WKU Athletics
Football
WKU HILLTOPPERS (0-2) at MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (0-3)
Saturday, October 3 | 4 p.m. CT | Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium | Murfreesboro, Tenn.
NOTING THE GAME - WKU at MIDDLE TENNESSEE
- The teams will meet for the 70th time, with the Blue Raiders holding a 35-33-1 all-time advantage. The Hilltoppers have won 4 of the past 5 matchups.
- The first meetings between WKU and Middle Tennessee were in 1914 and 1915, with the Blue Raiders winning both by a score of 47-0. The two played 4 times in 5 years from 1921-to-1925, then in every year from 1928-to-1936. After not meeting in 1937 or 1938, they faced off once per year from 1939-to-1941. After a 10-year haitus, the two matched up in every season from 1952-to-1991 except for 1986. The Hilltoppers did not play their close rival from 1992-to-2006, but the two have faced off in every season since 2007 except for 2013.
- In 6 matchups from 2011-to-2017, 4 of them went into at least double overtime. WKU won 36-33 in 2011 in 2OT, Middle Tennessee won 50-47 in 2014 in 3OT, WKU won 44-43 in 2016 in 2OT and WKU won 41-38 in 2017 in 3OT. WKU is 20-15 all-time in Bowling Green, while Middle Tennessee is 20-13-1 in Murfreesboro. Since 1940, the past 53 meetings have alternated hosts.
NUMBERS TO WATCH
- 8-3 — Dating back to 2012, the Hilltoppers are 8-3 following a bye week. WKU has not faced Middle Tennessee following a bye week during that time frame.
- 107 — The first-ever meeting between WKU and Middle Tennessee was in 1914, meaning the head-to-head series spans 107 years. The longest break was from 1991-2007.
- 311 — The Hilltoppers' 25-man senior class brings 311 career starts to the table going into Game 3 of the season. Safety Devon Key leads WKU with 39 career starts on The Hill.
GAME 2 vs. LIBERTY GAME NOTES
- WKU's team captain for the game was redshirt senior punter John Haggerty.
- Liberty won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Hilltoppers had won three consecutive coin tosses dating back to last season.
- There was an attendance of 4,276 in Houchens-Smith Stadium for the 11:02 a.m. CT kick off. The game lasted 3:14, which was above WKU's first game time of 3:03 at Louisville.
- WKU fell to 0-3 all-time against Liberty, including 0-2 in Bowling Green. The Hilltoppers also fell to 6-7 all-time in games played on Sept. 19.
- WKU was out-scored 10-0 in the first quarter, while out-scoring Liberty 24-20 in the other three quarters combined.
- Liberty won the time of possession battle 34:59-to-25:01 over WKU, a week after Louisville won the time of possession battle 32:33-to-27:27 over the Hilltoppers. Last season, WKU averaged a 32-to-28 time of possession advantage in 13 games.
- Liberty rushed for 354 yards, marking only the sixth time WKU has given up over 350 rush yards in the team's FBS Era (since 2009). Most recently the Hilltoppers allowed 368 rush yards in a 42-28 loss vs. Florida Atlantic on Oct. 28, 2017.
- WKU committed only 2 penalties for 19 yards, compared to Liberty's 8 for 89 yards. Through two games, the Hilltoppers have only committed 6 penalties for 42 yards. Last season, WKU ranked 11th in FBS with only 39.5 penalty yards per game on 4.1 infractions.
- WKU's loss to Liberty was only the team's fifth to a non-conference, non-Power Five team dating back to 2012. The Hilltoppers are 19-5 in such games over the past eight-plus seasons, but 5-4 since 2017.
- WKU fell to 7-4 while wearing red jersey tops and red pants, dating back to 2013. Since 2016, the Hilltoppers are 2-3 in such games.
- Devon Key led WKU with a career-high 15 tackles (7 solo, 8 assisted) for his 8th-career double-digit tackle game. He forced a fumble of Liberty QB Malik Willis in the second quarter that was not recovered by WKU, his first collegiate forced fumble.
- Dionté Ruffin led WKU with 3 pass breakups, which tied a career-high from last season in a 20-13 win vs. UAB on Sept. 28.
