THE TOPS FOR A 48-YARD TD RECEPTION.
TOPS’ HELTON LOOKS FOR SILVER LINING; FLAMES EXCEL AT FINDING THE END ZONE
A season of considerable promise has become a puzzling series of question marks heading into the final month of the regular season in college football.
Western Kentucky, the preseason favorite in a revamped Conference USA, fell behind in its prime-time matchup with unbeaten Liberty University midway through the second quarter. And from there, the Hilltoppers got trampled.
Liberty amassed 324 yards rushing, averaging six yards per carry, to bulldoze WKU, 42-29, on Tuesday night before a paid crowd of 16,036 at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The Hilltoppers trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half and never mounted much of a challenge, dropping to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA.
The Tops got throttled at The Houch.
“We threw everything at them and nothing seemed to work,” WKU coach Tyson Helton said. “That’s what a good offense does, they force their will on you. And they forced their will on us tonight.”
SCORES ON A 20-YARD TD RUN.
“THEY FORCED THEIR WILL ON US TONIGHT.”
Liberty, the private, faith-based school in Lynchburg, Virginia, has a huge offensive line and plenty of playmakers. The Flames improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in Conference USA play, and it’s virtually certain they’ll play host to the C-USA championship game in the first weekend of December.
Western Kentucky is hoping to get another shot at Liberty, but nothing happened Tuesday night to suggest that a potential rematch would be much different.
“We’ve still got a lot of opportunities to try to make that championship game,” Helton said. “Hat’s off to Liberty. We needed to make some stops … They’re a big, physical offensive line, and we knew that. They moved the line of scrimmage pretty well.”
Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter, a powerful 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore, guided an option offense with skill and resolve as the Flames took control in the third quarter. Salter passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 113 yards and a single score on the ground.
His more celebrated counterpart, WKU senior quarterback Austin Reed, got the Tops in the end zone three times in the fourth quarter, but by then, the issue had been decided.
THE BULK OF HIS DAMAGE
IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
ON A 20-YARD RUN IN THE FIRST QUARTER.
CONSIDERABLY IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
Reed completed 30 of 44 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted when he threw into double coverage in the end zone in the final minute of the first half, with Liberty’s Kobe Singleton coming up with the turnover to keep the Flames in front, 14-10.
WKU had some success running the ball, but the Tops got behind the 8-ball in the third quarter and never recovered.
“It’s up to the offense to keep you in the game,” Helton said. “We were just a little bit too late. Again, the positive was we did get some quick scores (late in the game). That was good to see, but we would like to have got those scores a lot earlier.
“That would have helped our defense, for sure.”
First-year Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly defensively over the first three quarters.
“(We’re) excited about the win. (WKU is) a good team,” Chadwell said. “We have a great opportunity to see them again. I was really pleased with the offense in the first half; I told them that … We found a way to win, which is a positive.
“We made a decision, (that) we are going to control the ball. We are going to control the line of scrimmage. Did some different formations, that our guys could handle, and they did.”
The Hilltoppers’ passing game came to life in the fourth quarter, when the Flames’ defense was playing to protect its big lead. WKU quarterback Austin Reed found running back Elijah Young on the left sideline for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 11:24 left, but the Flames scored on their next possession. That pushed Liberty’s lead back to 19 points.
From there, Reed got the ball to a wide open River Helms on the left sideline, and Helms took Reed’s deep pass and scored on a 63-yard touchdown reception. WKU’s Malachi Corley hauled in his second touchdown pass of the night, a 21-yard scoring strike from Reed, in the game’s final three minutes.
It was all window dressing, to be sure.
ON A 62-YARD TD RECEPTION.
AND TEAMMATE KENYONTE DAVIS.
“We came out in the third quarter and really pressed them,” Chadwell said.
Liberty has played its way into the Conference USA championship game. WKU is still very much alive, in part because Jacksonville State (6-2, 4-1 in C-USA) is a newcomer to NCAA Division I FBS football. Jax State turned back the Hilltoppers, 20-17, on October 17 in Jacksonville, Alabama.
“We’ve got a great opportunity in our next game (on Nov. 4, a home game against Louisiana Tech) to take care of business and be able to host it,” Chadwell said.
The Hilltoppers will take a short break and try to heal some injured players before going on the road for a long road trip to play UTEP (2-6, 1-3 in C-USA) on November 4 at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
WKU coach Tyson Helton and Kenyonte Davis, the Hilltoppers’ senior defensive lineman, seem focused on the future.
The immediate past is certainly nothing to write home about.
“We’ve got the whole world in front of us … you’ve got four games left,” Helton said. “Win all four games and you’re in the (C-USA) championship game.”
WKU has been to the C-USA championship game just once since the departure of former WKU coach Jeff Brohm in 2016, when Helton’s Hilltoppers were defeated in the title game by former C-USA school Texas-San Antonio, a 49-41 decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“We plan on making a run with these next four games. We plan on seeing those boys again,” Davis said.
