the league with just 312 allowed per game.
- Louisiana Tech's offense ranks sixth in CUSA in scoring with 23 points per game.
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