ATHENS, Ga. – WKU Football lost 70-20 to No. 2 Georgia on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
The Hilltoppers fall to 0-2 with the loss to the Bulldogs (2-0).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Georgia took advantage of a WKU fumble on the opening kickoff and scored two plays later on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
- The Bulldogs added another quick score on its second possession, finding the end zone on a 7-yard run after a 43-yard completion on the first play of the drive to make it 14-0 at the 11:28 mark in the first quarter.
- Georgia added another touchdown on its third possession with a 21-yard pass with 7:37 left in the first quarter to make it 21-0.
- The Bulldogs scored on their first drive of the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass, capping off a 9-play, 80-yard drive to make it 28-0.
- Georgia scored another touchdown with a 70-yard pass at the 9:22 mark in the second quarter to take a 35-0 lead.
- The Bulldogs scored on a 5-yard reception with 7:44 to play in the second quarter to go ahed 42-0.
- Georgia scored another touchdown on a 9-yard run three plays after a fumble recovery to increase its lead 49-0 at the 5:51 mark of the second quarter.
- WKU scored its first touchdown with 1:14 left in the first half to make it 49-6, after a missed PAT. Block Glenn scored the first touchdown of his WKU career on a 15-yard run after Jaylen Wester forced a fumble recovered by Xavion "Tutu" Griffin on the UGA 15.
- The Bulldogs added to their lead with a 70-yard run on the third play of their opening drive of the second half, making it 56-6.
- Georgia scored off a fumble recovery with 4:17 left in the third quarter to make it 63-6.
- The Hilltoppers scored with 5:10 left in the fourth quarter. Glenn ran 10 yards to the end zone, capping off a four-play, 64-yard drive to make it 63-13.
- The Bulldogs then scored on a 91-yard kickoff return to take a 70-13 lead.
- WKU added a touchdown with 1:17 to play on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Glenn to Coleson Arends to make the final score 70-20.
NOTABLES
- The Hilltoppers fall to 0-2 with the loss.
- WKU falls to 0-2 all-time against the Bulldogs. Saturday's meeting was the first since the 2006 season.
- WKU's team captains for the game were running back Ajay Allen, defensive tackle Rylen Su'a-Filo and defensive back Justin Brown.
- The announced attendance for the game was 93,033. It is the eighth-largest attendance for a WKU game in program history.
- WKU recorded 225 yards of offense in the game – 115 through the air and 110 on the ground.
- Quarterback Brock Glenn came off the bench and threw for 84 yards and a touchdown on 12-23-1 passing. He also rushed for a team-best 70 yards and two touchdowns on 13 attempts.
- Eleven different WKU players caught passes in the game, and five caught multiple passes. Freshman Jonathan Stafford Jr. and tight end Lofton Howard led the team with three catches each.
- Howard's three receptions and 14 receiving yards are career highs.
- Quincy Burroughs had three receptions for 29 yards. The 29 yards receiving are a career best and the three receptions are tied for a career high.
- Tight end Coleson Arends caught two passes for 18 yards and a touchdown. The receptions and touchdown were the first of his college career.
- Fourteen different WKU players recorded multiple tackles in the game, led by seven from safety Jaylen Lewis. Lewis also recorded a forced fumble.
- Linebacker Jaylen Wester forced two fumbles in the game. Wester now has six forced fumbles in his college career and four for WKU over two seasons.
- Defensive back Xavion "Tutu" Griffin and long snapper Nolan Imhoff each recorded fumble recoveries.
- Jackson Smith punted 10 times for 449 yards, an average of 44.9 yards per punt. He had two travel 50-plus yards and four downed inside the 20-yard line. The 449 yards punting are fifth-most in a game in program history.
QUOTABLES
- "Hats off to Georgia Bulldogs. They're an excellent team, one of the best in the country. Looking for positives that came out of this game, one thing our young men did was they kept competing, kept straining. Obviously, it was not good a lot of times – there's a lot of things we're going to have to get better at if we're going to be a good football team. But one big part of football is you gotta keep straining, you gotta keep grinding, you gotta compete if you're going to be a good football team, and I feel like they did that. Now we gotta go back to the drawing board, fix the problems, find answers, find the right people. We'll take this one, put it behind us, and try to get better." – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on facing No. 2 Georgia at Sanford Stadium.
- "It was an awesome opportunity to come in with a different group of guys and try to put a game plan together and go execute it. Obviously this atmosphere is a great atmosphere. We thought that we were prepared for it. Obviously there's some stuff to grow from and I think that we're going to try to take care of that this coming week before we play Indiana." – WKU Football quarterback Brock Glenn, on facing No. 2 Georgia at Sanford Stadium.
- "On the environment, it was pretty good, but football is football at the end of the day. I feel like we just have to play 11 as one better and trust the person beside us to do their job. I think that's where we could get better." – WKU Football linebacker Jaylen Wester, on facing No. 2 Georgia at Sanford Stadium.
NEXT UP
- The Hilltoppers will be back on the road next week to face No. 5 Indiana on Saturday, Sept. 19. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana, is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised nationally on Peacock.
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