BATON ROUGE, La. – WKU Football played close with LSU, but eventually fell 13-10 on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.
The Hilltoppers led for the majority of the first half and kept the game within reach due to a strong defensive performance, but drop to 8-3 on the season with the defeat to the Tigers (7-4).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- WKU opened the scoring with a 36-yard field goal by John Cannon on the first possession of the game and carried the 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
- The Tigers got on the board late in the first half, taking a 7-3 lead with an 11-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 on the clock in the second quarter. The score held through halftime.
- LSU extended its lead with an 18-yard field goal with 5:55 to play in the third quarter, making it a 10-3 game.
- The Tigers added a 29-yard field goal with 11:15 to play to make it 13-3.
- WKU scored on a 71-yard fumble recovery from Dylan Flowers with 1:05 remaining, but that was as close as the Hilltoppers would come as they fell in the nonconference matchup, 13-10.
NOTABLES
- WKU falls to 8-3 overall with the loss.
- The Hilltoppers fall to 0-3 all-time against LSU, with all three games being played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Saturday's three-point loss is the closest margin in the series.
- WKU falls to 19-7 under Head Coach Tyson Helton in games played during the month of November. Saturday marked the first November loss for the Hilltoppers this season.
- WKU became just LSU's third non-SEC opponent in the SEC Era to play in Tiger Stadium with eight wins, joining the 1971 Notre Dame team and the 1982 Florida State team.
- WKU's team captains for the game were running back George Hart III, cornerback Kent Robinson and defensive end Dominic Oliver.
- The announced attendance for the game was 100,923. It is the fourth-highest attended game in WKU's program history, behind only the 2016 game at Alabama (101,821), the 2012 game at Alabama (101,821), the 2015 game at LSU (101,561) and the 2023 game at Ohio State (100,217).
- The 13 points allowed are the fewest the Hilltoppers have allowed against a Power Conference team under Helton. The 13 points allowed are the fewest WKU has allowed against a Power Conference opponent since allowing 12 in the 14-12 victory at Vanderbilt on Sept. 3, 2015.
- The 13 points allowed are the second-fewest number of points the Hilltoppers have allowed this season, and the fewest the Hilltoppers have allowed against an FBS opponent this season.
- Sixteen different Hilltoppers recorded multiple tackles in the game, and two – Jaylen Wester (17) and Jaylen Lewis (15) – finished with double-digit tackle totals.
- The Hilltoppers recorded six tackles for loss and two sacks in the game.
- WKU finished with 152 yards of offense in the game – 130 passing and 22 rushing.
- Quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. finished with 128 yards on 20-29-2 passing.
- Nine different Hilltoppers caught passes in the game, and four different Hilltoppers posted multiple receptions. K.D. Hutchinson led WKU with 40 yards on eight receptions.
- John Cannon is now 12-for-16 on field goals this season after going 1-for-1 on Saturday.
- Cole Maynard averaged 50.1 yards on seven punts in the loss. He had five travel 50 yards, with a long of 60.
QUOTABLES
- "Proud of how our kids fought tonight. Obviously it wasn't perfect. Obviously we would have liked to have a better end result. But they fought hard. They stuck through it, thick and thin. Very proud of our defense. They gave us an opportunity. Played a very good defense today in LSU. Obviously they controlled us today offensively. I felt like I could've done a better job to position us offensively better, and our offensive staff, and I am a part of that. Against a very good LSU defense, we've got to find a way, we've got to find a way. We didn't do that. Proud of our kids. Proud of how every single one of them played all the way to the bitter end. Now we've got to go get back. We have a great opportunity to get back in conference play. Great opportunity to go try to get into the championship game next week, and that's what you want to be. You want to be at the last game trying to position yourself to go get into that championship, so that's what we'll do." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the 13-10 loss at LSU on Saturday.
- "Just through the week, they had it in the game plan that's what it was going to be. They put their players in positions to make plays, and I appreciate them for doing that. That's really what it was. They were trying to put me in positions to make plays. Unfortunately, I didn't make some of them. Some of them I did." – WKU Football wide receiver K.D. Hutchinson, on his performance in the 13-10 loss at LSU on Saturday.
- "Just playing fast. Trusting my brothers to do their job – 11 as one. Doing my job at a high level – that's the main thing. We preached this whole week doing our job at a high level. Unfortunately, we came up short, but we're going to get back to the drawing board." – WKU Football linebacker Jaylen Wester, on the defensive performance in the 13-10 loss at LSU on Saturday.
NEXT UP
- WKU will close the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 29, at Jax State. Kickoff at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama, is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. With a win, the Hilltoppers would host the Conference USA Championship Game on Friday, Dec. 5.
