WKU Football: Grading the Tops vs. Charlotte

Western Kentucky football is officially rolling through the East Division of Conference USA. After suffering a 52–46 loss to a UTSA squad that is now ranked and climbing in the polls, WKU has reeled off three straight victories vs. East Division opponents by an average of over 23 points. Perhaps more importantly and probably scary for future opponents, WKU’s defense has now posted three straight games without giving up more than 20 points.

After Saturday’s 45–13 smashing of Charlotte, WKU’s once horrendous defense now looks good enough to actually compliment the nation’s number one passing offense in a way that makes WKU downright scary moving forward.

That being said, Western found a way to score a touchdown on its first drive for the first time this season, going up 28–13 at halftime. Western would outscore the 49ers 17–0 in the second half, cruising to a sweet victory against a hampered (albeit quality) opponent.

That being said, let’s hop into grading the Tops, starting with how they did with my Keys to Victory.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Force Charlotte to Score: A

I’m pretty sure scoring 45 with ease and only allowing 13 points, including a miraculous 56 yarder (golf clap to Charlotte’s Jonathan Cruz) that even helped Charlotte get to 13 to begin with. Charlotte did not have another red zone opportunity, only getting inside the WKU 20 twice, and only mustering 319 total offensive yards. Obviously it helped for Charlotte’s starting quarterback, Chris Reynolds, to be out, but in every way, this was just a job well done by the Tops. Even with Bailey Zappe throwing two interceptions (only reason this isn’t a perfect score), there was almost no way Charlotte won this game with WKU playing this well in all phases.

Win the Sack Battle: A+

Somehow the scorekeeper didn’t count DeAngelo Malone’s “tackle” of James Foster with a forced fumble or the Tops would have come up with three sacks against Charlotte. Regardless, 2–0 is a stone cold win. Also, look at the tackles-for-loss numbers: 9–1. WKU absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Tyson Helton and staff have to feel great about the production from both lines of late. WKU’s offensive line is now flirting with an all-time sack performance while passing for the most yards and attempts in school history. The defensive line (and the rest of the defense) is now all of a sudden well into the top 40 in sacks in the country.

Take Care of Third Down: A

Charlotte was only 5-of-15 on third down and WKU was 5-of-8. Finally, the Toppers do well offensively on third down. It’s been several games that WKU has struggled in this area. That being said, WKU did have a few moments that were not “taking care” of third down situations. One was when the WKU defense had a 3rd-and-5 and gave up a 53 yard pass play that set up Charlotte for its lone touchdown score. WKU also false started on a 3rd-and-10 that made it virtually impossible to get a first down. Bailey Zappe also threw an illegal forward pass on a third down play in the fourth quarter, forcing Braden Narveson to kick a longer field goal, which of course, he executed. I’m nitpicking, but this was not pure perfection by the Tops. WKU was generally undisciplined in some keys spots, particularly with a significant amount of false starts that stalled some drives. Seriously, good job, Tops, but it can still absolutely improve.

Be Clearly Better in the Receiving Game: A-

396 yards to 118. Obviously WKU was better, so why the A-? Well, keep in mind we have to grade on a scale when this offense is involved. But WKU is used to massive production from Jerreth Sterns and Mitchell Tinsley. They got significant production, but not massive. Neither eclipsed the 100 yard mark, and neither had multiple touchdowns. Sterns still caught ten balls, and several of his short gains were from a glorified handoff that didn’t count as a running play, dragging down his average per catch. But another reason this is not an A+ is what if Charlotte had started its starter? Would WKU’s defense have looked as good? It’s a fair question. But obviously WKU was the better unit.

Which Patchwork Running Game is More Effective?: C-

Who knows why Adam Cofield hardly played, but thank God Noah Whittington came in later in the game and produced some easy runs. Otherwise, WKU would have hardly had a running game at all. Western only mustered 76 rushing yards, but only went to the ground 21 times on 67 plays. Obviously it wasn’t as big of a focus for WKU, compared to Charlotte virtually flipping the Toppers’ numbers. Charlotte rushed 44 times, only passing 25 times in the game. The 49ers were much more effective on the ground, gaining over 200 yards, including a 39 yard outburst by Calvin Camp. The Toppers have rarely allowed a huge play in the running game, so there were some odd circumstances in this game. But without question, this was the one key that WKU struggled with. But this manifested itself as a problem when WKU was not able to run early in the game, and it also gave Charlotte opportunities to convert in short yardage situations.

