WKU Football: WKU Opens Mike Sanford Era With 31–17 In Battle of the Bluegrass
The Tops kicked off the 2017 season with a match-up against EKU in front of a reported crowd of 18,614 on a beautiful Saturday evening in The Houch.
For those who have seen a WKU game in recent years, the Topper offense may have seemed a bit sluggish. But, then again, we’re used to seeing the good guys putting up over 400 yards and over 40 points a game. Some teams would be happy with what WKU did tonight.
The first quarter of the game ended scoreless (which EKU celebrated, and some may argue rightfully so) but that changed in the second quarter when WKU’s offense got going. The scoring began with a two-yard D’Andre Ferby run to put the Tops up 7–0 at the start of the second quarter. WKU then scored another touchdown on a long 66-yard Mike White pass to Lucky Jackson, putting WKU up by two scores. WKU then finished off the scoring in the frame with a Ryan Nuss 44-yard field goal to give the Red and White a 17–0 halftime lead.
However, EKU came out in the third quarter looking to get back into it. EKU scored a 7-yard touchdown pass to cut the WKU lead down to 17–7. WKU then responded with a touchdown of their own, to put them up 24–7. It appeared that WKU was starting to finally pull away, but the pesky EKU squad would not go away that easy. The Colonels scored another touchdown to keep the margin at 10 to finish the third quarter.
But, this was “Dear Ole Western’s Day” as WKU put up another score, while EKU hit another field goal, to give WKU the 31–17 win.
Mike White passed for 264 yards, and one touchdown. Lucky Jackson also emerged as an important receiver for the Tops. WKU was led in rushing by Marquez Trigg with 61 yards and one touchdown, while Ferby rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns.
The WKU offense seemed to struggle at times, and Mike White was sacked three times. The reportedly-great Hilltopper defense seemed to also struggle a lot as well, allowing too many yards against an offense that was less-than-stellar last season. Maybe Sanford was being conservative as to not give away too much before Illinois next weekend?
What did you think of the game? Did this game make you feel more confident or more nervous about the next 11 scheduled games? Do you think WKU will beat Illinois next week? Let us know in a comment below, via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page.
Here are the final stats from the contest.
