BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Quarterback Maverick McIvor threw for 305 yards and five touchdowns, the Hilltopper defense didn't allow a touchdown and WKU Football improved to 2-0 with a 55-6 victory over North Alabama on Saturday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After Dave Herard recovered a muffed punt, George Hart III capped off a four-play, 13-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Hilltoppers ahead 7-0 with 11:58 left in the first quarter.
- North Alabama got on the board with a 25-yard field goal with 5:58 left in the first quarter.
- North Alabama added a second field goal – a 47-yarder – to make it a one-point game, 7-6, with 2:15 remaining in the first quarter.
- WKU extended its lead with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Maverick McIvor to Quincy Burroughs to make it 14-6 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.
- Jairus Mack caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from McIvor with 8:14 left in the second quarter to extend WKU's lead over the Lions to 21-6.
- K.D. Hutchinson caught a one-handed pass that he took for a 78-yard touchdown with 5:34 left in the second quarter to make it a 28-6 WKU lead.
- Hutchinson added his second touchdown with 2:25 remaining in the first half – a 12-yard reception from McIvor – to make it 35-6.
- Matthew Henry caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from McIvor with 48 seconds on the clock in the second quarter to give the Hilltoppers a 42-6 lead at the break.
- John Cannon made a 46-yard field goal with 5:08 to play in the third quarter to increase WKU's lead to 45-6.
- WKU scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Rodney Tisdale Jr. to Marvin Sims with 14:50 to play, making it a 52-6 lead.
- The Hilltoppers capped off the win with a 43-yard field goal from Cannon with 6:30 to play.
NOTABLES
- WKU improves to 2-0 overall with the win. It is the program's third 2-0 start under Head Coach Tyson Helton and the third time in the last four years that the Hilltoppers have started the season with wins in their first two games.
- WKU improves to 1-0 all-time against North Alabama.
- WKU's team captains for the game were Maverick McIvor, Jaylen Lewis and Cole Maynard.
- Announced attendance for the game was 12,226.
- WKU put up 563 yards of offense in the win – 399 passing and 164 rushing. Through two games this season, the Hilltopper offense has racked up 96 points and 1,069 yards of offense, with 800 yards coming through the air.
- The 55 points are the most scored by WKU since defeating Charlotte 59-7 on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Charlotte. It is the first time WKU has crossed the 50-point mark in a game since defeating Houston Christian 52-22 on Sept. 9, 2023. The 96 points are the most scored by WKU in its first two of a season since scoring a combined 118 points in the first two games of the 2003 season (WKU 51, Union 3; WKU 67, West Virginia Tech 3).
- McIvor finished with 305 yards and five touchdowns on 24-31-0 passing, before being replaced in the third quarter. In the first half, he threw for 275 yards and five touchdowns on 20-25-0 passing. The five touchdown passes were the most for a Conference USA quarterback since WKU's Austin Reed threw five touchdowns in the first half in WKU's 59-7 win at Charlotte and North Texas' Austin Aune threw five in the first half against FIU on Nov. 5, 2022.
- McIvor has now thrown for 706 yards and eight touchdowns on 57-82-0 passing through his first two games with the Hilltoppers, and he has also rushed for a touchdown.
- Rodney Tisdale Jr. replaced McIvor at quarterback in the third quarter. It was the first game action of Tisdale's college career. He finished with 94 yards and one touchdown on 6-8-0 passing.
- Fourteen different WKU players caught passes in the win, and nine different WKU players finished with multiple receptions.
- K.D. Hutchinson led all receivers with 113 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. His touchdowns were from 78 and 12 yards. Hutchinson's two touchdowns were the eighth and ninth of his career and his third of the season.
- WKU has had a 100-yard receiver in both games so far this season. Hutchinson's 113-yard performance against North Alabama came after Matthew Henry recorded 148 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.
- Ten different WKU players recorded a rush in the win, led by 46 yards on nine attempts from Jaden McGill.
- Hart's 1-yard touchdown run was his third touchdown at WKU.
- Quincy Burrough's 9-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was his first score as a Hilltopper.
- Jairus Mack's 20-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his first touchdown as a Hilltopper.
- Marvin Sims' 8-yard touchdown reception was the first touchdown of his WKU career.
- Seventeen different Hilltoppers recorded multiple tackles in the win, led by seven from Dylan Flowers. WKU had seven tackles for loss, led by two from Dominic Oliver, and two sacks, with one each from Oliver and Harper Holloman.
- John Cannon is now 4-for-4 on field goals this season, with all four makes coming from 40-plus yards. WKU kickers have now made 22 consecutive field goals dating back to the Sept. 7, 2024 game against Eastern Kentucky.
- Cole Maynard, the reigning CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week, had three punts for 161 yards in the win – an average of 53.7 yards per punt – with all three traveling 50-plus yards and one landing inside the 20. Through two games, Maynard is averaging 51.2 yards per punt, with five traveling 50-plus yards, including a long of 71 yards in the season-opening win over Sam Houston.
QUOTABLES
- "Good team win tonight. It was good to see a lot of different guys got to play tonight, so got some good evaluations. Got two wins at home, so that's good, now we've got to go on the road and play a really good Toledo team. It'll be a great challenge for us, but looking forward to that challenge. Pleased about tonight. Still a lot we've got to fix, a lot we need to get better at. Think we got off to a slow start, really, offensively and defensively. I thought on defense they had our number there. We were able to keep them out of the end zone, which was good. Then offensively, they had our number for a couple drives, but then we settled in. That was good to see that we settled in and started making plays. A lot of things we need to work on, but good team win." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the win over North Alabama.
- "I thought we played a good first half of football. We started out a little slow. Obviously we need to improve that, but other than that, I thought the first half went really well. It was really good to see Rodney Tisdale go out there and sling the ball around. He's really, really talented. Those guys really work hard at practice and throughout the year. It's good to see those guys get out there and get some meaningful snaps." – WKU Football quarterback Maverick McIvor, on the quarterback play in the win over North Alabama.
- "It's all God, man. We just had talked the night before, we were just talking about our heroes, and I swear I couldn't do anything without God, and I believe that. … We made a lot of catches, and at the end of the day we're just playing ball. He trusted me, he threw the ball down there, and God allowed me to make the play and the rest is history." – WKU Football wide receiver K.D. Hutchinson, on his 78-yard touchdown catch.
- "This week, we was focusing on reading our keys. As you could see, the team did a lot of trick plays and stuff like that, so our big focus was on our keys and having good eyes this week. That just allowed us to play fast and play tough and play physical." – WKU Football defensive end Harper Holloman, on the keys for the defense in the win over North Alabama.
- "I think we definitely did play better against the run, but 150 yards is too many. We have a high standard for ourselves and especially going against who we were going against this week, we wanted to be able to shut it down and be physical and just control what we could control. A lot of explosives that come just from our mistakes, and coach always says that we don't beat teams, we beat ourselves. Teams lose games, so we want to make sure we're prepared for that, we've got the win, but we want to make sure we're able to stop the run in the future." – WKU Football defensive end Dominic Oliver, on improvements against the run.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will hit the road for the first time this season when they head to Toledo for a 6 p.m. CT game on Saturday, Sept. 6. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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