Position Grades

Quarterback: B-

Look, I know Bailey Zappe was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week, so I’m prepared for someone to get offended. But again, folks, this is on the Bailey #Zappe4Heisman Curve. He only had five total touchdowns. Pitiful, bruh. In all seriousness, two interceptions (one of which was completely and utterly on the receiver) and several more shaky moments that could have resulted in more issues really drag down this rating this time. Although Zappe was great and always is, he certainly played to the level of a two interception game. In other words, it could’ve easily been worse.

Running Back: C-

I kind of grade the running backs on a scale, as well, but in the opposite direction. Partly because of the Air Raid style and partly because of a lack of a “horse”, WKU’s rush offense is frankly not that elite. This game was more of a digression for the running game. Now, does Charlotte’s defense have to do with that? Partly. They were certainly making things more difficult yardage wise than most teams this season. But WKU’s rush offense hasn’t been this low in production since the first few games of the season. That is troubling, but in a blowout, it doesn’t really matter. In a close game, this could’ve been the difference in finishing and letting someone back in.

Wide Receiver: B

The group just gets a solid B this game. No one was over 100 yards, but plenty made significant contributions, with six receivers making at least two catches and four different men had a touchdown reception. Teams are starting to figure out how to handle Jerreth Sterns a little bit, so Zappe and Kittley and the receivers’ challenge is to figure out how to continue to get it to the best receivers, but also how to truly read the defense and not just know Sterns is open all the time. Sterns’ normal 15 yard (exaggeration) windows were now maybe five. There was one pass in the red zone heading toward the berm that Zappe threw into an impossible window to Sterns. The touchdown reception where Sterns made an incredible play stands out, as well. That’s going to be more commonplace than wide open Jerreth feasting for 200 yards. Teams are going to make him earn if. Solid B for the group, though. Another pretty darn good job by the receivers.

Tight End: F

This is going to continue to be an F until a tight end tangibly does something. I sincerely hope the Tops develop some kind of option in the passing game from this position. Joey Beljan is a good blocker, but my goodness. Surely someone can come in a do a little something. Even if it was a super sized lineman on a trick play, I would give them credit as a tight end.

Offensive Line: A

Obviously, Zappe not getting touched at all is massive, and these guys are separating themselves as a for sure top 25 unit, if not pushing undisputed top ten pass blocking unit. They’re a very good combination, especially considering Zappe throws the ball (not exaggerating) 50 times a game. To give up only ten sacks in eight games with that much opportunity is just exquisite. For perspective, if you count QB hits, that’s essentially Zappe getting touched 24 out of a little over 400 dropbacks (404 plus any scrambles by Zappe). Say it’s 404. That’s basically pressure on every ten snaps or so. It’s extraordinary and they deserve massive credit. Also, in general, WKU has only had 24 negative plays in eight games. This means out of over 70 plays per game, WKU only loses yardage on three of them per game.

In this game, WKU only allowed one tackle for loss and Zappe was not touched behind the line all night. However, with the amazing effort, the aforementioned Topper rushing game mustered only 3.6 yards per rush, and the usual production of normally three backs getting at least 20 yards was not there this game. So ding the line a little bit.

Defensive Line: A

This unit has produced numbers all year, but it is finally getting into the backfield the past three games. Somehow DeAngelo Malone forced a fumble on the quarterback in the pocket and was not credited with a sack. However, the line still got two credited sacks, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, and one pass breakup. That’s not even counting the other production in terms of significant numbers of tackles from the D-Line, as well. This unit is finally looking like it should, and on top of the expectation, this unit has surprising depth. Some young players have stepped up, like JaQues Evans and Darius Shipp, among others. Ding these guys a little because of the significant running numbers, including a few long plays, which obviously start with poor gap integrity up front. Other than that, this was a heck of a game from this unit.

Linebackers: B

From linebackers, you want production. Now, tackle production was not there Saturday. The position as a whole had less than ten tackles, so that is absolutely not thrilling. That’s where the major reduction in overall grading comes from. However, if you don’t see big numbers of plays from your LBs, you hope to see big, game changing plays coming from the middle of your defense. Well, Demetrius Cain had an interception and a hit on the quarterback. Will Ignont continues to contribute, this time with a PBU. Jaden Hunter was in on a tackle-for-loss as well as the lone fumble recovery of the game. So did the LB position contribute significantly quantity wise? No, not at all. However, they were responsible for the two turnovers of the night. They wreaked some havoc on big plays. They batted balls. I’ll take that, but I’m not giving much credit if linebackers can’t come up with more than seven total tackles as a group.

