WKU Football: Grading the Tops 38–35 Loss at Army

Heyyyy hope everybody enjoyed the bye week! Mine was busy at work. Hence why this gets published a week and a half after the game. Nonetheless, reality sucks, man. The Tops have a blemish, and the 12–0 expectations are now dashed. However, what a fight! The Tops played a really good team on the road in a hostile environment and nearly pulled the thing off after being down by 21 late.

Army is good. I mean, really good. They 100 percent earned that victory, and they created enough margin that even WKU losing its mind in the fourth quarter and outscoring the Black Knights 21–3 was still not enough for the Tops to overcome a great opponent.

So let’s grade out the Tops. We’ll look at my Keys to Victory as well as break the Tops down by position group and by coaching.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Play Assignment Football: C+

My two comments on this were obviously to take care of the triple option, and my other point was to cut out stupid penalties. WKU only committed five penalties for 20 yards. There were definitely a couple of false starts that caused some issues, and an offsides late in the third that helped Army on its final touchdown drive, but overall, Army, one of the most disciplined disciplined teams in the country, had twice as many penalty yards as the Tops. Huge props for the discipline there.

Honestly, for WKU getting outscored 35–14 at one point, it was way more of Army just being better than WKU being horrible. We can point fingers, like missing some key tackles, but the Tops just played a better team. I can’t give WKU any kind of B for taking care of assignment when they gave up nearly six yards per play. Army only had 73 yards passing. Literally one yard passing in the second half. They just lined up and ran the ball, mostly seeing success on the outside. But credit to the Tops for giving themselves a chance against a really efficient opponent.

Plug the Middle: B-

Honestly job well done on this. Army had to find other solutions, because there were no scampers at all for more than 25 yards by anybody. There were no escapes by fullbacks of more than 13 yards. No fullback averaged more than 3.8 yards, but three of the five touchdowns on the day were by the dive play. It would’ve been a B+ if not for the three touchdowns. You’ve got to find a way to stop a team once in a while when they’re inside your own three yard line.

I was talking about how WKU Defensive Coordinator Maurice Crum would approach this game. He decided to take the Clayton White carbon copy from 2019, and I think that in hindsight was something that should’ve been adjusted. WKU went all-in on stopping the dive, which is great. But the method was using a “Bear” front, AKA a 5–2 offense. That’s fine, and they did use some hybrid, big linebackers, and DeAngelo Malone was more of an outside linebacker, manning the “field side” defensive end position. However, what did Army generally do? They knew WKU was probably going to try to duplicate the 17–8 result from 2019. But the men from West Point are significantly better than that 2019 version. So the Black Knights didn’t run the dive as much as normal. They pitched. They ran the quarterback outside, and they ran the plays quite often to the boundary to avoid DeAngelo Malone, who still managed a mammoth 12 tackles. They ran some trickery, like faking a pitch to the boundary, pivoting and running quarterback Christian Anderson to the field side on third-and-12. They ran an inside counter with a running back from slightly off-center, something I don’t believe they ran much against Georgia State. I have rarely seen this type of play from a triple option.

So in one way, WKU plugged the middle. But they also gave up the entire outside of the field on most plays. There were very few short gains when the quarterback kept it or pitched it. And also, when it counted, the dive was good for a first down on third-and-short or goal-to-go.

Keep the Time of Possession Loss Reasonable: D

Yeah the Tops weren’t dominated as bad as Georgia State, but imagine if WKU hadn’t gone on its run at the end of the fourth quarter. At one point, Army had owned the Tops 34 minutes to 15 or so. WKU ended up with the ball a majority of the remaining ten or 11 minutes, but otherwise, the Tops wouldn’t have held the ball for even 20 minutes. They in fact held the ball 20:22, meaning Army was 22 more seconds away from doubling up the Tops’ opportunities to possess the ball. That’s exactly what you fear.

