Jim Mashek

WKU’s TYSON HELTON: ‘THEY RAN THE BALL, AT WILL, AGAINST US …’

Western Kentucky University’s promising football season may have hit the proverbial fork in the road on Tuesday night at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

And the Hilltoppers’ bandwagon skidded into the ditch.

Repeatedly.

Florida International University’s Kejon Owens carried the ball 22 times for 195 yards and a third-quarter touchdown as the Panthers dismantled Western Kentucky, 25-6, before a thinning, stunned paid crowd of 12,276 at The Houch.

It was a difficult night, to say the least, for WKU quarterback Maverick McIvor. McIvor, the graduate transfer from FCS Abilene Christian, had been the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week in three of the Hilltoppers’ victories over the last two months. On this night, it was FIU’s Keyone Jenkins who shined under the lights, completing 17 of 25 passes for 184 yards and a second-quarter score.

Western Kentucky dropped to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in Conference USA play, while the Panthers improved to 3-3 and 1-1, respectively.

Seventh-year WKU head coach Tyson Helton was in no mood to make excuses for his squad’s tepid performance.

“Congrats to FIU. They came ready to play,” Helton said. “They beat us, in all three phases, pretty soundly … They ran the ball, at will, against us.

“They were a hungry football team that came here to win a game.”

And that’s exactly what the Panthers did, in resounding fashion.

Willie Simmons, FIU’s first-year head coach, rested Jenkins and Owens for the bulk of the fourth quarter, while the Panthers’ defense kept WKU out of the end zone. It was the first time the Hilltoppers failed to score a touchdown, against a C-USA opponent, since their 10-6 defeat at the hands of former league rival Florida Atlantic University on November 21, 2021.

“We told (Owens) to rest his legs because we’re going to ride him until the wheels fall off,” Simmons said. “He continues to play at an All-American level.”

The Hilltoppers were in no position to disagree.

“We’ve got to do better, limit the explosive plays,” WKU senior linebacker Anthony Brackenridge said when it was over. “We had a great vibe, in the locker room, coming into this game. We’ve just got to go execute.”

Florida International controlled the ball for 34 minutes, 38 seconds, a bulge of more than nine minutes against the Hilltoppers. Junior FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins kept the Tops’ defense off balance with a deft passing touch and ability to make plays outside the pocket.

“In the first half, I thought our defense gave us an opportunity,” WKU coach Tyson Helton said. “We’ve got to keep working hard. Obviously, we’ve got to be able to run the ball.

“One of those nights …”

Yes, it was.

Western Kentucky will play one last mid-week game, dubbed “Weekday CUSA” by the league office, gives Helton, Simmons and other coaches in the conference a chance to showcase their programs for high school recruits and potential NCAA Transfer Portal players alike. Helton has always liked playing these games, and the Tops will have one last opportunity in this regard, next week on the road against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana.

LA Tech, in its final season in Conference USA before the Bulldogs move to the Sun Belt Conference, has an open date this week. Louisiana Tech is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in C-USA play, tied for fourth place in the league standings with Liberty University.

Liberty (3-4, 2-1) slipped past New Mexico State, 30-27, on Tuesday night in Lynchburg, Virginia.

It didn’t take long for Florida International to set the tone for Tuesday night’s nationally televised game.

Kejon Owens, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound bruiser from Miami’s Central High School, managed to break free at the second level on his way to a multi-directional, 84-yard run midway through the first quarter. The WKU defense tightened at that point, however, and the Panthers had to settle for Noah Grant’s second field goal of the night.

FIU led 6-0 and the Hilltoppers’ defense was soon playing on its heels.

FIU left-hander Keyone Jenkins, Owens’ teammate at Miami’s Central High School, found Jackson Verdugo, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound freshman tight end, for an 8-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter, extending the Panthers’ lead to 16-3.

Perhaps the most encouraging moment, for WKU and its fans, came in the final moments of the first half.

Senior WKU quarterback Maverick McIvor, who threw three interceptions in the defeat, got the Hilltoppers into FIU territory in the final 29 seconds of the second quarter. WKU coach Tyson Helton summoned Jack Cassidy, a redshirt junior from Maghera, Northern Ireland, for a 55-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in the half.

Cassidy delivered the field goal, with some room to spare, and the Tops had trimmed the deficit to 19-6 heading into halftime.

But that optimism, at least on the WKU sideline, was short lived as the Panthers quickly re-established control of the game in the third quarter. The Panthers’ Kejon Owens scored on a 6-yard sweep to the right side, pushing FIU’s lead to 25-6, before the WKU defense foiled a two-point conversion attempt. That would account for the final margin, and McIvor gave way to Rodney Tisdale Jr., the Tops’ backup quarterback, on WKU’s final possession of the night.

WKU tight end Noah Myers, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore from Louisville’s Trinity High School, believes McIvor will be poised to bounce back when the Hilltoppers travel to Ruston to tangle with Louisiana Tech next week.

“Mav’s a great quarterback, he makes smart decisions,” Myers said. “One game doesn’t define anyone … We’re going to come out to practice with our jaws set …

“I’m glad we got humbled. It was a reality check.”

The Hilltoppers return to the practice field on Thursday afternoon.