Defensive Backs: A

First of all, I don’t care if Gimp the Shrimp was the quarterback, giving up 118 yards passing (53 on one play) is incredible. So give the back end some major, major credit. Now, they did face a backup clearly not ready to lead a passing offense to greatness. However, he was competent enough and the defensive backs deserve full credit for that. Now, they did give up some big plays, both in the run and the pass game. The back end is hopefully catching most plays by no more than the 30 yard gain mark. After that, somebody (or several of them) were out of position or just plain whiffed on an opportunity to minimize that big play. In terms of big plays, you love to see some DBs getting some TFLs. They had two, which is great. They also had Kendrick Simpkins, a name we haven’t seen much of, getting involved with five tackles and a forced fumble. Throw in three more PBUs and that’s a solid performance from the back end of the defense.

Special Teams: A+

Once again, Topper Special Teams was virtually perfect. I guess if you want to complain about Munson not kicking eight touchbacks, but the guy was also kicking into a strong wind half of the game, so getting touchbacks was a tough task and he did it five of eight times. Special Teams was not as crucial this game, with the main activity being kickoffs. The 49ers only scored three times, so kickoff return was not much of a concern. When the Tops did have an opportunity, it was an above average effort on every front. Good special teams continues to be a staple under Tyson Helton.

Coaching: A+

First of all, the Tops came ready to play. All units did their jobs. Western got off to a good start and stayed pretty consistent all game. The defense was disciplined. Zappe and the offense made a few mistakes and still found a way to score 45. I can’t think of anything of pure ignorance, but if I missed something, feel free to comment. I was chasing babies from falling off of concrete steps for portions of the game. So shoot me. I think the coaching was well done, and again in a blowout, who cares?

Overall: A-

This was a really nice win and extremely impressive. Charlotte is no joke. That is a team with the same overall record as WKU with a Power Five win. They’re only one of two teams in the conference with a Power Five win this season, so they’re absolutely upper echalon of the league this year. Now, they have injury issues and the starting quarterback had a hand issue that kept him out, so you Negative Nancy’s out there can say this is a fluke because of the quarterback being out.

Regardless, WKU found a way to hold anyone besides Army and an FCS school under 200 yards passing. Pass defense has not been a strength this season. So that is a massive improvement. Also, WKU forced two turnovers defensively for only the fourth time all season; the Tops also forced multiple fumbles for only the second time all season (Army). So the Topper defense was super active in addition to giving up the second fewest total yards and far and away the fewest points all season.

On a negative side offensively, Bailey Zappe threw two interceptions and the running game struggled to be consistent. Defensively, WKU gave up what ties the second most rushing yards of the season at 201.

So there are some issues for WKU to continue to work on, but 45–13 against a team tied for first in the East Division standings with an overall winning record is a nice win. WKU has to take great confidence into the latter third of the season to be on the roll that they are.

WKU gets MTSU this Saturday. Can MTSU hang with WKU offensively? Can the Blue Raiders play any defense at all? MTSU has had a few nice performances amidst some head scratchers. However, MTSU was picked to bottom feed, and they are at least for now hanging in there. They have a really, really nice win against Marshall and shut down USM 35–10, but they also lost easily to Charlotte and UTSA, both of which WKU has played and was much better against on those Saturdays.

Paper says WKU should make MTSU bleed red. But 100 Miles of Hate says eight of the last ten games have been decided by five points or less. WKU has fared well of late, winning five of six, but MTSU is always game to give WKU a game. A series steeped in tradition, MTSU owns the all-time series by just one game, 35–34–1. WKU finally has the chance to even the series after trailing the Blue Raiders in the series since 1982.

So that being said, as I step away from my reporter persona and turn into an animal, it’s time to bring the hate, folks. It’s time to take that unicorn looking My Little Pony out to the ball game, cause it’s 1–2–3 three strikes you’re out at the oleee ball gameeeeee (reference to their horrible fight song).

GO TOPS! BEAT MTSU!