This absolutely crippled the Tops in hindsight. Sure, WKU scored 35. Credit to Army for doing just enough, because the Hilltoppers just needed a little bounce here or there on their three onside kicks and they could’ve been in serious business. Or say Zappe doesn’t throw the interception to start the game. Or say the punt doesn’t get tipped. Or this. Or that.

A huge factor in this Time of Possession equation: WKU so far just doesn’t have a running game. Now, they don’t emphasize it at all. They run the Air Raid Offense, meaning the run is a change-up for airing it out. That’s fine, but the Tops sure could’ve used an extra possession or two, or could’ve afforded to keep it closer than 21 before they got clicking. Being able to run is crucial, and WKU needs to get it right. That’s a lot of pressure on your defense to play 35+ minutes per game. So far, that’s what they’re doing to the men on the other set of benches on the other end of the WKU sideline.

Light It Up-Score 20 or More: B

Listen, I’m not trying to be rotten and ungrateful here, but WKU had to scrape and claw to get to 14 points at halftime. Western had a foolish interception throw by Quarterback Bailey Zappe. They found (emphasis on the luck) 14 points in the second. Then they did not score until eight minutes left in the game. That is not exactly being consistent. Now sure, they hung 35 on Army, a team that gave up more than 35 last season only once. Because of the style of game, WKU needed to light it up into the 40s. They didn’t do that, missing on some crucial opportunities early to take control of the early part of the game. WKU was reasonably able to move the ball, but stalled three times, turning it over on downs twice in Army territory.

We talked about it: With Army’s ability to score on most drives, WKU had to match that intensity and go toe-to-toe with the Black Knights. Allowing Army to get up 21 really put the difficulty level to a whole different stratosphere. At that point, WKU had to be perfect, and they were the rest of the game, still losing by three.

Win the Special Teams Battle: D

I think this was pretty much the difference in the game. When I put this Key in here, I was hoping WKU would outright win the Special Teams battle. Now, with the new “fair catch” rules, Special Teams are waning in terms of impact, but frankly, I completely disagree with several of the fair catches. Army was struggling to get the ball into the end zone on kickoffs. CBS Sports color guy Ross Tucker even commented on the kickoff out-of-bounds that Western was simply fair catching. That’s indicative to me of opportunity.

There was one that baffled me. Army kicked it to the nine yard line and didn’t have much hang time, and the Tops could’ve easily returned the ball past the 25. Why not? Momentum plays often come in the return game. I think the fair catch thing is now hurting teams that habitually just fair catch no matter what. My personal philosophy would be anything inside the five, fair catch it. Otherwise, return that thing, man! You’re telling me you can’t get more than a 20 yard average? Come on.

Other than that, Army packed the middle on the lone punt of the game by either team, the middle protector whiffed on a block (facing a 5-on-3), and WKU punter John Haggarty’s punt was tipped and only went 26 yards, ultimately resulting in a fairly easy drive for Army to the end zone. Also, in the only field goal attempt of the game, Army sealed the deal late in the fourth quarter. Without that make, WKU probably would have sent the game to overtime with that final score. So although Special Teams was not significant in terms of volume, the lack of opportunity and the fact that the only majorly negative play — besides what amounts to a ten yard penalty on the kick out of bounds — was WKU’s blocked punt.

More Front Seven Tackles Than DBs: B

Honestly, this is why I feel like this was a pretty good performance. Sure, the Tops gave up 38 and hardly stopped Army. But they slowed them down. They made it difficult. They fought their butts off, and when you look at the stats, the top five tacklers and seven of eight were linebackers or defensive line, including a defensive tackle not named Jeremy Darvin. That’s a heck of a job causing problems up front. But there’s no way we can give anything close to an A if the Tops gave up the top end of possible points allowed. But honestly, job well done on this. It gave WKU a chance despite incredible execution by Army.

