NORFOLK, Va. — WKU Football hits the road this week for the first of two straight away games. The Hilltoppers face off against Old Dominion on Saturday, October 16, in the hopes of spring-boarding their season from a 1-4 start. Kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m. CT inside S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Through five games, WKU has had one-score losses to Army (38-35), Indiana (33-31) and UTSA (52-46) – three teams with a combined record of 12-4 – as well as a 48-31 defeat at Michigan State, who has climbed inside the top 10 of the national polls with a 6-0 mark.
Saturday’s game against the Monarchs will pin the Hilltoppers’ No. 1 offense in Conference USA (550.4 yards per game) against the No. 2 defense in the league (330.5). Even though ODU is also 1-4 on the year, they have dropped back-to-back one-score games against UTEP (28-21) and Marshall (20-13 in overtime). The Monarchs held the Thundering Herd to only 313 yards before a last-minute, 52-yard Hail Mary to force overtime, then the game-winning 25-yard scoring drive in the extra period. The week prior, ODU held the Miners to only 333 yards.
“They’re coached really well, they have some long, athletic defensive linemen – very twitchy guys. Linebackers run sideline to sideline and DB’s make plays,” offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said. “Marshall has been a top offense in the conference for years and ODU really did a good job last week on those guys. Another really, really good defense. Once again, it’s gonna take our best effort to get it done.”
Along with another stellar performance by quarterback Bailey Zappe – who leads FBS with 447 pass yards per game – WKU has its most productive game of the year rushing the ball against the Roadrunners. Running backs Adam Cofield, Kye Robichaux and Noah Whittington combined for 23 carries for 145 yards (6.3 average), including five rushes of 10-plus yards.
“Throughout the week we really harped on our tracks and made sure we were making the right reads,” Cofield said. The whole running back room, we all bought into it and we worked hard every day to prepare. We’re going to make sure we’re ready for what ODU brings to the table.”
A lot of the success running the ball came from the success of the passing offense, and vice versa, as Kittley explained.
“UTSA had shown some of that three-man rush, drop eight on tape before. With what we had done in the prior games, we had a plan ready for that situation and it opened up the run game for us,” he said. “Our O-line blocked great and our running backs did a great job of hitting it. When we needed those tough runs our guys got it done. Adam, Kye and Noah – we’re running back by committee right now – each has their role and they’re doing a great job. It was great to see all three of those guys have a lot of success last weekend.”
After passing performances of 424, 435, 365, 488 and 523 yards to begin his Hilltopper career, Zappe has garnered national attention, including being named to the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List on Monday. Still, the graduate transfer knows that none of it would be possible without a reliable run game, incredibly talented receivers and the five big men in front of him.
“That ain’t just for me, that’s for all of them out there. None of that happens without the other 10 guys on the field,” Zappe said. “Honestly, I think our front five is the most impressive group we have on our team. The people they’ve had to go against these past five weeks, they’ve played their butts off. Everything that we get this year from the offensive side of the ball should be given to those guys. I’ve never played with a better O-line, I love those guys with all my heart. They keep me clean – a lot more than I’m used to – and I know they’re gonna keep doing it.”
Through five games, Zappe’s 2,235 yards is above Brandon Doughty’s pace (2,000 through five games) that he set the all-time program record of 5,055 in 2015. While he is just behind Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons’ pace (2,467 through five games) of the all-time FBS record of 5,833 in 2003.
“Of course every player looks at that stuff, but I try not to get caught up in it. To be in that conversation with those guys is awesome, but we have a lot of work to do,” he said. “I don’t care if I throw for 100 yards, as long as we get the win I’m happy. I’d trade all of that to trade our record to 4-1 instead of 1-4.”
Even though the Hilltoppers are 1-4, head coach Tyson Helton is proud of how the team has competed every week for all 60 minutes.
“They’re battling hard every week – I think that’s pretty obvious – and we’re hopefully gonna get the issues fixed that we had,” he said. “We really need to have a good week on defense and set the tone of the game and allow the offense to go out there and do their thing and put points on the board. We’ve played some really good offenses and our defense is battling hard. I love how our defense is fighting, scratching and clawing. They have a lot of pride and I know they’re excited to try and get it going.”
Veteran leaders like Antwon Kincade are setting the tone for the attitude of the defense, which had a discussion together after the UTSA game.
“We have to improve in certain aspects of the game,” he said. “We need to get more turnovers and get all 11 hats to the ball and have everybody in on the tackle … It’s a new season for us and we’re just trying to win our side. We have to keep the points down, keep the yards down and just find a way to win.”
Defensive coordinator Maurice Crum – who in his fifth consecutive season at WKU is the most-tenured coach on staff – has been through the ups, downs and everything in-between over the past few years. He knows that five games don’t make a full season, and there is still more than enough time to turn it around.
“We always talk about ‘keep going’ – we’re gonna show up and we’re gonna play football,” he said. “Ain’t no need in ducking your head or hiding, we’re gonna play and we’re gonna keep going. I’ve seen the system and scheme be productive, I know that it works. We just have to keep working on it and keep on grinding.”How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Football, follow the program via social media @WKUFootball on Twitter and Facebook.
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