WKU Football: Grading the Tops vs. Indiana

First of all, shout-out to the Tops. Everyone fought like warriors. The effort was there by both teams, and IU just executed a little more.

WKU shot itself in the foot, be it by penalties that directly cost points, or by simply not executing in crucial moments.

I was shocked that the ultimate result was WKU being in control of the outcome of this game, and that WKU’s mistakes were the ones that decided it instead of IU needing to make plenty of mistakes to give WKU a chance.

I’m sure IU feels like they had more out there, but did they? Penix throws for 350, their running game gets 135, and the defense stopped one of the best offenses in the country for much of the game.

This game was a dead even dogfight, and it came down to mistakes and execution.

That being said, let’s break it down, starting with my Keys to Victory.

Grading the Keys to Victory

Don’t Play the Penix Game: D

Yeah I’m pretty sure allowing him to go for 350 wasn’t in the game plan. The guy was averaging 150 a game. WKU’s secondary coverage was soft as a pillow and allowed Penix to pick the Tops apart. He looked every bit of a good, talented, poised Big Ten quarterback.

It wasn’t a complete disaster, because the Tops got pressure on him at times, made him move some, and also kept IU’s running game at bay. Perhaps it’s not a complete “F” because WKU gave Penix a great game by proving they could remotely stand up against the run. I believe WKU sacrificed downfield throws for maintaining discipline against the running game.

Keep the IU Running Game Under 200 Yards OR Keep the Total Under 400: B-

135 rushing yards allowed! Ok Tops! That’s something to work with. However, nearly 500 yards without a ton of rushing yards was something I did not expect. On the one hand, heckuva job keeping IU at bay on the ground after the first couple of drives. The Tops allowed no plays more than 26 yards all day. That’s suggestive of a defense coming together and playing fairly soundly. But that total number, though…yikes. You can’t win too many games giving up over 500.

200 More Passing Yards than Indiana: F

Yeah Zappe was good but not great this game, but Penix was even better. This is a stone cold loss and the single reason WKU lost. It turns out if Zappe would’ve helped the Tops score one more touchdown, WKU likely would have won. We can’t definitely say that, because it depends on when and how that affected the rest of the game, but seriously two points’ difference? If Zappe had gotten to 400, WKU wins.

I was off on this in terms of the extreme need for Zappe to be significantly better. That was because I didn’t anticipate WKU being able to run the ball at all.

Clearly Win The Hidden Yardage Battle: B-

Honestly, the hidden yardage I was talking about was Special Teams and turnovers. There were no turnovers, so props to both teams for protecting the football. But then again, if a major concern completely cancels out, that’s a win for the favorite. On Special Teams, WKU actually listened to me and returned the football and got some decent returns! You’re welcome. And the Tops did not allow a significant return all night. That was huge. So props for those.

However, what about these two sets of hidden yardage? Penalty yardage: 59–20, and it seemed like most of WKU’s penalties were significant. How about the hidden yardage at the beginning of the game before WKU’s offense got rolling? When IU went up 14–0, WKU had -5 yards. IU had 160. WKU out-gained IU from that point forward 463–347.

Have Two of the Three Units on Defense Be As Good or Better Than Indiana: B

Honestly I was shocked by this. WKU’s defensive line was clearly better when you look at things statistically. WKU had some sacks, hurries, and hits. IU had zero sacks, and WKU’s O-Line absolutely did a heck of a job keeping IU’s defensive line from blowing up the line of scrimmage. The Tops also plugged the run well when they had to, although they still were not at all an elite run defense. The linebacker position goes distinctly to IU, both statistically and tangibly. The All-American was just everywhere, including blowing up a trick play for a huge loss later in the game.

The battle in the secondary is a debate, because obviously Zappe tore apart IU’s secondary as usual, but the secondary made way more tangible plays. For example, A.J. Brathwaite and Antwon Kincade combined for 29 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. IU had a few drops that should have been easy completions that assisted WKU’s defense. But frankly, WKU’s defense was about as good as IU’s in terms of stats and finding a way to make big plays when it had to. WKU’s defense absolutely kept the offense in the game for much of the second half. Here’s a stat to make the argument that WKU was just as good as Indiana defensively: Seven-to-three tackles-for-loss, three sacks to one, three QB hits to one, and one forced fumble to none. Perhaps the one statistical blemish for the Topper defense individually would be seven pass breakups to three by Indiana. But the point is, the WKU defense was active and effective.

Position Grades

Quarterback: C+

Yeah 365 yards passing is elite. No question. But there was way more out there for Bailey Zappe. And also, in the huge moments, the Tops just didn’t get it done. Also, there were tangible moments of leadership from Zappe in the other two games. I didn’t see as much of that this game, although that may seem like a strange assessment. But the guy has a tangible presence and I didn’t see as much of the “field general” trait as we’ve seen in the other two games. Lots of love for Zappe, but I’m sure he would read this, pretty much agree, and use it to motivate for next time.

