BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Football offensive duo Bailey Zappe and Jerreth Sterns continued racking up big numbers, but it was in another defeat, as the Hilltoppers dropped a 52-46 shootout to visiting UTSA on Saturday night. Zappe threw for 523 yards – the third-most in program history – and Sterns had 195 receiving yards – the fourth-most in program history.
For the fifth game, WKU fell behind early, trailing 14-3 at the 5:03 mark of the first quarter. But the Hilltoppers responded, first with a three-yard touchdown pass from Zappe to Jerreth, then with a 10-yard touchdown rush by Adam Cofield to put the hosts ahead 17-14 at the 11:22 mark of the second quarter. It was WKU’s first lead over the past four games.
The Roadrunners answered with a 14-7 scoring run to end the half, as the visitors took a 28-24 advantage into the break. The Hilltoppers’ touchdown during that span was a 33-yard catch by Dalvin Smith, the fourth of his career on only six total catches up to that point.
WKU went three-and-out to begin the third quarter, but UTSA muffed a 55-yard punt by John Haggerty III and it was recovered by Antwon Kincade. Three plays later, Malachi Corley broke multiple tackles and ran into the end zone for a 24-yard score, putting WKU ahead once again.
However, the Roadrunners scored back-to-back touchdowns and took a 42-31 lead at the 6:06 mark. A few possessions later, the Hilltoppers found themselves pinned on the five-yard line after a downed UTSA punt. Three plays later – including a game 55-yard completion to Sterns – Zappe found Mitchell Tinsley across the middle for a 40-yard catch-and-run. Although the subsequent two-point conversion failed, WKU got within 42-37 at the end of the third quarter.
The Roadrunners kicked a field goal with 10 minutes left to go ahead by eight, then Zappe and Sterns connected for their second touchdown of the night – a 20-yarder – but the two-point conversion try once again failed and the Hilltoppers trailed by two. UTSA then went 75 yards in only four plays, with a 43-yard touchdown catch capping the drive as the Roadrunners went ahead, 52-43, with 6:39 left in the contest.
The Hilltoppers drove quickly into the red zone on their next drive, but it stalled and ended with a 27-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson – his second make of the night – to bring the score within 52-46. WKU forced a three-and-out on UTSA’s next offensive drive and the Roadrunners’ punt went out of bounds at the Hilltoppers’ 30-yard line with 3:21 left for Zappe and company to orchestrate a game-winning drive.
After getting all the way down to the five-yard line, Zappe hit Sterns for a four-yard pass to the one, but a clipping personal foul penalty was called on WKU that pushed the ball back to the 20. After Zappe scrambled for five yards, he tried to hit Sterns again at the goal line, but the pass was intercepted by a UTSA defender with 43 seconds remaining. The Roadrunners kneeled out the remainder of the clock and escaped Houchens-Smith Stadium with a 52-46 win.
UTSA (6-0, 2-0) stayed undefeated thanks to a big performance by quarterback Frank Harris, who passed for 349 yards and six touchdowns, while also catching a 23-yard score on a trick play. Running back Sincere McCormick rushed 23 times for 120 yards (5.2 average) and wide receiver De’Corian Clark had seven receptions for 160 yards and three touchdowns.
WKU (1-4, 0-1) still controls its own destiny in Conference USA play – as a perfect 7-0 finish to the regular season would earn the Hilltoppers the East Division crown and a spot in the league’s title game. The team now hits the road for back-to-back away contests at Old Dominion (October 16) and FIU (October 23).
Postgame Quotes
Head coach Tyson Helton
On the team’s goal going forward:
“One conference loss doesn’t put you out of the hunt by any means. It really doesn’t matter – a loss is a loss in conference – but again we got everything in front of us, all of our goals in front of us that we want to accomplish. To have one conference loss, it doesn’t keep you out of the hunt by any means and our football team knows that. They’ll rebound and hopefully we’ll hit some good days ahead of us soon with some good wins.”
On the high-scoring game:
“I’m not worried about the scores or anything like that. At the end of the day, it just comes down to winning the game. I think we’ll continue to grow from this, we’ll learn a lot of lessons from this, and from the games that we’ve played, and I think we’ll be a better football team for it.”
On the flow of the game:
“Our kids battle, we were never out of this game. It always felt like we’re going to go win the game, we’re going to go win the game. UTSA is a really good offense, and our defense came up with some key stops and gave our offense a chance. We saw a lot of big plays out there and a lot of guys making plays but at the end of the day it’s about winning, and we have to find a way to win.”
Redshirt senior defensive back Omari Alexander
On the team’s mindset going forward:
“We just need cohesiveness in my opinion, just staying together as a team and don’t separate because we’ll be better together. Everyone just needs to get their mind right and get mentally prepared for the stretch we are about to go on. No more bye weeks, no more breaks so it’s petal to the metal. I have confidence in this team, I love this team and I feel like we can pull it out. We just got to stay strong, get better, and work every day.”
Graduate senior offensive lineman Boe Wilson
On the team’s upcoming practice plan:
“We just have to get back to the basics this week. We’ll go watch film tomorrow and we’ll take it like men. We’ll fix things in the film room, then we’ll go out on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and fix it. That’s all we can do now; the game is over. But going into more conference games, we’re excited.”
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