WKU Football: WKU vs. Maine Staff Predictions
It’s almost time for week two of the season and that means it’s time to roll out our latest batch of predictions!
Fletcher Keel, 1–0
I’m in the same camp that a lot of you probably were in following the Wisconsin game — I was pleased with how wrong the Tops were going to look.
They looked competent in every facet of the game, and I wasn’t sure what the run-first offense with Eckels getting carries would look like, but it feels like it could work really well.
Maine will be an excellent breeding ground for Eckels’ development to continue. It’ll also be an excellent breeding ground as we’ll, hopefully, see someone or a couple of guys standout in the five-stable running back race.
Defensively, I’m looking for more of the same.
As I said earlier in the week, I’m still not super “up,” for this game, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be. The Black Bears wont know what hit em, as the Toppers will put Maine’s back against the wall (see what I did?) and win 48–10.
Matt McCay, 1–0
I’ve written some other articles on this game and my takeaways from Wisconsin (shameless plug), but the more I look at this match-up with Maine, this is a good one for the Tops. First of all, WKU is better and I am raising my expectations from hoping for a .500 season to hoping for eight wins.
Maine is a team that runs the ball well and doesn’t produce much through the air. Watch for Maine’s defense; they could keep the Topper score down, but I honestly think their 108 yard defensive performance against New Hampshire was fluky. Watch for special teams blunders and watch the trenches. And of course, watch the running game. One way for Maine to keep it close is crush Western in rushing yards.
I think WKU is much improved in key areas (especially for this match-up), and this game leaves Topper fans salivating for the Louisville game. The Tops look like they’re back, and they smash the Black Bears 45–6 with a missed extra point on their lone touchdown (Maine missed nearly 20% of its PAT’s in 2017).
Jared Rosdeutscher, 1–0
Despite miscues on offense, the Tops looked much improved in their opener at Wisconsin.
The defense really impressed me and the offense, at times, looked great with Drew Eckels at the helm.
I look for the Tops to finally find the endzone against Maine and (hopefully) get the kinks worked out of the offense and get some rhythm going.
I still don’t fully trust any C-USA team vs an FCS school after last week and wouldn’t sleep on Maine entirely so I’ll modestly predict a final score of WKU: 42 — Maine: 20
Ross Shircliffe (no Wisconsin prediction)
While the result last week wasn’t ideal, last week’s trip to Wisconsin still had several bright spots; a defensive pass rush, signs of life from the QB position and an offense that is more in Sanford’s comfort zone.
I think that momentum translates directly to WKU’s game against Maine. I look to see Drew Eckles to build off of his solid performance and I see WKU finally break their streak of not breaking 20 yard runs (my money is on Josh Samuel). Defensively I see WKU’s experienced secondary adding to Maine QB Chris Ferguson’s two interceptions that he had last week.
While the Black Bears are riding high after thoroughly dominating rival New Hampshire, I think the emotional comedown and long travel lead to a comfortable Hilltoppers win. After a close first half, I see WKU pulling away to a 34–13 victory to even their record at 1–1 before heading up I-65 for a marquee win opportunity against Louisville.
Sam Gormley, 1–0
Even the most pessimistic WKU fans shouldn’t predict a loss in this game. This game is one where we will hopefully see more answers on offense and defense.
In last week’s loss against Wisconsin, we saw spurts of this team making large strides from last season’s team. Drew Eckels shouldn’t have any issues with the Maine defense and if the WKU rushing offense can have any sort of success against the Badger defense, they should have no issues with the Black Bear defense.
This game needs to be used as a tune up, especially with the Dirty Birds coming up next week. WKU 35 — Maine 10