Running Back: B+

You know what? That’ll do, pig. That’ll do. WKU just isn’t going to run the ball that much this season. Get over it if you’re upset about it. But what did Whittington and Cofield do? Contribute. Keep IU honest. Run hard. Make big plays. For the first time, we saw true contributions from running backs. We saw big plays. Nearly 100 total yards. And also, give them credit for helping in pass protection. Zero sacks given up (besides a technical sack by an All-American on a trick play) is incredible against a Power Five opponent.

Tight End: F

There’s not much to say here. One tight end (Joey Beljan) even played according to the participation chart. I never noticed him live. Joshua Simon is injured. Due to mixed reports, we weren’t sure whether he was out for the season or possibly going to start. It seems like his injury is very serious, and we will likely not see him until much later in the year or not at all. That must be frustrating for him, and frankly the entire offense. He’s a huge piece, and going forward, Beljan or someone else needs to step up.

Wide Receiver: B

A much more balanced attack this game, this solid B is not a shot at the receivers. Obviously, they carried this offense and gave them a chance. But you would like to see Sterns contribute more in the second half. He had most of his production in about a quarter and a half. Over 300 yards and three touchdowns is nice, but this unit has proven that it can be better. There was also a positioning issue on some of the routes, where the receivers didn’t give Zappe a chance to complete the ball. It doesn’t do any good to catch the ball out of bounds. This was just a nice performance, but just a little bit more and the Tops would have won. They’re capable, so let’s expect a little more. Somebody needs to get well into the 100s in yards per game. Whether it’s Sterns, Corley, Tinsley, Davis, or Burt, they’re all capable of a 100 yard game.

Offensive Line: A

Honestly, the only blemish was the beginning of the game. Give them a slight ding for the first couple of drives, because Indiana looked like it was going to shut things down and blow the Tops out. However, the offensive line utterly dominated the Indiana defensive line without question. They only allowed three tackles-for-loss, one sack, and one hit on Bailey Zappe. On top of that, the TFLs were all by linebackers and the sack was on a running back on a trick play. This was just virtually flawless from the O-Line.

Defensive Line: B+

Again, all of the dings come from the beginning of the game for the most part. There were moments when the defensive line was dominated. But that was also credit to a pretty darn good offensive line for Indiana. They’ve only allowed nine sacks through four games including this one, three of which came by the Hilltoppers. After the first few drives, the defensive line was usually present. Yes, they missed some tackles. Yes, there were times they had little effect. I think one thing that keeps this defensive line from producing significant numbers is the style of defensive coaching. WKU plays a pretty conservative style at times, dropping defensive ends into coverage, using Jones or Malone for containment of the quarterback, etc. But these guys did a good job. Ultimately, the defensive line was the best unit on the field, and major props to them for helping keep Indiana’s run game at bay, holding them to 134 yards rushing.

Linebackers: B-

Will Ignont and Demetrius Cain combined for 16 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and a hit on the quarterback. However, no other linebacker did much of anything. I say this often with this nickel base (4–2–5) defense, but with only two or maybe three linebackers on the field at one time, the linebackers that are in there need to be extremely productive. You either need two guys producing ten or more tackles per game, or you need a plethora of production from your starters in combination with your subs. A linebacker should be close to a tackle on most plays inside 15 yards. That isn’t the case right now, and I think that’s why linemen DeAngelo Malone and Juwuan Jones (or their subs) are often dropped into coverage or play a more conservative role.

Defensive Backs: C+

I understand the game plan, and frankly it worked. Bend but don’t break. Make the Hoosier work for it. Stop the run. I get that, but you cannot allow a guy averaging 150 yards per game to throw for 373. The coverage was most often too soft. Defensive coordinator Maurice Crum adjusted after his fairly vanilla defense didn’t work on the first few drives, sending more pressure. Ultimately it helped, but the windows were there between the DBs. It’s not really a great sign that three of the six top tacklers (and the top two) were DBs in a ball game won with a score in the low 30s. Penix was allowed to get in a rhythm, and a lot of it was because of the soft zone the Hilltoppers presented on the back end. However, give these guys credit. IU got 500 yards, but zero plays went for longer than 26 yards. That’s incredible discipline, frankly, when given how tough it was for WKU to stop the Hoosier offense in general.

