WKU Football: Hilltopper Defense Smothers 49ers 30–14. Moves to 5–2 on the Season.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but WKU came away with the W. WKU entered the homecoming game undefeated in Conference USA, and that trend stays true this week.
Charlotte took the ball early and slowly trudged down the field eating up half of the first quarter. WKU answered leaving only 52 seconds on the clock at the end of the drive. This stat amazes me.
Entering the second, Charlotte got the ball and three plays later was forced to punt. (The one and only of the first half for either team.) WKU answered back with a flea-flicker pass to Lucky Jackson for a Touchdown.
Charlotte answered back with a pass to Benny Lemay for a touchdown( 14–14). Ty Storey took a shot down the field only for it to fall incomplete, but a rough defensive response (pass interference) helped to put WKU within field goal range. The drive stalled out and a chip shot from 40 yards by Munson pushed WKU to 17. The Tops led going into halftime 17–14.
The Hilltoppers and 49ers continued the dogfight entering the 3rd, both teams struggle to enter the red zone. The biggest issue was WKU’s defense and special teams putting the offense in the position to score, and the Hilltopper offense could not capitalize. Being forced to kick field goals on back to back possessions.
The WKU defense stood tall and continued to deny the 49ers any red-zone trips. WKU received a dose of life with an unsportsmanlike penalty pushing WKU to the Charlotte 30 yard line. Ty Storey converts a 4th & 2 with his leg and then with a crazy trick play (Reverse throwback thrown by Lucky to Storey) for the Touchdown. 30–14 WKU entering the fourth quarter.
The Hilltoppers entered the fourth quarter leading by 16. The story continued, WKU’s defense smothered the 49ers and the WKU offense stalled out. Whether that was missing a Field goal or being forced to punt. Charlotte had used all three timeouts entering the fourth quarter, so the Hilltoppers only had to keep the clock running. They seal the deal with the victory formation.
WKU 30–14
My biggest take away from this game was that the Defense is still the dominant part of the WKU Football team. They only allowed 286 yards and 14 points against the high powered Charlotte offense.
The offense continues to move the ball but once again self-destructed inside the 30 more often than not. They failed to score when the defense put them in the best position to do so, Twice. They had to resort to trick plays to score on two occasions. The WKU offense still has a lot of work to do moving forward. Finishing drives is key and while 30 points were a step in the right direction, they’ve still got a lot of work to do.
WKU stands at 4–0 in CUSA heading into a crucial two-game stretch against Marshall and FAU. If they can win both they’ll sew up the CUSA East Crown barely into November.
Here are your final stats from tonight's crucial win.
