BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football lost to FIU 25-6 on Tuesday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
The Hilltoppers fall to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Conference USA with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- FIU got on the board first with a 37-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game.
- The Panthers extended their lead to 6-0 with a 28-yard field goal with 7:37 to play in the first quarter.
- The Hilltoppers scored with 3:03 to play in the first quarter with a 28-yard field goal from John Cannon, making it a 6-3 game.
- FIU kicked a 37-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter to extend the lead to 9-3.
- The Panthers scored the first touchdown of the game on an 8-yard passing play, making it 16-3 with 7:57 left in the first half.
- FIU kicked its fourth field goal of the game – a 51 yarder – with 2:57 remaining in the first half to extend the lead to 19-3.
- Jack Cassidy made a 55-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to make the score 19-6 at the break.
- FIU added to its lead in the third quarter with a 6-yard rush and held WKU scoreless in the second half to close out the 25-6 win.
NOTABLES
- WKU falls to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in CUSA play with the loss.
- WKU drops to 11-7 all-time against FIU.
- The Hilltoppers fall to 12-7 in non-Saturday games under Head Coach Tyson Helton and 5-3 in Weekday CUSA October midweek games since they began in 2023.
- WKU's team captains for the games were Quincy Jenkins, Cameron Flowers and Jaylen Wester.
- Announced attendance for the game was 12,276.
- WKU's offense recorded 341 yards in the loss, with 225 on the ground and 116 through the air.
- True freshman running back Marvis Parrish led WKU on the ground with 74 yards on nine attempts.
- WKU had 10 players record multiple receptions, led by five receptions for 53 yards by tight end Noah Meyers.
- WKU had 14 players record multiple tackles in the loss, led by seven each from Nazir Ward and Miller Malone.
- John Cannon is now 10-for-11 on field goals attempts this season after his 28-yard make in the first quarter.
- Jack Cassidy's 55-yard field goal in the second quarter was the first attempt and first make of his football career. The 55-yard field goal is the second-longest make in WKU program history.
- WKU kickers have now made 29 of their last 30 field goal attempts dating back to the Sept. 7, 2024, win against Eastern Kentucky.
QUOTABLES
- "Congratulations to FIU. They came ready to play. Obviously, I think it was pretty apparent who the better football team was tonight. They beat us in all three phases pretty soundly and we need to get better. We need to get better. Hopefully we will learn from this loss. We will try to do everything we can in our power to correct the issues that came up tonight, which was pretty obvious. They ran the ball at will against us and their defense stopped up at will. When you turn the football over several times, you're going to have a hard time winning games. They were a hungry football team that came here to win the game and we thought we could just play a normal game and win. I know our guys want to win. I know our staff wants to win. We knew what we were walking into and we got what we thought we were walking into, and that was a hungry football team that wanted to win. We'll get ready to go on the road and try to go get us a win on the road next week." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the loss to FIU.
- "We just didn't play like us today. Pretty disappointed in how we played. We've just got to be better going forward. That's not us. We're just looking to get better every week and improve on it next week." – WKU Football tight end Noah Meyers, on the loss to FIU.
- "It's always good to leave a team to only getting field goals, but still scoring is just bad on us as a defense. We've just got to limit explosives and just do our jobs, work hard this week in practice and get prepared for next week." – WKU Football linebacker Anthony Brackenridge, on the loss to FIU.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers wrap up Weekday CUSA action with a trip to Ruston, Louisiana, to face Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at Joe Aillet Stadium and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
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