GAME 1 at LOUISVILLE NOTES
- WKU's team captain for the game was redshirt senior safety Devon Key.
- WKU won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Hilltoppers have won three consecutive coin tosses dating back to last season.
- There was an attendance of 11,179 in Cardinal Stadium for the 8:05 p.m. ET kick off. The game lasted 3:03, which was slightly below WKU's average game time of 3:08 last season.
- In the 102nd season of WKU Football, the Hilltoppers fell to 60-36-6 all-time in season-opening games. WKU also fell to 1-4 all-time in games played on Sept. 12.
- WKU fell to 12-22 all-time against Louisville, including 12 consecutive matchups dating back to the Hilltoppers' last win in the series in 1975. That total includes a 4-19 record on games played in Louisville.
- WKU was out-scored 21-0 in the second quarter, while out-scoring Louisville 21-14 in the other three quarters combined. It was a similar story in last season's matchup between the two teams, as WKU was out-scored 24-7 in the second quarter, while tying Louisville 14-14 in the other three quarters combined.
- WKU allowed only 7 points in the second half, continuing the team's trend from last season. Over the final 12 games of 2019, the Hilltoppers allowed an average of only 6.9 points in the second half.
- Louisville converted 9-of-16 (56%) of third downs against WKU. Last season, the Hilltopper defense ranked 7th in FBS by allowing a third-down conversion rate of only 30%.
- Louisville won the time of possession battle 32:33-to-27:27 over WKU, which included a 18:55-to-11:05 advantage in the first half.
- WKU recorded 10 tackles for loss as a team, which was more than the Hilltoppers had in any game last season. In all, nine different WKU defenders had at least 0.5 tackles for loss.
- WKU fell to 4-5 while wearing white jersey tops and black pants, dating back to 2013. The Hilltoppers had won three consecutive games in the combination at the tail end of the 2019 season.
- Omari Alexander had a Swiss Army Knife-type performance, with a fumble recovery on a muffed punt, a blocked punt, an interception, a tackle for loss and 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted).
OMARI ALEXANDER'S SWISS ARMY KNIFE GAME
- Returning to his home city of Louisville, senior defensive back Omari Alexander had one of the most unique performances you will ever see on a football field. He racked up a fumble recovery on a muffed punt, a blocked punt, an interception, a tackle for loss and 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted).
- According to ESPN Stats & Info, Alexander was only 1-of-2 FBS players (Tyler Murray of Charlotte) with an interception, fumble recovery and tackle for loss in the same game in 2020, while only 10 players did that in all of 2019. Note: ESPN Stats & Info has difficulty researching any individual games with blocked punts.
- In addition, he was the first Hilltopper to block a punt since A.J. Brathwaite, Jr. on Oct. 19, 2019 vs. Charlotte.
YOUTH MOVEMENT —> EXPERIENCED GROUP
- Following the 2016 season, in which WKU repeated as Conference USA Champions and wrapped up a two-year stretch with a 23-5 record and a pair of bowl victories, the Hilltoppers were in the midst of a youth movement. In 2017, 24 players earned their first career start as Hilltoppers on offense or defense, the fourth-most nationally, and 11 true freshman saw game action.
- Going into the 2020 campaign, WKU returns 350 career starts – 280 of them from seniors. Of those seniors, most were either redshirting as freshmen during the 2016 season (153 starts) or were brought to the Hill for their true freshman campaigns in 2017 (88 starts). The other 39 starts in the 2020 senior class were made by transfers.
- The Hilltoppers return 52-of-65 starts on their offensive line from a year ago, with 2019 All-Conference USA First Teamer RT Miles Pate as the only departed starter. Four full-time starters return, who combined for 100 career starts at WKU entering the 2020 season.
The 2020 WKU Football season is presented by Stewart Richey Service Group. Stewart Richey is a multi-disciplined construction and service firm providing contracting, maintenance, and repair services across residential, commercial, industrial, civil and institutional markets. Stewart Richey Service Group has provided over 45 years of service!
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Hilltopper Football Gameday - Game 3 at Middle Tennessee - WKU Athletics
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