Position Grades

Offense Overall: B-

Give them a ding for the slow start and a serious ding for the lack of a running game, but this swings massively upward because of the incredible fight and performance in the fourth quarter. That was incredible, and they almost pulled it off. If any one of three onside kicks went their way…man, this could’ve been one of the best and most unlikely comebacks in college football history.

Quarterback: B+

I mean honestly Bailey Zappe is amazing, and I’m going to quickly learn to grade him on a scale. He’s phenomenal. Please don’t take my non-A grade as anything but a compliment for his greatness. Two weeks in to his WKU career in front an audience and he’s astounding. But he’s got some flaws he needs to work on. He has shown a tendency to make a mistake or two a game. He’s already thrown a couple of poor interceptions. Yet he also throws for over 70 percent. But he threw across his body multiple times in this game. One was to a wide open receiver. One was a telegraphed pass that the interceptor had to make an incredible play to not only deflect but pick off cleanly and return for 24 yards. Army’s secondary has incredible skill!

But other than the silly interception, my Lord. That guy singlehandedly just about overcame the entire purpose of the triple option. Down 21 in the fourth, he literally was almost too good for a team getting votes in both polls playing pretty well. And he’s mobile! Brandon Doughty used to be able to slide a little bit thanks to Jeff Brohm’s really creative QB drills, but he never ever ran the ball. Zappe honestly could stand to run a little more, because I think he had an opportunity on a 2nd-and-1 play to get a first down instead of throwing it away. Nonetheless, he’s athletic enough, he’s got a strong arm, and he’s got guts and leadership. I can’t say enough about him, but because of the sliding scale, a B+ on the Bailey Zappe performance scale.

Running Back: D

I hate to give awful grades, but it is what it is, unfortunately. Let’s not knock Noah Whittington (nine touches, total of 41 yards), because he came in and did a decent job and was helpful late in the game. The running backs get bonus points for timing and contributing a touchdown, but honest to Pete! 11 carries for 35 yards and eight yards receiving is horrendous. This running game must get better, or this team will have a frustrating ceiling. I said it in some other articles: Mike White with a running game won a championship. White without one had a losing record.

This is not quite to disaster level, because Army’s defense is really good. In other words, there is not enough information, so it’s not time to panic. The RBs haven’t been horrendous when given the ball, but what happens when the Tops are up big? They need to be able to produce. If WKU can’t muster 100 yards a game on the ground as an average for the year, the Tops are in trouble. So far, it’s 70 yards per game with two Big Ten schools in a row. If WKU can muster 70 against those two, that’s an improvement, sadly. Even an Air Raid needs the ability to run.

And supposedly Jakairi Moses is out for the season according to injury reports. We are yet to see Jamale Carothers, former BGHS star and transfer from Navy. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have talent like that not even contributing in a four or five man rotation so far. Again, I don’t know the specifics. Maybe he’s injured. Maybe he knows the playbook like he knows an estranged fourth cousin in Guam. But I’m looking for some kind of production from somewhere in the running game, please.

Wide Receiver: A+

Jerreth Freaking Sterns. Holy lord. That guy is on pace to have the best season in WKU Football history. And he’s not the only one, either. Mitchell Tinsley is proving to be a solid number two. Craig Burt earned serious minutes from UT-Martin garbage time and is already over 100 yards for the year. Freshman Malachi Corley was a nice possession receiver this game. Debatably ahead of quarterback, wide receiver is probably the single strongest position group on the entire WKU team.

Tight End: C-

This isn’t really their fault with the clear best option, who could be a legit Mackey Award contender if he could stay health in Joshua Simon injured. Simon has battled injuries his entire career. Western clearly has very little depth at the position, with Joey Beljan only catching one pass for 13 yards. The boys get a little bit of a pass for being injured, no noticeably negative plays, and not being a huge part of the Air Raid style, anyway. WKU really needs Simon to be healthy or it really takes away a guy that can slice up linebackers and safeties. A good tight end can make a passing offense (and a running offense) even better.

