BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football opens its Conference USA slate against "100 Miles of Hate" rival Middle Tennessee at 6 p.m. Saturday at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
GAME INFO
- WKU (1-1 overall, 0-0 Conference USA) at Middle Tennessee (1-1 overall, 0-0 Conference USA)
- Saturday, Sept. 14 | 6 p.m. CT | Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium | Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- Watch: ESPN+ (PxP: Jake Rose | Analyst: Jeremy Kellem | Reporter: Justin Beasley)
- Listen: SAM 100.7 FM/Varsity Network (PxP: Randy Lee | Analyst: Terry Obee | Reporter: Jared Holland)/SiriusXM 392 and on the SiriusXM App
- Social: @WKUFootball | @WKUSports
- Live Stats: middletennessee.statbroadcast.com
- Game Notes: WKU | Middle Tennessee | CUSA
ABOUT THE TOPS
- WKU shut out Eastern Kentucky 31-0 in the home opener at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7. The WKU defense held the EKU offense in check, allowing only 266 yards and holding the Colonels off the scoreboard. The Tops had one sack, eight tackles for loss and one forced turnover in the win. Quarterback TJ Finley threw for 351 yards and a touchdown on 27-of-39 passing, while Elijah Young tallied two scores on the ground and Kisean Johnson led receivers with 119 yards on six receptions.
- Through two games this season, WKU ranks at or near the top of several statistical categories in CUSA. The Hilltoppers are second in pass defense (171.0) after allowing EKU only 76 yards through the air, while the WKU offense has thrown more than anyone else in the league – WKU leads CUSA in both pass attempts (79) and completions (49), while ranking third in pass yards (454). WKU is first in kickoff return average (42.86), fumbles recovered (2) and sacks against (0.5/game), and is second in penalties (34 yards/game) and red zone defense (66.7). Individually, Finley is second in passing yards per game (221.5) and total offense (236.5), while WKU has four players in the top 10 in receptions per game (Johnson – third; Young – sixth; Moussa Barry – ninth; and Easton Messer – 10th). Young's two touchdowns put him sixth in the league in scoring, and Johnson ranks fourth in receiving yards per game (67.0) and eighth in all-purpose yards (74.0). Defensively, Upton Stout's three tackles for loss are tied for most in CUSA, while Kent Robinson finds himself in the top 10 in passes defended per game.
- WKU has claimed victories in back-to-back Conference USA openers. The Hilltoppers took down Middle Tennessee 31-10 last year in their first CUSA action in Bowling Green, and ran past FIU 73-0 in their CUSA opener during the 2022 season. WKU has won four of its last five league openers and hold a 6-4 record in the opening CUSA game since joining the league ahead of the 2014 season.
- WKU will be wearing black helmets, white jerseys and black pants for the game. It is the first time WKU has worn the white jersey and black pants color combination this season, and the first time the program has used that combination since the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl victory over Old Dominion. WKU is 9-13 in the white jersey and black pants uniform combination since joining CUSA.
QUOTABLE
- "Really excited about starting conference play this week. Got a great opponent in Middle Tennessee to play, a big rivalry game. Those games are always big games and I know our guys will be excited and so will they. Coach (Derek) Mason is doing a really good job down there. I know they've only played two games, but you can see those guys playing hard. I think it's two comparable football teams that will be playing this week and it should make for a really good game. I'm really happy and proud of our guys for how they bounced back last week. We had a really good performance against EKU. A lot of things we still need to fix, a lot of things we need to get better at, but love the preparation from last week, love their work ethic, their mentality, their attitude. We've got to carry that over into this week, but excited to start conference play and get going with Middle Tennessee week." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on last week's win over EKU and the upcoming game against Middle Tennessee.
- "I thought we executed better. I thought there was protection – we did a better job in protection, and that's everybody. That's the running backs, that's the O-line, that's the quarterback doing a great job of getting the ball out and those type of things. TJ looked comfortable because of the protection. I thought we had a good night on third down. We've got to continue on there. Third down was good for us. Couple of explosives. We've got to get more explosives, we've got to find ways to get more explosives. You'd like to somehow find a 20-plus play every drive – every drive get one play of 20-plus yards and you've got a chance to score. We've got to continue to find ways to do that like everybody in the country is. Overall, I thought the guys played more comfortable, I thought they improved a lot to Week 2 from Week 1 and we're going to have to do the same thing this week." – WKU Football Offensive Coordinator Will Friend, on improvements from Week 1 to Week 2.
- "I think our guys have been motivated all year, for sure. I think obviously they were upset and frustrated (after Week 1). Like I said, we had some missed opportunities in that game. I thought they really came and I thought we had our best three days of practice we've had all fall with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They were able to put it together. Really proud of the way they played on Saturday and handled themselves. A lot of it goes back to what I said a week ago – we had some missed opportunities in the previous game, but we are a lot better defense, we feel like, than what we showed that day, so fortunately we were able to execute and play well together on Saturday." – WKU Football Defensive Coordinator Tyson Summers, on improvements from Week 1 to Week 2.
SERIES INFORMATION
- WKU and Middle Tennessee will meet on Saturday for the 74th edition of the "100 Miles of Hate" rivalry. WKU leads all-time against the Raiders 37-35-1, and the Hilltoppers have dominated the rivalry since the two have been in Conference USA together with an 8-2 record over the Blue Raiders during that time. WKU has claimed victories in the last five meetings in the series and has won eight of the last nine times the two have met, including a 31-10 victory last season at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Hilltoppers have won back-to-back meetings with Middle Tennessee at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium, and are 15-20-1 all-time in the series while playing in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
SCOUTING THE BLUE RAIDERS
- Middle Tennessee enters Saturday's game sporting a 1-1 record, with a 32-25 win over Tennessee Tech and a 52-3 loss at Ole Miss.
- The Blue Raiders are in their first season under Head Coach Derek Mason. The veteran coach was hired on Dec. 6, 2023, as the 15th head coach in school history. He spent the 2022 season as Oklahoma State's defensive coordinator and held the same role at Auburn the year before, after working as Vanderbilt's head coach from 2014-20.
- Dating back to 1952 when Middle Tennessee began Ohio Valley Conference play, the Blue Raiders own a mark of 45-24-1 in conference openers. Middle Tennessee was 33-13-1 in OVC openers and 6-6 in Sun Belt openers. The Blue Raiders are 6-5 in CUSA openers and own a mark of 24-6-1 when playing a league opener at home and stand 21-18 on the road.
- Middle Tennessee is quarterbacked by Nicholas Vattiato, who has thrown for 419 yards and one touchdown on 41-of-68 passing with two interceptions this season. Holden Willis has led the Blue Raiders in receiving with 126 yards on nine receptions, while Myles Butler has 72 yards and a score on seven catches. Middle Tennessee has averaged 303.5 yards per game through two games, with 230.5 coming through the air and 73 coming on the ground.
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