BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football will remain home this week and welcome North Alabama to Houchens-Smith Stadium for a 6 p.m. CT game on Saturday.
The game, which will be streamed on ESPN+, will be WKU's annual white out game. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the matchup with the Lions.
GAME INFO
- North Alabama (0-0 overall, 0-0 UAC) at WKU (1-0 overall, 1-0 CUSA)
- Saturday, Aug. 30 | 6 p.m. CT | Houchens-Smith Stadium | Bowling Green, Ky.
- Watch: ESPN+ (PxP: Jesse Ough | 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 | North Alabama | CUSA | UAC
AT THE GAME
- Purchase WKU Football season tickets HERE.
- Purchase tickets to Saturday's game against North Alabama HERE.
- Ticket booths at Houchens-Smith Stadium will open starting at 4 p.m. CT. Gates will open 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
- For the full WKU Football Gameday Guide, click HERE.
- Fans are encouraged to wear white to Saturday's season opener against Sam Houston.
- WKU faculty and staff members can claim two free game tickets, two free drinks (bottled water or soda) and two free food items (hotdog or popcorn). Additional tickets may be purchased for only $10. WKU faculty and staff can claim the vouchers and free tickets, and purchase additional ones, at the E.A. Diddle Arena ticket office (M-F, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. or on game day until 12:00 p.m.). Tickets and vouchers must be picked up in advance and will not be available at the Houchens-Smith Stadium Ticket Office.
- WKU Volleyball takes on Drake at 1:30 p.m. CT on Aug. 30. Show your WKU vs. UNA football ticket to receive $5 admission to the volleyball match before the football game.
- 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 3:40 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
- WKU improved to 64-37-6 all-time in season openers, including 4-3 in season-opening games under Head Coach Tyson Helton, with the 41-24 Week 0 conference win against Sam Houston last weekend at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Hilltoppers have now claimed wins in four of its last five season-opening games. The Hilltoppers are now 8-4 in conference openers since joining CUSA with wins in the last four CUSA openers and six of the last seven. The Hilltoppers have started the season 2-0 twice under Helton – in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. The 2-0 starts during the 2022 and 2023 seasons marked the first time the program had started 2-0 in back-to-back seasons since 1999 and 2000.
- Last Saturday's opener marked the earliest start to a season in the history of Hilltopper Football. The previous record came in the 2022 season, when WKU faced Austin Peay at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Aug. 27. The Week 0 game was the first game of the college football season that year, and the Hilltoppers claimed a 38-27 win over the Governors. The 2025 season is also the first in the program's history in which the team will play two games in August.
- WKU's Week 0 win over Sam Houston came with plenty of accolades. The Hilltoppers swept CUSA's five weekly awards, with Quarterback Maverick McIvor named CUSA Offensive Player of the Week, safety Jaylen Lewis named CUSA Defensive Player of the Week, punter Cole Maynard named CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week, offensive lineman Laurence Seymore named CUSA Offensive Lineman of the Week and running back Marvis Parrish named CUSA Freshman of the Week. In addition to the conference award, McIvor was named Monday Morning Quarterback for the East-West Shrine Bowl on Monday.
- WKU has seen tremendous success offensively throwing the ball under Tyson Helton. The Hilltoppers have led CUSA in passing offense each of the last four seasons and have finished in the top 25 nationally each year during that timeframe, including leading the nation in passing offense in 2021. Helton also found success through the air as WKU's Offensive Coordinator in 2014 and 2015, finishing first in CUSA in passing offense both years and second and fourth nationally, respectively. The Hilltoppers ranked first in CUSA and 25th nationally with 264.6 passing yards per game in 2024. New QB Maverick McIvor and Offensive Coordinator Rick Bowie helped keep that trend going in the opener with 401 yards and three touchdowns on 33-51-0 passing in the Week 0 win over Sam Houston. The Hilltoppers enter Week 1 leading the nation in passing. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, WKU has thrown for 18,960 yards – more than 2,000 more than any other FBS team during that time (Ohio State – 16,536). The Hilltoppers' 337.4 passing yards per game over that span also lead the FBS (USC – 315.4).
QUOTABLE
- "It's great to be back home this week with North Alabama. Got a little momentum going with the win last week. We've got to carry that into this week. We've got to fix the issues that came up in this first game, which you're always going to have those things. Good football teams fix those problems, so what were those problems? They were the obvious things – explosive plays that we gave up defensively, taking care of the football from an offensive standpoint. We had a turnover – a fumble that got picked up for a touchdown. I thought we did good in the penalty area. We only had two penalties in the game. We've got to continue to do that. Missed a couple of explosive plays offensively. We've got to hit those plays against really good football teams. You're always hoping you can get better from your first game to your second game, and we've got to take a big stride in this game. I would think this is going to be a really good North Alabama football team. My early impression of them is they have players on both sides of the ball, they have good schemes. We will obviously have not seen what they can do since they haven't played a game yet, so we don't know what we're going to get. We've got to focus on ourselves and getting better and what we do and how we do it, and if we do that, hopefully that'll work in our favor. But expect a really good football game against North Alabama." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the focus heading into Saturday's game against North Alabama.
- "Plenty of good, plenty to coach. I think one of the things you just heard from Coach Helton that we can't reiterate enough is that players should be starving for coaching. I think if you go into a meeting or any type of evaluation perspective, and you're not getting things where you can improve your game, we're falling short as coaches. Plenty of good there. We're always going to tell the truth. The things that are good are good, but our job as coaches are to find the areas where we can improve. I think great players, like you hope you have in your locker room, want that. I think you're seeing a group of guys that really enjoy being coached and are thirsty to get improvements each day, and that's the group that we want to be around." – WKU Football Offensive Coordinator Rick Bowie, on focus heading into Saturday's game against North Alabama.
- "Just add it to the toolbox and make sure we get it nailed away for this week, because this offense is very potent that's playing for North (Alabama). They love to run the football. They rushed for over 100 yards I believe it was nine games last year. I think in four games they rushed for over 200 yards. We've got our work cut out this week." – WKU Football Co-Defensive Coordinator Davis Merritt, on improving the run defense.
SERIES INFORMATION
- Saturday will mark the first meeting between WKU and North Alabama.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
- Saturday's game will be the season opener for North Alabama. The Lions went 3-9 last season, with wins over West Georgia, Utah Tech and Abilene Christian.
- Brent Dearmon is entering his third season as North Alabama's head coach. He holds a 6-17 record in his first two seasons leading the Lions.
- The Lions were picked tied for seventh in the UAC preseason poll. The team had two players named to the preseason all-conference team – redshirt senior running back Jayvian Allen and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Ryan Walker.
For all the latest on WKU Football, follow @WKUFootball on Twitter and Instagram, and like the WKU Football Facebook page.