Special Teams: B+

For the most part, really good. The only major flaw is kicking it out of bounds. The only thing you don’t want to do when making a decision of whether to kick it deep or onside kick is kick it out of bounds. Kick it deep and get a touchback? That’s decent. Onside kick? No one will question you. Kicking it in the field of play and making them catch it and return it with the hands team on? That was obviously the plan, but Munson kicked it straight out of bounds. Huge deduction there. But Haggerty, Narveson, and Munson were great besides that one play. Beanie Bishop had a decent average returning the ball for 24 yards a return. That was a huge point I made after the Army game: You’re losing Time of Possession every game by at least ten minutes. Why not give yourself a chance for another big play in the kicking game? Glad they made that adjustment.

Coaching: D

This is the first game in the Tyson Helton era that I think many felt like there were coaching issues. No one watching that game felt like it was the players’ fault. However, many looked back and felt like the coaches had opportunities to put their players in better positions. I made a list. I don’t agree that all of these were awful decisions, but I believe people make a good point.

In no particular order:

1. Running on 3rd-and-8 down five to kick a field goal-If you want to be conservative, why not run a quick screen or a slant or stick route tree?
2. Three running back play-You hand it off to Robichaux, whose only carry was on fourth down?
3. Timeout on 3rd-and-15 and then not going for it on 4-and-short-One way or another, don’t burn a timeout (which bit you later when IU was able to run the clock out) and then get conservative the next play. I personally was more upset about the timeout on a low percentage play than not going for it. I believe you don’t call timeout, take a penalty, run a screen or draw, and punt.
4. Dropping nine on defense-I understand the philosophy, but Penix already had tons of time and was in the zone. IU usually won when this strategy was chosen.
5. Massive holes in defensive backfield-I get trying to stop the run, but the players should have been told to be a little more aggressive in order to compensate for the fact that you’re a) blitzing or b) dropping nine. Tighten it up.
6. Allowing Penix to get confidence-This guy has struggled so far. Get after him. Why come out conservative? He’s been throwing interceptions. Try to confuse him.
7. Conservative Defensive End play-Again, a debatable issue that I understand, but I would rather turn Malone and Jones loose than use them as a safety valve on the edge. They’re way more likely to make a big play if they’re turned loose all game.
8. Vanilla Defense-Especially to start, but all night, WKU was too vanilla, relying on four (or less) to create pressure, running simple zone, and hoping to fool an on-fire QB by dropping random guys off of the defensive line when he’s throwing over the first layer to the second just didn’t have any effect.
9. Not pointing out a possible muffed punt and acting it out to see if you could get a call-I’m sorry, but Aaron Murray pointed it out on the CBSSports broadcast that it possibly touched the glove. Watching it live, I thought he touched it. This may not have been anything and it may not have resulted in anything, but if something is close like that, pick the ball up and act excited and run it into the end zone and make the official pay attention to the fact that he possibly touched that. An active sideline should lose their mind on that!
10. Kicking it deep with 2.5 minutes left-This is one of those moments where no one would question Tyson Helton if he just onside kicked it, but everyone would say it was a debate at best to kick it deep. I actually liked the idea of kicking it into the field of play, but Munson shanked it.

Let me be crystal clear on this: Tyson Helton and staff do not deserve to be run out of town, but we wouldn’t be honest if we didn’t say there were some questionable calls in this game.

Two More Quick Categories…

Discipline: D

Too many silly penalties in bad moments. I personally believe one offsides (on Juwuan Jones) was completely ridiculous and didn’t exist. The offsides on the field goal was debatable. Here’s a thought: They’re kicking it from 52. Don’t ever give them the chance to debate it. If the guy makes it because you don’t get a good jump, so be it. Also, the 15 yard penalty on Brathwaite is just horse hockey. Don’t ever do that in an important game when the other team is driving. That immediately guaranteed at least a long field and they ended up scoring a 46 yarder. Without that penalty, they would have possibly had to kick from 61 or punt it. You lost by two. Come on, man.

Officiating: F

They sucked and absolutely affected the game. But again, the Tops should have been able to overcome it.

Overall: B

Honestly, this was frustrating. WKU played a team that should finish in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten and was in control of their destiny. Handing them 14 points is just frustrating. This is the third straight came WKU has had to come from behind in, only succeeding against UT-Martin. You can’t dig yourself a two or three score hole and expect to find a way to win. WKU was the better team the last 50 minutes, but it was also not the better team in crucial moments from the mid third quarter to the mid fourth quarter. These are crucial moments that WKU just has to clean up the mess and be happy with who they are. The defense showed up and was finally serviceable. If that defense shows up every game, WKU may lose, but it won’t be solely on the defense. The running game existed! If that running game shows up, WKU will win another game they might not otherwise. The offense had its opportunities and was great in moments, but did not execute at the most important times of the game: The beginning and the end.

It’s unfortunate that WKU played this well, had chances to win, and silliness and poor timing ultimately kept the Tops from accomplishing a potential program changer.