Offensive Line: C+

Again, WKU lit it up in the passing game and couldn’t run the ball. However, in this game, Army got to Bailey Zappe several times and forced him to scramble several others. Three sacks were given up, but 1.5 were given to Andre Carter, the 6'7" freakishly bendy defensive end. That’s a tough matchup for anybody, so holding the entire unit to three is a pretty darn good outing for a line that’s still somewhat unproven. That’s an upper level defensive front for sure.

So give them props for holding their own. However, they lose marks for allowing Zappe to take several hits, as well as the aforementioned running game. Again, there is no way the O-Line can get great grades if the running backs can’t muster 40 yards per game.

Defense: C

Overall just meh. This was not utter dominance in terms of tons of huge run plays by the Black Knights. It was more dominance by attrition, but Army was consistently efficient enough to march up and down the field, albeit slowly with a lot of resistance from WKU. Topper fans were hoping for just a little bit more from the defense, and again, the run defense was abhorrent statistically. Hopefully they can figure it out against Indiana and Michigan State or those two could be ugly.

Defensive Line: B-

Honestly, if you look at the stats, the defensive line showed up and made some plays. Were they incredible? No. Were they utterly dominant? No, but Juwuan Jones had himself a near career best game statistically. I expected him to struggle, but he had nine tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. DeAngelo Malone was a quiet monster, racking up 12 tackles. As I predicted, they used the (former Defensive Coordinator) Clayton White blueprint and used Malone as a defensive end hybrid LB/DE to the strong side of the field. WKU ran a “Bear” front, or a 5–2, and it was extremely effective in forcing Army to do something besides run the dive. Four of the top five tacklers were defensive linemen. The fifth is a hybrid linebacker. But let’s not give them too much credit here, either: The defensive unit gave up 339 yards on the ground. They obviously let a few of those little guys squirt through their big paws. Yikes, boys.

Linebackers: C+

I struggle in general with the 4–2–5 base defense. I’m way more of a 4–3 guy. Whatever. In a game like this, I would turn my defense into a 3–4 hybrid versus running a 5–2. Just scrap anything you normally do defensively and play man-to-man. Everybody’s got somebody. Personal philosophy, but linebackers are by basic position responsibility oriented. They’re also quick enough to handle whatever is thrown at them for the most part. I would think assignment football would work great for linebackers against a triple option.

All of that entire paragraph was basically to say this: The linebackers didn’t do that much because WKU doesn’t play that many. But the linebackers that did play racked up a fair few tackles. And honestly, with as good as Army’s offense is this year, holding them to 5.7 yards a play is pretty remarkable considering Army only relinquished possession of the ball twice the entire game. Basically, WKU did its job making Army work, giving up very few huge plays. But if WKU was loading up the box with linemen, the linebackers and DBs were in charge of cleaning up the quarterback run and the pitch, both of which were much more successful than the dive. So the linebackers get a little ding, but they were by no means awful.

Defensive Backs: D+

Listen, they weren’t atrocious. I really did not want to give bad grades, because this is not like WKU just got utterly obliterated defensively. Now, the DBs were the most non-existent and made the most critical errors. I think you had more missed tackles in this group than any other, some blown coverages (which are completely normal against Army), and frankly the most tackles by any DB was Antwon Kincade with five. Honestly, I said going in that you want to see plays made by the front seven. Sure, but you also want your DBs to make plays period. There were no big plays that I really recall from the DBs, and certainly statistically, nothing stands out. Zero anything defensively besides a few tackles.

Maybe the D+ seems harsh, but to be fair, I really considered a C-, as well. It was 50/50 and I think a D+ just gives a better portrayal than something in the average range. The lack of any big plays at all and no volume on 73 plays ultimately tips the scale downward.

