Jim Mashek

WKU’s TYSON HELTON: ‘FOR ME, PERSONALLY, I JUST TRY TO FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND …’

The variables are everywhere.

Home field for the Conference USA championship. A measure of revenge after a spanking in Jacksonville, Alabama, in last year’s C-USA title tilt. A possible 7-1 record in C-USA. Improved leverage on the bowl front. And, yes, even bragging rights, even if Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State are just getting familiar with one another.

Western Kentucky University’s football program is looking for its first Conference USA championship since the Jeff Brohm Era, and that opportunity is hanging in the balance on Saturday afternoon at Jax State.

The Hilltoppers (8-3, 6-1 in Conference USA) will square off with defensive-minded Jacksonville State (7-4, 6-1 in C-USA) on Saturday afternoon at AmFirst Stadium, a 22,500-seat facility just a half-hour’s drive from the Talladega International Speedway in Northeast Alabama.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CST, with the game to be televised by ESPN-Plus.

It’s a race to a finish line to be determined, as the site for next Friday’s C-USA championship game has yet to be determined.

For the Hilltoppers, a road victory over Jacksonville State would mean Western Kentucky was returning to Bowling Green with its sights set on a conference championship. That’s what’s at stake, for the Tops.

A loss, on the other hand, would mean Western Kentucky wouldn’t be playing again until bowl season. After a regular season of so much promise, with the strong play of two quarterbacks — graduate transfer Maverick McIvor and talented redshirt freshman Rodney Tisdale, Jr. — and the number of hard-fought, dramatic victories, a loss to the Gamecocks would put a damper on a memorable season on The Hill.

No one understands that more than Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky’s seventh-year head coach.

Everything else is just window dressing.

“For me, personally, I just try to focus on the task at hand,” Helton said on Monday, when WKU held its weekly press conference at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

Jacksonville State will play host to the C-USA championship game, against a rising Kennesaw State (Georgia) squad, if the Gamecocks can defeat the Hilltoppers in NASCAR Country. With a little help from the Liberty Flames, who tangle with Kennesaw State on Saturday, Jax State could still qualify for the C-USA title game, with a five-hour road trip to Bowling Green on the immediate horizon.

Jax State, under first-year head coach Charles Kelly, has won three C-USA games this year by a field goal or less. The Gamecocks crushed WKU, 52-12, in last year’s conference championship game before well traveled head coach Rich Rodriguez returned to West Virginia University on December 12, 2024.

The Hilltoppers have twice reached the C-USA championship game, under Helton, but have yet to clear that final hurdle. Perhaps the third time will be the charm …

“All you want is to control your own destiny,” Helton said. “We’re just happy to have the opportunity to compete for a championship.”

The Hilltoppers have conquered some imposing obstacles, starting with senior quarterback Maverick McIvor’s injury that brought redshirt freshman Rodney Tisdale, Jr., into the Tops’ starting lineup. Tisdale changed the narrative, in a hurry, after hitting WKU teammate Moussa Barry — in heavy traffic — for a two-point conversion that defeated Louisiana Tech, 28-27, in a mid-week game on October 21 in Ruston, Louisiana.

Tisdale, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound QB from Jacksonville, Florida, has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,187 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s been intercepted five times. McIvor, his predecessor as the WKU starter, has completed 67 percent of HIS passes for 1,863 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s also been intercepted five times.

And on three occasions, McIvor was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week.

Western Kentucky amassed 642 yards in total offense in its last conference game, a 42-26 victory over a struggling Middle Tennessee State squad on November 15 at Houchens-Smith Stadium. Even then, the Tops needed a late touchdown pass, on a fourth-down play from Tisdale to sophomore tight end Noah Meyers, to put away the pesky Blue Raiders in the final three minutes.

The Hilltoppers figure to be playing a much better defense in Jax State, but the Gamecocks are most proficient with their hands on the ball. Jacksonville State leads the 12 C-USA teams — its membership changes from year to year, but it’s still impressive — in both scoring offense (29.5 points per game) and total offense (421 yards per game).

The Gamecocks have one of the nation’s premier running backs in Cam Cook, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior who arrived earlier this year via the NCAA Transfer Portal after two seasons at TCU. Cook has rushed for a team-high 1,451 yards and 14 touchdowns, but JSU freshman QB Caden Creel is a tough customer out of the backfield, too.

Cook has rushed for 830 yards and five touchdowns, even though yardage from quarterback sacks is deducted from his total yards every week. The Gamecocks’ backup quarterback, 6-foot-3 senior Gavin Wimsatt, played at Owensboro High School before spending three seasons at Rutgers and one more at the University of Kentucky.

Davis Merritt, who shares the WKU defensive coordinator responsiblities with Da’Ron Brown, cracked when wise when asked about defending the Gamecocks’ Cam Cook.

“I’ll take any and all suggestions,” he said.

WKU head coach Tyson Helton said the Hilltoppers have quickly become familiar with Jax State since the Gamecocks came to Conference USA in 2023. The Tops will travel to BIrmingham, via team buses, before making the short trip to Jacksonville on Saturday morning.

“There’s a comfort level. We’ve been down there, we know what to expect,” Helton said.

It’s just about time to tee it up and see what happens.

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