BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football concluded its spring on Saturday at Houchens-Smith Stadium with the Red & White Spring Showcase, presented by SA Recycling.
The event, which was free for fans to attend, saw the Hilltopper offense face off against the defense in a series of drives over the course of the hour-and-a-half scrimmage. While no official stats were kept for the Red & White Spring Showcase, a new point system was introduced for this year's event, which ended in a 33-33 tie after a hot start from the offense and a strong comeback from the defense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hilltopper defense got on the board first with a defensive stop. (Defense 2, Offense 0)
- The offense struck back with a touchdown pass from Cam O'Hara to Jeremiah Carroll on the second possession. (Offense 7, Defense 2)
- The offense posted another quick strike on the first play of the third drive with a trick play for a 75-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Cameron Flowers to Quincy Burroughs. (Offense 14, Defense 2)
- The defense recorded a point on the fourth possession with a touch sack. Michael Buck made a 44-yard field goal to end the drive. (Offense 17, Defense 3)
- On the fifth drive, the defense added a point with a sack on a bobbled snap and two more by getting off the field without allowing the offense to score. (Offense 17, Defense 6)
- The offense added another quick strike on a 75-yard score from Rodney Tisdale Jr. to Ajay Allen, who broke free down the sideline on the sixth drive. (Offense 24, Defense 6)
- On the seventh drive, the defense earned a three-and-out for three points. (Offense 24, Defense 9)
- On the eighth drive, the defense earned two points with a pair of sacks and the offense finished with a 27-yard field goal from Karl Campbell. (Offense 27, Defense 11)
- On the ninth drive, the defense added another touch sack for a point, and got off the field with a three-and-out. (Offense 27, Defense 15)
- The defense earned a stop on the 10th drive for two points. (Offense 27, Defense 17)
- The defense grabbed another point with a sack and the offense picked up three with a 30-yard field goal from Karl Campbell on the 11th drive. (Offense 30, Defense 18)
- The 12th drive started with a 48-yard pass from Tisdale to Burroughs, but the defense added a point with a sack from Zach Smith. Buck made a 24-yard field goal to cap off the drive. (Offense 33, Defense 19)
- The defense picked up a three-and-out to earn three points on the next drive. (Offense 33, Defense 22)
- The defense earned another three-and-out for three points on the 14th drive. (Offense 33, Defense 25)
- A defensive stop on the 15th drive put two more points on the board for the defense. (Offense 33, Defense 27)
- The defense added another point with a stop on the 16th drive. (Offense 33, Defense 29)
- The final drive included a sack for the defense, plus a special opportunity to get a three-point stop on the last play after a rule change from Head Coach Tyson Helton, which the defense took advantage of and got off the field without allowing another score. (Offense 33, Defense 33)
NOTABLES
- Prior to the Red & White Spring Showcase, the team gathered with former players for the WKU Football Alumni Spring Banquet and team award ceremony. The Al Almond Award, which has been given since 1968 to a Hilltopper player who displays devotion to character, loyalty, ability and love of fellow man, was given offensively to lineman Karsten Upchurch and defensively to safety Dave Herard. The Daryl Drake Award, presented in honor of a player who has displayed remarkable perseverance, was given offensively to receiver Jonathan Stafford Jr. and defensively to defensive end Venson Sneed. The Jimbo DeVries Outstanding Walk-On Award, which has been presented since 2008, was given to tight end Aiden Miller.
- WKU is coming off a 9-4 season in 2025, which included a 27-16 victory over Southern Miss in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl – the fifth bowl win for the Hilltoppers in seven seasons under Head Coach Tyson Helton.
- WKU enters its eighth season under Head Coach Tyson Helton. He holds a 57-36 record during that time.
- In seven seasons under Helton, the Hilltoppers have made appearances in seven bowl games and two CUSA Championship Games, with five bowl victories during that time.
- WKU has won at least eight games in every season since 2021. WKU is the only non-Power Conference school to win at least eight games every year since 2021 while playing an FBS schedule each of those seasons – James Madison has also won at least eight games every year during that stretch, but did not begin its FBS transition until 2022. WKU is one of 10 teams nationally (including JMU) that has won at least eight games every season since 2021, along with Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and James Madison.
- WKU enters its first season with Bodie Reeder as Offensive Coordinator and the first season with Davis Merritt as Defensive Coordinator, after Merritt served as Co-Defensive Coordinator in 2025.
- New position coaches on this year's staff include Dayton LeBlanc (Defensive Tackles) and David Metcalf (Safeties).
- The Hilltoppers return 41 total players from the 2025 roster. The program has signed 64 players since the early signing period in December. Fifty three of the newcomers are with the program this spring, with 39 of those transfers and 14 true freshmen.
QUOTABLES
- "Beautiful day for a spring game. Really pleased with how things went today. First of all, thank you to all of our friends and family for being here – it was a great atmosphere – and for our band for being here. I thought it was very competitive. Everybody got good reps. It was back and forth. It actually finished in a tie, which I was really happy about. I changed the point system on the last play to make it exciting. We had a fourth-and-long down in the red zone and I said, 'Defense, this is for three points to tie.' It was good. Good spring overall. We're halfway there as far as training. We've got summer training now and then we've got fall camp. We've got a long way to go, but I'm pleased where we're at right now." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the Red & White Spring Showcase.
- "For me, the main thing was to just have fun. It's collegiate football, but at the end of the day, it's the same game that we've been playing since we were knee-high. I always try to tell the guys that and remind myself of that. The people came here for a show, so just have fun. They came to see us play ball. Just keep having fun." – WKU Football wide receiver Quincy Burroughs, on the Red & White Spring Showcase.
- "Really, we weren't worried about points. We just wanted to execute our offense because we knew we were going to put the ball in the end zone." – WKU Football wide receiver Cameron Flowers, on the Red & White Spring Showcase.
- "I feel like we started out slow, but as the spring game kept going, we picked it up. As our coach told us, it's not going to be easy, so we finished as we are supposed to." – WKU Football linebacker Zach Smith, on the Red & White Spring Showcase.
- "We started off a little slow but we picked it up after a while. Once the energy kicked in, you saw the results that came out." – WKU Football safety Jaylen Lewis, on the Red & White Spring Showcase.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will open the 2026 season at Nevada on Saturday, Sept. 5. The full 2026 schedule can be found HERE.
- WKU Football 2026 season tickets are on sale now! Season tickets start as low as $50, and there are several options for different season ticket levels. For more information or to purchase 2026 WKU Football season tickets, click HERE. Are you interested in purchasing 2026 WKU Football tickets but don't know where to start? Fill out this form and a member of the WKU Ticket Office will be in touch soon! All season tickets require an HAF donation.
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