MIAMI, Fla. — Coming off its most disruptive performance of the season, the WKU Football defense will face a tough test with FIU’s explosive offense. The Hilltoppers and Panthers kick off on Saturday, October 23 at 6 p.m. CT.
In WKU’s 43-20 victory at Old Dominion last week, the defense had five sacks and two interceptions – the first time the Hilltoppers have accomplished that feat in a single game since 2013 at Texas State. The five sacks matched WKU’s total output in the first five games.
“We were able to pin our ears back a little bit. We changed some things schematically, so the defensive ends and tackles on obvious passing downs could get after the quarterback a little bit more,” defensive end Juwuan Jones said. “As far as momentum, we just have to keep it going. Confidence is high, we just got five sacks and we’re going to try to get five more, or more than that.”
Jones and defensive tackle Jeremy Darvin credited the performance with sharp preparation.
“Mentally it was just about more attention to detail. I think collectively as a defense we did that really well,” Darvin said. “It started from the D-Line, all the way back to the defensive backs. Everybody just took it upon themselves to find things that they needed to fix personally to help the team win.”
“Just staying focused throughout the week. Our focus was extremely high, we focused on the little things – watching extra film and things like that,” Jones added. “And mainly just believing in ourselves. It’s tough when you give up a lot of points back-to-back-to-back weeks, but we believe in the players on the team and the scheme that [defensive coordinator Maurice Crum] and the staff puts in.”
Crum thinks that the defense seeing success against the Monarchs will lead to more confidence going forward.
“I think it was much needed,” he said. “The kids always work extremely hard, they’re always here, they’re always putting in the effort. And just to get that return back, it gave them life, it gave them a breath of fresh air to keep them engaged and hungry for more.”
Despite FIU’s 1-5 overall record and 0-2 mark in Conference USA play, the Panthers boast the No. 6 scoring offense (27.8 points), No. 5 overall offense (433.8 yards) and No. 3 passing attack (317.7 yards).
“They’re a talented bunch that’s hungry and looking for a win,” Crum said. They make A LOT of explosive plays, probably the most explosive plays I’ve seen this season. They throw the ball down the field – left, right, middle – the running back catches a two-yard pass and he’ll take it for 15-20. Dynamic receivers on the outside, very athletic O-Line, good pieces.
“I respect every opponent we play. I never go into it thinking they’re below us or anything like that; you have to take a humble approach,” Jones said. “I believe FIU will give us a good game because they have good players, and I expect nothing less. They’re similar to us, they’re under .500 so they have nothing to lose – and neither do we, so it’s gonna be a battle.
The other side of that battle will be the Hilltopper offense against the Panther defense.
At ODU, WKU jumped out to a 30-3 lead at halftime. It was a flip of the Hilltoppers’ fate during their four-game losing streak, falling behind 14-0 three times and 14-3 in the other.
“I felt like we had our best week of practice and our guys were just ready to go. Clearly, we were hungry for the win, especially after the devastating loss we had the week before [against UTSA],” offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said. “We had an explosive play the first play of the game – which kind of got it started – and we were executing at a high level for the most part.”
Although WKU has been operating at a high level all year – leading C-USA in scoring (40.8 points), total offense (545 yards) and passing offense (447.7 yards) – the Hilltoppers don’t take anything for granted.
“That game we had something to prove,” wide receiver Josh Sterns said. “We heard some comments about how we weren’t the best offense in the conference and we had a chip on our shoulder going into that game. I feel like we proved that and we have to continue proving that.”
It was an overall great performance, but there’s always room to grow.
“We played really well as an offense, but I think we have a lot to improve on still,” wide receiver Jerreth Sterns said. “A couple of drops we had, a couple of missed blocks on the perimeter on the swing screens – things like that – that the receivers are really looking to clean up this week. And I think by the end of the season you’ll see that we put it all together.”
Jerreth, who was named an AP Midseason All-American on Tuesday, and the Hilltoppers are ready for a great challenge in Miami on Saturday night.
“FIU is very athletic. The back end’s really strong, front seven’s good,” he said. “I think the strength of the defense is definitely the secondary, so I think it’s going to be a great challenge for our wide receivers and [quarterback Bailey Zappe].”
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