BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football put up over 600 yards of offense and beat Middle Tennessee 42-26 on Senior Day on Saturday at Houchens-Smith Stadium to claim the program's seventh consecutive win over the rival Blue Raiders.
The Hilltoppers never trailed Middle Tennessee (1-9 overall, 0-6 CUSA) as they improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Conference USA play this season. WKU posted 642 yards of offense – the second straight game against Middle Tennessee in which the program has recorded over 600 yards – and tied the longest winning streak in the 75-game series history with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- WKU got on the board with a 16-play, 87-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the game. The drive was capped off by a 3-yard run from La'Vell Wright, and the Hilltoppers took the 7-0 lead into the second quarter.
- The Hilltoppers added to the lead with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Rodney Tisdale Jr. to Matthew Henry with 13:40 to play in the second quarter, making it 14-0.
- Middle Tennessee got on the board with a 3-yard touchdown pass with 11:04 remaining in the first half.
- The Blue Raiders made it a 14-10 game with a 25-yard field goal at the 6:11 mark of the second quarter.
- WKU extended its lead to 21-10 with a 3-yard pass from Tisdale to Noah Meyers with 2:38 remaining in the first half, and the Hilltoppers took the 11-point lead into the break.
- Middle Tennessee cut into WKU's lead with a 52-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of the second half. The Blue Raiders attempted a two-point conversion, which failed, making it a 21-16 score.
- The Hilltoppers quickly struck back on the ensuing possession, scoring on an 8-yard run from Tisdale to make it a 28-16 lead with 11:59 remaining in the third quarter.
- Middle Tennessee again made it a one-score game after finding the end zone on a 34-yard run to make it 28-23 with 6:50 to play in the third quarter.
- The Blue Raiders added a 23-yard field goal with 10:46 to play, making it 28-26.
- WKU extended its lead to 35-26 with 5:45 remaining on a 1-yard pass from Tisdale to Meyers.
- Wright delivered the knockout punch on his second touchdown of the game – a 37-yard rush with 1:50 to play to give the Hilltoppers the 42-26 win.
NOTABLES
- WKU improved to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Conference USA play this season with the win.
- Under Head Coach Tyson Helton, WKU is now 56-34 overall and 40-14 in CUSA games. WKU has now won at least eight games in six of the seven seasons under Helton, with at least eight wins in each of the last five seasons. WKU has won at least six regular-season CUSA games in five of the seven seasons under Helton, including each of the last two seasons. WKU has never had a losing record in CUSA play under Helton.
- WKU finishes the regular season with a 5-1 record in home games. WKU has now won 11 of its last 13 games at Houchens-Smith Stadium, and WKU is now 29-12 in home games under Helton. WKU is now 210-102-4 all-time at Houchens-Smith Stadium, and the Hilltoppers have had winning seasons at the venue in 42-of-58 seasons. It is the second straight season WKU has gone 5-1 at home – the second time under Helton – and matches the best home record the program has posted since 2016.
- The game marked the 75th meeting all-time between rivals WKU and Middle Tennessee. The Hilltoppers are now 39-35-1 in the series, with wins in each of the last seven meetings and wins in 10 of the last 11 meetings. The seven consecutive wins are tied for the longest winning streak in the series – WKU also won seven consecutive games against the Blue Raiders from 1928-34. Helton is now 7-0 against Middle Tennessee as WKU's Head Coach, and the Hilltoppers have outscored the Blue Raiders 256-138 in those meetings – an average margin of victory of 16.9 points.
- WKU recognized 30 players prior to the game as part of the Senior Day ceremonies. The Hilltoppers have gone 14-2 on Senior Day in the program's FBS Era (since 2009), with wins in 14 straight Senior Day games.
- WKU improved to 19-6 under Head Coach Tyson Helton in games played during the month of November. The Hilltoppers are 18-5 against CUSA foes under Helton in November.
- WKU's team captains for the game were wide receiver Matthew Henry, safety Avarion Cole and cornerback Dylan Flowers.
- The announced attendance for the game was 16,547. It was WKU's second-highest announced attendance of the season at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
- WKU's 42-26 win on Saturday marked the seventh time in the last 12 meetings WKU has scored 40-plus points against Middle Tennessee. In the 63 meetings prior to 2014, WKU had only scored 40-plus points in a game in the rivalry series four times. The 42 points are tied for the ninth-most ever in a game against the Blue Raiders.
