BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football will close the regular season against Jax State on Saturday at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama, with a Conference USA Championship Game berth on the line. With a win, the Hilltoppers would host the league's title game. The Hilltoppers and Gamecocks will kick off at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
GAME INFO
- WKU (8-3 overall, 6-1 CUSA) at Jax State (7-4 overall, 6-1 CUSA)
- Saturday, Nov. 29 | 1 p.m. CT | AmFirst Stadium | Jacksonville, Ala.
- Watch: ESPN+ (PxP: Eli Gold | Analyst: Jeff Burger | Reporter: Taylor Korn)
- Listen: BG 100.7 FM/Varsity Network (PxP: Reily Chestnut | Analyst: Terry Obee | Reporter: Jared Holland)
- Social: @WKUFootball | @WKUSports
- Live Stats: jsu.statbroadcast.com
- Game Notes: WKU | Jax State | CUSA
ABOUT THE TOPS
- LAST TIME OUT: WKU played close with LSU, but eventually fell 13-10 on Saturday, Nov. 22, 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 dropped to 8-3 on the season with the defeat to the Tigers. WKU struck first with a 36-yard field goal from John Cannon and held the LSU offense in check throughout the game. The Hilltoppers scored late on a 71-yard scoop and score from Dylan Flowers off a Jordan Donald forced fumble, but it was as close as WKU was able to get.
- CUSA STANDINGS & SCENARIOS: The Hilltoppers control their own destiny in making – and hosting – the 2025 CUSA Championship Game. With a win over Jax State on Saturday, WKU would host the league's title game. If WKU beats Jax State and Kennesaw State wins at Liberty on Saturday, the Hilltoppers will host the Owls. If WKU beats Jax State and Kennesaw State loses at Liberty on Saturday, the Hilltoppers will host Jax State. If WKU loses to Jax State on Saturday, the Gamecocks would host Kennesaw State in the CUSA Championship Game.
- CUSA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: With a win at Jax State on Saturday, WKU will be in the CUSA Championship Game for the second straight year and for the fifth time since joining CUSA in 2014. A win would also bring the CUSA Championship Game to Bowling Green for the first time since 2016. The Hilltoppers claimed back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016 with wins over Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech, respectively. The Hilltoppers fell in the final at UTSA in 2021 and at Jax State last season.
- FOURTH QUARTER DEFENSE: WKU has allowed only 35 points in the fourth quarter of games this season. WKU has shut out four of its 11 opponents during the fourth quarter this season, and the defense has only allowed two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Hilltoppers are outscoring opponents 83-35 during the final 15 minutes of regulation this season.
- RED ZONE DEFENSE: The Hilltoppers have been strong defensively in the red zone this season. While WKU ranks 101st nationally in overall opponent red zone scoring percentage (87.5%), the Hilltoppers have done a good job of holding foes to field goals. Opponents are only scoring touchdowns once reaching the end zone 37.5% of the time this season – tied for the fourth-best mark in the nation with BYU and behind only Indiana, SMU and Ohio State.
- WHAT YOU DO IN NOVEMBER, THEY REMEMBER: WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton has seen tremendous success in the month of November. He has a 19-7 overall record in the month of November as WKU's head coach, including an 18-5 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. The Hilltoppers are 2-1 so far this November. WKU has won its last seven regular-season finales – including all six under Helton – with the last loss in such games coming during the 2017 season at FIU, 41-17.
- PUNTING PROWESS: WKU punter Cole Maynard ranks first nationally in punting average at 48.88 yards per punt on 48 attempts. The WKU single-season record is 45.9 yards per punt (John Haggerty; 2019).
QUOTABLE
- "Very excited for this week. We've worked very hard to get to this point. This is where you want to be in the last game of the season. Two very good football teams playing. It should make a great game. Two highly-motivated football teams. Two well-coached football teams. I know the head coach, Charles Kelly, at Jacksonville State. Very great man. Very good ball coach. It'll be a fun game, for sure, and it should be a very competitive game. Going down there – very familiar. They've got a great fan base, great atmosphere. Our guys will be fired up and ready to go play." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on Saturday's game at Jax State.
- "This is a super, super talented group. They do a great job. There are some phenomenal coaches on that defensive side of the ball, which makes it really fun. Like I said, we talk about competitors – the ability to go up against some of these guys – what they've been able to do in their coaching career is wildly impressive. With that said, I know they're extremely multiple. They do a good job getting in and out of multiple fronts. They do a great job on the back end trying to confuse quarterbacks, like we've seen on a couple of occasions this year. They run to the ball, they play extremely hard, they tackle well. There's plenty that can be discussed on the defensive side of the ball from a group that's done a phenomenal job all year. They're extremely well-coached and trained, and you see that when you turn the tape on." – WKU Football Offensive Coordinator Rick Bowie, on Jax State's defense.
- "I haven't seen too much success against this offense. They've had some turnovers that have hurt them at times, but they're still, I think, top 25 in turnovers lost. They do a good job with turnover margin and protecting the football. Again, they squeeze the game because they're able to just keep running the football consistently over and over again. It's not like anybody has just stopped the run. Middle did a good job versus them, but they were still able to keep running the football. That's a huge piece – winning first and second down, getting them into third-and-longs. You've got to be able to get them off the field because, if not, they're just a juggernaut that keeps moving the ball." – WKU Football Co-Defensive Coordinator Davis Merritt, on Jax State's offense.
SERIES INFORMATION
- Saturday will mark the ninth meeting all-time between WKU and Jax State, the fourth meeting in the last three years since the Gamecocks joined Conference USA and the third meeting in the last two seasons. WKU leads the all-time series 5-3, but the Gamecocks are 2-1 against the Hilltoppers as members of CUSA. WKU defeated Jax State 19-17 in the regular-season finale last season with a game-winning field goal with three seconds remaining, but the Gamecocks defeated the Hilltoppers in the CUSA Championship Game six days later. Jax State won the 2023 meeting on a game-winning field goal as time expired. Neither team has won back-to-back meetings in the series since WKU won the first three meetings from 1993-95.
SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS
- Jax State enters Saturday's game with a 7-4 overall record, including a 6-1 mark in CUSA play. The Gamecocks have wins over Liberty, Murray State, Sam Houston, Delaware, Middle Tennessee, UTEP and Kennesaw State, and losses at UCF, at Georgia Southern, at Southern Miss and at FIU.
- The Gamecocks are led by first-year head coach Charles Kelly.
- Jax State leads CUSA in scoring at 29.5 points per game, just edging WKU's 29.4 points per game this season, and ranks fourth nationally in rushing offense at 259.2 yards per game, behind only Navy, Utah and Army. The Gamecocks rank fifth in CUSA in scoring defense, allowing an average of 26.1 points per game this season.
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