The biggest home game of the 2024 schedule for Liberty just might be its last, when the Flames welcome their projected stiffest competition in Conference USA to Williams Stadium on Nov. 23: Western Kentucky.
The Hilltoppers and Flames are expected to be the two top teams in CUSA this year, at least by the league’s coaches and media. They were picked No. 1 and No. 2 last year as well, only in reverse order.
Under head coach Tyson Helton, the Western Kentucky program has had reputable stability, winning eight-plus games in four of his five seasons and going bowling in all five. But for all their consistency, they’ve failed to break through for 10 wins or the CUSA crown.
Consistency in the last three years has stemmed from quarterback for Helton, with Bailey Zappe’s record-breaking 5,967 passing yards in the 2021 season, and Austin Reed’s nearly 8,100 passing yards over the last two years. Now, Helton is looking for a new signal caller to continue the trend, and has brought in a multi-school transfer in TJ Finley as a possible solution.
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Helton will also have to find a new No. 1 receiver for his quarterback after Malachi Corley’s departure. Over the last two seasons, Corley had totaled nearly 2,300 yards and 22 touchdowns from Reed.
The optimism for the Hilltoppers comes from their recent history, and the strength in returning four of its offensive linemen and, despite not having the most robust rushing attack, its leading rusher from a year ago in Elijah Young, who reeled in 20 catches as well.
Western Kentucky got two first-place votes in the preseason CUSA coaches and media poll, and is projected to finish second behind the Flames. ESPN’s Football Power Index sees the Hilltoppers’ strength of schedule — the hardest in CUSA — and projects a 6-6 finish.
Here’s an early look at the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers:
Last time vs. Western Kentucky
Liberty won 42-29 at L.T. Smith Stadium on Oct. 24, 2023.
What happened?
When the Flames made the trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a Tuesday matchup as part of CUSA’s midweek schedule, it was a dominant performance on the ground with four players totaling 50-plus rushing yards en route to their eighth victory of the season.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter was the star again, needing just 15 passing attempts to rack up 169 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, he led all rushers with 117 yards and another score.
Quinton Cooley added another 76 yards and a touchdown, while Aaron Bedgood racked up 119 total yards and one touchdown. Billy Lucas, who returns with Cooley and Vaughn Blue to the Flames backfield this year, also eclipsed the half-century mark with 53 yards.
The Hilltoppers’ Austin Reed threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns in the game, but after an opening-drive touchdown for WKU, it wouldn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter.
Liberty opened up a 28-10 lead early in the fourth before Salter put the game away with a rushing and passing touchdown later in the quarter.
Returning linebacker Joseph Carter and the now-departed Kobe Singleton led the Flames with seven tackles, and Singleton picked off Reed for a crucial interception as the Hilltoppers were driving in the closing minute of the first half.
Runs through quarterback
When Helton has a guy he likes at quarterback, he doesn’t hide it. He will spread defenses out and throw the ball all over the field, evidenced by having a quarterback in the top 10 nationally in passing attempts in each of the last three seasons.
The Hilltoppers’ leading rusher in 2023, Young, ran the ball just 104 times, the 13th most in CUSA last season.
Helton hopes he has a quarterback to air it out with in 2024 in Finley or sophomore Caden Veltkamp, who impressed in their 38-35 bowl victory over Old Dominion last season with 383 yards, five touchdowns and the game’s MVP award.
At CUSA media day, even with a Davey O’Brien and Maxwell award watch lists selection in Finley, Helton was coy on who would be his starting quarterback in Week One.
“I like our room,” Helton said. “Like all good players, TJ came in and did his job. He said, ‘Coach, I want to earn everything I get here.’ … Everybody also loves Caden and we understand the ‘Let the best man win mentality.'”
While they look to fill Corley’s big shoes, the Hilltoppers return their second and third options, Dalvin Smith and Easton Messer. Smith had 50 catches for 513 yards and six touchdowns, and Messer had 42 receptions for 484 yards and four scores.
Helton’s receiver room got a late boon during camp, as Auburn transfer Koy Moore enrolled at Western Kentucky on Thursday. Moore made 50 catches for 586 yards and a touchdown over four seasons at Auburn and LSU.
The strongest returning unit for the Hilltoppers this season is on the offensive front, with four returnees, one being a three-time all-CUSA member in Quantavious Leslie.
“I’m excited for the depth part,” Helton said at media day. “Everybody likes your starters, but it’s a next man up mentality … and we’re excited about those next guys who are running out there too.”
On defense, they return just five starters from the third-worst defense in CUSA last season, but have a pair of preseason league watch list candidates in Hosea Wheeler and Upton Stout to lead the way.
Wheeler recorded 42 tackles with two sacks at defensive tackle last year, and Stout broke up eight passes with one pick six and a fumble recovery during a injury-ridden 2023.
The Hilltoppers also bring back defensive back Anthony Johnson, who had a brief spell in the transfer portal after collecting 44 tackles, four interceptions and five pass breakups last season.
“We have strengths at all 11 positions on the field,” Stout said of the defense. “We just have to regroup from last year and get better on working on ourselves as a group.”
November success
The month of November has been kind to the Hilltoppers under Helton, something he believes is no coincidence, but rather a fruit of something his program emphasizes.
“There’s an old saying, ‘What you do in November, they remember,'” Helton, who is 15-4 in the month during his five seasons at WKU, said. “And we hang our hat on that.”
There is no question that November is the toughest, and most important, part of his team’s season, when they go to New Mexico State and Liberty, and host Louisiana Tech and Jacksonville State in what’s expected to be a heated race for a spot in the CUSA championship game.
“It makes for great football, makes for great television, and hopefully we’re all having a lot of success so we can get some great matchups in November,” he said.
Worth noting
The Hilltoppers will have the distinct privilege of being the first team to play Alabama in the post-Nick Saban era, traveling to Bryant-Denny Stadium to take on No. 5 Alabama and its new head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Western Kentucky is also seeking its first-ever win against Liberty, having gone 0-4 as a program, and 0-2 with both teams in FBS. The Hilltoppers’ trip to Lynchburg will be the first since 1995, when they fell 49-36.
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 13:00:00
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