- The Hilltoppers put up 642 yards of offense in the victory – 371 passing and 271 on the ground. It marked the first time WKU has put up over 600 yards of offense in a single game since Sept. 14, 2014, when the Hilltoppers had 631 yards at Middle Tennessee.
- The 642 yards of offense are the second-most the Hilltoppers have posted against Middle Tennessee since the two have faced off against each other as CUSA opponents (since 2014). WKU had 718 yards in the 2014 meeting.
- WKU scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game for the first time this season. The 16-play, 87-yard drive was the longest scoring drive of the season in terms of plays, and was tied for the longest scoring drive of the season in yards traveled.
- WKU's 271 yards rushing marked the first time the program has had over 200 yards rushing in a single game since the Oct. 10, 2024, 44-17 victory over UTEP, when WKU recorded 218 yards on the ground.
- Marvis Parrish led WKU in rushing with 102 yards on 12 attempts. It was Parrish's first 100-yard rushing game of his college career and marked WKU's first 100-yard rushing performance by a player this season. Parrish is the first WKU true freshman running back with a 100-yard rushing game since L.T. Sanders had 120 yards in a win over UAB on Oct. 21, 2022.
- La'Vell Wright added 84 yards and two touchdowns on 11 rushing attempts. Wright now has a team-high nine touchdowns this season, and Saturday was his third multi-touchdown game of the season.
- Redshirt freshman quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns on 29-41-1 passing in the game. The 371 yards and 41 passing attempts are both career highs for Tisdale.
- Eight different Hilltoppers caught passes in the win, and six caught multiple passes.
- Matthew Henry led WKU in receiving with 135 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. It was Henry's second 100-yard receiving game of the season and of his Hilltopper career. Henry now has seven touchdowns on the season, which ranks second on the team, and six of those are touchdown receptions.
- Noah Meyers had 20 yards and two touchdowns on four catches. It was Meyers' first multi-touchdown game of his college career, and he now has three touchdowns this season and four in his college career.
- Saturday marked WKU's first game this season with multiple players scoring multiple touchdowns.
- Twelve Hilltoppers recorded multiple tackles in the win, led by seven each from Anthony Brackenridge and Dave Herard – Herard also led the team with two pass breakups.
- WKU recorded two sacks in the game – one from Koron Hayward and 0.5 from Jaylen Wester and Mackavelli Malotumau.
QUOTABLES
- "Very proud of our football team. I challenged our team because I felt like through the season we hadn't played a complete game as a team. Either the defense, we were relying on them some game, and then the offense there were times we were relying on them to go win the game. I challenged the team and said, 'Boys, we've got to go play a complete game.' This game went how I thought it would go. That's a good football team we played tonight in Middle Tennessee. I knew that they had the ability to go make plays and go score. I knew the offense needed to go score. And we needed each other at times – offensively, defensively, special teams – and we did that tonight. That's what I'm proud about. It's always great to get that win, the rivalry win. I know our guys were really excited about that. We get to keep the conference race alive and get to keep controlling our own destiny. That's what you want." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the 42-26 win over Middle Tennessee.
- "First off, I'd like to thank God. Without him, I wouldn't be able to do any of this. With that being said, I felt like we played good today. We had two weeks of preparation and guys bought into what we were doing these past two weeks, and we just came out and executed." – WKU Football quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr., on the win over Middle Tennessee.
- "We had two weeks to prep for this team and it was really just having a championship mindset, just take one game at a time. Just going into this game you know Middle Tennessee is in front of our way of going to the championship, so just going out there and competing." – WKU Football wide receiver Matthew Henry, on the win over Middle Tennessee.
- "I think just playing with 11 as one. Just playing together, bending and not breaking. Like coach says, we bend in times like this in dog fights and we came out victorious, and that's what we did tonight – we bend, but didn't break." – WKU Football linebacker Jaylen Wester, on the win over Middle Tennessee.
- "We really focused on the red zone, really, and make sure that they don't get across that line. Coach puts a big emphasis on not letting them inside the end zone, so that's a big thing. We've really just got to focus and make sure that don't happen." – WKU Football safety Dave Herard, on the win over Middle Tennessee.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will hit the road to face LSU next Saturday, Nov. 22, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Kickoff at Tiger Stadium is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on SEC Network.
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