Hilltoppers climb high after early challenges
By Art Garcia
The opportunity was there. Better yet, the opening existed to throw in the towel.
Western Kentucky had been upset in the season opener by an FCS squad. Starting quarterback Steven Duncan was lost for the season after the third game. The prospects for a first-year head coach inheriting a 3-9 team were rather grim.
Or they easily could have been.
Instead, the Hilltoppers never wavered. Their resolve may have been tested, but to the surprise of no one inside the WKU locker room, they passed.
“From Day 1 since I got here, our kids have bought in with our vision and our blueprint with what we’re trying to get accomplished,” WKU coach Tyson Helton said. “They’ve really grabbed the reins and taken full charge of what we’re trying to do here.
“When I first got here that first game we lost was a tough loss, but our kids didn’t even bat an eye and neither did our staff. We just stayed with the course and the process, and everybody felt like we’d be in a good spot at the end of the season. We talk about all the time, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. It’s your total body of work throughout the season and that’s all the matters.”
WKU finished the regular season with a body of work that impressed many, including the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The Hilltoppers (8-4) earned the right to head to Dallas to face Western Michigan (7-5) in the 10th edition of the bowl game.
WKU responded from that opening loss to Central Arkansas by upsetting FIU, one of the favorites in Conference USA’s East Division, on the road. After losing Duncan to a foot injury following a loss at Louisville, the Hilltoppers reeled off four consecutive wins with graduate transfer Ty Storey behind center.
The former Arkansas signal caller went 6-2 as a starter, including a victory over the Razorbacks on the road in early November. Storey became only the third player in FBS history to grad transfer and then defeat his undergraduate school the same season.
“When Steven went down, our starting quarterback, and Ty came in, he brought a lot of leadership to this football team and a lot of maturity. Whenever you have a guy like that for your defense it’s really important,” Helton said. “Our guys knew if we can get a stop, if we can get a turnover, Ty would find a way to lead this team to a win.”
The defense, under coordinator Clayton White, a 2019 Broyles Award nominee, is one of the best around. The Hilltoppers rank sixth in the nation in third down conversion percentage, 14th in first downs, 15th in red zone defense, 21st in scoring defense and 29th in total defense. In C-USA, WKU ranks first in scoring defense, second in total defense, third in passing defense and fifth in rushing defense.
The Hilltoppers have earned bowl eligibility in eight of the past nine seasons, while making five bowl game appearances over that span. The Hilltoppers have compiled a 3-2 record in those contests.