Special Teams Overall: D

I already went over a lot of this above, but to summarize, when you look back at it, this was a huge issue that probably cost WKU the game. Can we say for sure? Not necessarily, but the lone punt went 26 yards. Zero-for-three on onside kicks. Fair catching everything. What is there to feel good about besides Narveson making extra points and Munson doing a pretty good job when he kicked it deep?

Coaching: B (See Below)

Offensive Coaching: A-

Honestly, Nothing to complain about here. Yet. Get popped in the mouth, try a few things, make a turnover, and ultimately put it together later in the game enough to almost beat a really good team. That’s adjustment ability. I still want to see more rushing attempts, but frankly, it’s not the Air Raid style, but also it’s clear there is no elite ready-to-go rushing talent so far through two games. Now, that would be monumentally disappointing considering the significant transfers if that continues all year, but let’s not fault the coaches on that at the moment. Give them a few games without progress and then we’ll start really taking issue.

Defensive Coaching: C+

I still think they did a decent job, but frankly I believe the 5–2 vs. triple option idea needs to go to the wayside. You sacrifice way too much on the edges by clogging up the middle. 2019 was a lot of luck if you look back at the entire game. I understand the dive is crucial to stop, but your DT’s are producing this year. You have a really good defensive line. Trust them to take care of it and watch their gaps, and fill in holes with your LBs and then bring in the DBs behind them. What did Army do once they realized the dive wasn’t there much? Run the quarterback option. Run to the boundary a lot to avoid DeAngelo Malone, who still had 12 tackles (@NFL, draft him already).

I’d rather see a 3–4 or 4–3 against an option, personally. I already said that. Difference in opinion, but overall, this staff must figure out a way to stop or even slow down the run. They have not shown much ability yet in this area. Let’s see how it unfolds, but a defense that can’t stop the run is a defense that will give up leads or not be able to stop someone in order to come back. That’s a huge problem going forward, and if all of this talent on defense can’t figure it out, that ultimate lies on coaching. The season is very young, though.

Special Teams Coaching: D

First of all, a punt got blocked. That’s at least partially on coaching. Somebody didn’t do their job. I’m not counting that much against them, though. My major issue with the coaching is the fair catching almost no matter what on kickoffs. It’s annoying! If you have a decent returner, shouldn’t he be able to get 20 yards on average? I would tell my guy if it’s past the five, run it out and let’s see what happens. If it’s behind that, statistics say you’re going to end up at about the 25 or shorter on average if you return it. But return the ball every once in a while! Will we never see a kickoff returned for a touchdown again?!? Statistically, those are massive in determining the outcome of games! Give them a chance!

Overall: C+

Listen, C+ may be a little harsh overall, but if you think about it, the offense had to get demon possessed in order to not lose by 21. They had to have some things that hadn’t happened all day magically happen in the last few minutes of the game, that being stopping Army’s offense from slowly bleeding the Topper defense to a brutal death for one.

Also, there are no known solutions to the biggest known problems with the team: Rushing on both sides of the ball. WKU allowed 341 yards rushing this game and allowed 201 to an FCS the week before. Again, it’s not panic button level alarming, but Western really needs to get their life together or it’s going to be a frustrating year for everyone involved.

Other than that, everything was fine. And honestly, Army is not just a good team but a really good team. They could beat anyone this year. They’re 3–0 and should be 5–0 before they play current #18 Wisconsin in the middle of October. I truly believe that. There is no reason they couldn’t hope for being a fantastic upset at Wisconsin away from an undefeated season. I don’t think they’ll beat Wisconsin, Wake Forest, and Air Force all in a row, but they should be in with a chance against each of those schools.

That being said, WKU was in with a chance late in the game against a good team. On one hand, the Tops should feel fine about that effort. But scoring 35 against Army should be enough and it wasn’t. Frankly, if the defense hadn’t found some miracles late, either Army wins it without needing an extra field goal late or scores a couple more times. That’s poor defense.

WKU should go in to the Indiana game this week feeling good about competing, but also hungry knowing that wasn’t their best in any phase of the game, either.