It was all business down in Boca Raton for the Hilltoppers on Saturday. They blasted the Owls 52-3 to earn their sixth win of the season and become bowl eligible for the sixth straight season.
Here are some takeaways from the lopsided affair:
- A hot start propelled by the air attack is always helpful, White tossed three early scores to Nicholas Norris (76 yards), Lucky Jackson (54 yards), and Taywan Taylor (65 yards) to give WKU a 21-0 lead with 13:53 remaining in the second quarter.
- The defense came up huge throughout the day, with the Owls only points coming off a muffed punt by Kylen Towner that set them up inside WKU's 10-yard line just before halftime. It wasn't a big sack or tackle day for anyone on defense, but they only allowed 3.8 yards per rush. The pass coverage was stellar as well, WKU created 11 pass break-ups (Branden Leston had 4, Keith Brown with 3) and Owls QB's threw for under 50% on the day.
- The running game struggled early on, which was fine considering FAU's secondary was getting torched by Mike White and the receivers. But, it was good to see the ground game get going in the second quarter with Marquez Trigg, who broke free on a couple of occasions and was more of a spark than Quinton Baker. Ace Wales didn't miss a beat upon his return from suspension in the second half, scoring on runs of 30 and 11 yards in the 3rd quarter. Combined, WKU ran for 268 yards averaging 6 yards per carry.
- I'll give more credit to the offense for their efficiency on third down, converting 10 of 16 attempt throughout Saturday's game. This was a problem for WKU earlier in the season, particularly in their struggle with Miami (Oh.) and their overtime loss to Vanderbilt. In the last three weeks, moving the chains on 3rd downs hasn't been as much of an issue and the offense has been clicking on all cylinders.
- If there is one negative to take away from today's game, it's that special teams play wasn't exactly on point in a couple of areas. I'll start with the least important. Skyler Simcox missed a 41 yard FG attempt in the first quarter, but had a nice recovery by nailing a 45 yard attempt in the second quarter. The obvious special teams blunder (as previously mentioned), came on Kylen Towner's muffed punt return toward the end of the second quarter. His mistake set the Owls up inside WKU's 10-yard line with :30 seconds remaining, but FAU was only able to muster a field goal out of a field position gift. Once again, credit the Hilltopper defense.
- WKU is now 6-3 (4-1 in C-USA) and bowl eligible for the sixth straight season and with a favorable schedule remaining that includes two homes games against Florida International and North Texas and the season finale on the road at Marshall, it'll be interesting to see if the Hilltoppers can run the table and finish the regular season with nine wins and be back in a conference championship game. Right now, odds are looking pretty good.
Here are some takeaways from the lopsided affair:
- A hot start propelled by the air attack is always helpful, White tossed three early scores to Nicholas Norris (76 yards), Lucky Jackson (54 yards), and Taywan Taylor (65 yards) to give WKU a 21-0 lead with 13:53 remaining in the second quarter.
- The defense came up huge throughout the day, with the Owls only points coming off a muffed punt by Kylen Towner that set them up inside WKU's 10-yard line just before halftime. It wasn't a big sack or tackle day for anyone on defense, but they only allowed 3.8 yards per rush. The pass coverage was stellar as well, WKU created 11 pass break-ups (Branden Leston had 4, Keith Brown with 3) and Owls QB's threw for under 50% on the day.
- The running game struggled early on, which was fine considering FAU's secondary was getting torched by Mike White and the receivers. But, it was good to see the ground game get going in the second quarter with Marquez Trigg, who broke free on a couple of occasions and was more of a spark than Quinton Baker. Ace Wales didn't miss a beat upon his return from suspension in the second half, scoring on runs of 30 and 11 yards in the 3rd quarter. Combined, WKU ran for 268 yards averaging 6 yards per carry.
- I'll give more credit to the offense for their efficiency on third down, converting 10 of 16 attempt throughout Saturday's game. This was a problem for WKU earlier in the season, particularly in their struggle with Miami (Oh.) and their overtime loss to Vanderbilt. In the last three weeks, moving the chains on 3rd downs hasn't been as much of an issue and the offense has been clicking on all cylinders.
- If there is one negative to take away from today's game, it's that special teams play wasn't exactly on point in a couple of areas. I'll start with the least important. Skyler Simcox missed a 41 yard FG attempt in the first quarter, but had a nice recovery by nailing a 45 yard attempt in the second quarter. The obvious special teams blunder (as previously mentioned), came on Kylen Towner's muffed punt return toward the end of the second quarter. His mistake set the Owls up inside WKU's 10-yard line with :30 seconds remaining, but FAU was only able to muster a field goal out of a field position gift. Once again, credit the Hilltopper defense.
- WKU is now 6-3 (4-1 in C-USA) and bowl eligible for the sixth straight season and with a favorable schedule remaining that includes two homes games against Florida International and North Texas and the season finale on the road at Marshall, it'll be interesting to see if the Hilltoppers can run the table and finish the regular season with nine wins and be back in a conference championship game. Right now, odds are looking pretty good.
