BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football will host New Mexico State in its annual Homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Houchens-Smith Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
GAME INFO
- New Mexico State (3-4 overall, 1-3 Conference USA) at WKU (6-2 overall, 4-1 Conference USA)
- Saturday, Nov. 1 | 2:30 p.m. CT | Houchens-Smith Stadium | Bowling Green, Ky.
- Watch: ESPN+ (PxP: Tyler Eaton | Analyst: Terry Obee)
- Listen: BG 100.7 FM/Varsity Network (PxP: Randy Lee | Analyst: Jared Holland | Reporter: Mike Cleff)
- Social: @WKUFootball | @WKUSports
- Live Stats: wkusports.com/sidearmstats/football/summary
- Game Notes: WKU | New Mexico State | CUSA
AT THE GAME
- Purchase tickets to Saturday's game against New Mexico State HERE.
- Ticket booths at Houchens-Smith Stadium will open starting at 12:30 p.m. CT. Gates will open 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
- For the full WKU Football Gameday Guide, click HERE.
- Saturday is WKU's annual Homecoming game. For more information on WKU's Homecoming activities, click HERE.
- Fans are encouraged to wear red to Saturday's game against the Aggies.
- Topper Walk, a tradition where the team arrives at PS1 and walks down Avenue of Champions to Feix Field led by the band and spirit groups, will begin at 12:10 p.m. CT.
- The full 2025 WKU Football promotional schedule can be found HERE.
- Fans can purchase premium experience with the new Hilltopper Highlights. Experiences include videoboard messages, birthday shoutouts, sideline passes, riding on the golf cart during Big Red's entrance, in-game proposals and more. For more information, click HERE.
ABOUT THE TOPS
- LAST TIME OUT: WKU took down Louisiana Tech 28-27 in overtime last Tuesday at Joe Aillet Stadium. Koron Hayward blocked the potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, where quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. connected with Moussa Barry for the game-winning two-point conversion to come away with a 28-27 win, which moved the Hilltoppers to 6-2 overall and made the program bowl eligible for the seventh time in seven seasons under Head Coach Tyson Helton.
- CUSA STANDINGS: The Hilltoppers entered Week 10 of the college football season with a 4-1 record in CUSA play, behind Kennesaw State and Jax State, which were both 3-0 against league foes. Also with one loss, and with a pair of wins, were Missouri State and Liberty, while the rest of CUSA teams each had at least two losses against conference opponents.
- BOWL ELIGIBILITY: WKU is one of just 11 teams in the country, and one of three G5 programs, that had played in a bowl game or College Football Playoff game in each of the last six seasons leading into the 2025 campaign. The Hilltoppers became bowl eligible for the seventh time in seven seasons under Head Coach Tyson Helton with the overtime win at Louisiana Tech in their last game. A bowl appearance this season would be WKU's 11th in the last 12 seasons. The Hilltoppers have won seven bowl games during that stretch. It mark the second straight season WKU has become bowl eligible in October, and the fifth time overall, also accomplishing the feat in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2024. This season marks the second-earliest WKU has become bowl eligible in a season, behind only the 2015 season, when WKU became bowl eligible on Oct. 15.
- CUSA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Rodney Tisdale Jr. was named the CUSA Freshman of the Week and defensive end Koron Hayward was named the CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week. The two CUSA weekly awards brings WKU's total for the season to 13. It is the third CUSA Freshman of the Week award for the Hilltoppers – running back Marvis Parrish received the recognition twice before – and the second CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week award the program has received, with the other going to punter Cole Maynard. In addition to those recognitions, quarterback Maverick McIvor has claimed the CUSA Offensive Player of the Week award three times, running back La'Vell Wright has been named the league's Offensive Player of the Week once, left guard Laurence Seymore has been named CUSA Offensive Lineman of the Week twice and Marshall Jackson received the nod once, and defensive back Jaylen Lewis has been named the CUSA Defensive Player of the Week once.
- WHAT YOU DO IN NOVEMBER, THEY REMEMBER: WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton has seen tremendous success in the month of November. He has a 17-6 record in the month of November, including a 16-5 record against CUSA competition. Last season was the first season the Hilltoppers lost multiple games in November under Helton, but in their final November game, WKU beat Jax State 19-17 on a game-winning field goal to send the program to the CUSA Championship Game. WKU has won the first game it has played in November each of the last four seasons.
- HOMECOMING ON THE HILL: WKU will celebrate Homecoming on The Hill this weekend. The Hilltoppers are 56-34-3 all-time in Homecoming games dating back to the first homecoming game against Louisville on Nov. 5, 1927 – a 7-6 WKU win. WKU's last Homecoming win came during the 2021 season when it beat Charlotte 45-13. On Saturday, three great names in the history of WKU Athletics will be inducted as the 34th class into the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame. The 2025 Hall of Fame class includes Mary Taylor Cowles (Women's Basketball coach and athlete), William "Jelly" Green (Football, Track and Field), and Walt Heath (Football).
QUOTABLE
- "Very excited to be back home for Homecoming. Another big Conference USA game. Big matchup against New Mexico State – a good football team, a very competitive team. Expect a good football game. We need to play our best game if we want to win. We still are very much in this conference hunt and have a lot to play for. Just excited to be back home more than anything and get an opportunity to play in front of our home crowd in an afternoon game. It should be good. Back on a Saturday schedule, so that should be good." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on facing New Mexico State.
- "It's a really good defense – a really, really good defense. I think they're extremely talented and then they're very diverse. They have a lot of different shells that they can show, they do a really good job of trying to confuse quarterbacks in the passing game, and then they do a really good job of being stout in the run game through a multiplicity of fronts. I think definitely it poses a really good challenge. ... It'll be a four-quarter game. All games in the league are difficult and all the games in the league are important. But from a schematic perspective, they do a lot to make it difficult to take a lot of stuff away. They have a lot of different defenses that I would say create different problems, and so that's something that makes it fun for us as we get into our prep." – WKU Football Offensive Coordinator Rick Bowie, on the matchup with New Mexico State.
- "To me, it's not about the opponent piece. It's about us as a unit, as a defense. We try to preach that to our players. What do we want to do with our full body of work at the end of the season. The season's not over, right? So, can we improve where we're at in the rankings? Yes, we can, but it takes us doing our job and executing at a high level. We don't look much more than what they do and what we do, and we say, 'Hey, what can we do to get better and continue to work on our run defense?'" – WKU Football Co-Defensive Coordinator Da'Von Brown, on the matchup with New Mexico State.
SERIES INFORMATION
- Saturday will mark the third meeting between WKU and New Mexico State. All three meetings have come in the last three seasons, since New Mexico State joined Conference USA. The series is tied, 1-1, with the Hilltoppers claiming a 41-28 victory last season in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and the Aggies defeating the Hilltoppers on homecoming in 2023, 38-29.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
- New Mexico State enters Saturday's game with a 3-4 overall record and a 1-3 record in CUSA play. The Aggies have wins over Bryant, Tulsa and Sam Houston, and losses against Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Liberty and Missouri State this season.
- Tony Sanchez is in his second season at New Mexico State's head coach. He owns a 6-13 record with the Aggies and a 26-53 record in seven seasons as a head coach.
- The Aggies have averaged 22.1 points per game this season and allow an average of 24.0 points per game.
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