MOBILE, Ala. – WKU headed into Mobile looking to make it two bowl game victories in two seasons, as they faced the Sun Belt’s Georgia State Panthers.

The Hilltoppers looked to take control early when they picked off Panther QB Cornelius Brown giving them the chance to strike first.

The Tops would take full advantage of the turnover and hand over the keys to their Quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome, who would score the first touchdown of the game giving the Hilltoppers the lead early in the game.

But from there on out things would not get easier for the Hilltoppers they would get more difficult and in a hurry.

Almost immediately Georgia State went on a scoring spree, scoring 20 points in a mere 3 minutes, giving them a cushy and comfortable 27 to 7 lead at the half.

Early in the second half, WKU would rattle off a TD bringing them within two scores, now 27-14.

But another costly interception by Pigrome led to the downfall of the Tops, as Georgia State never looked back.

The nail in the coffin came when the Panthers inserted their backup QB Mikele Colasurdo and he, himself, found success scoring on WKU porous defense.

Georgia State would dominate the game and would be crowned 2020 Lending Tree Bowl Champions by a score of 39 to 21.

The WKU Hilltoppers are preparing for Saturday’s matchup in the Lending Tree Bowl in all phases of the game.

The Hilltoppers offense goes into Saturday’s game with Georgia State, knowing that the Panthers front seven and defensive backfield are quite formidable. Much like WKU has a top tier defender in Deangelo Malone, the Panthers boast one of the most talented outside linebackers in the country as well, in Jordan Strachan. Strachan ranks second in the FBS with 9 sacks and has set the Georgia State record in that regard. To go along with Strachan you can’t overlook the Georgia State secondary who has forced a bevy of turnovers this season including 10 team interceptions.

Now to the defensive side of the ball, where the Hilltoppers are eagerly waiting to re-emerge from a long 20 day break since their last game, which was a victory over Charlotte back on December 6th. The Panther offense is persistent and powerful with the athletic combination of Quarterback Cornelius Brown, Recevier Sam Pinckney, and Running Back Destin Coates. With an offense as explosive as Georgia State’s, they could easily put up points and yardage in bunches, which has been seemingly their staple all-season. But if the Hilltoppers look to exploit any part of the Panther offense, it needs to be in the turnover column. The Panthers have turned the ball over 19 times this season and have had multiple turnover games 6 times this year.

WNKY will have full coverage from the Lending Tree Bowl this Saturday,coverage will be provided by Graves Gilbert Clinic, Nat’s Sports, and T-J Sampson Regional Health.
Be sure to find all of the coverage online at wnky.com and on social media on Twitter and Facebook.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Football has announced the hiring of Zach Kittley as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. One of the great young minds in the game, Kittley helped coach NFL MVP and Super Bowl Champion Patrick Mahomes for three years at Texas Tech, and most recently turned Houston Baptist into one of the most prolific passing offenses in college football.

In an abridged 2020 season, the success of HBU’s Air Raid passing offense made headlines throughout the country. In only four games, senior quarterback Bailey Zappe completed 141-of-215 passes (65.6%) for 1,833 yards, with 15 touchdowns and one interception. A trio of wide receivers – Jerreth Sterns, Josh Sterns and Ben Ratzlaff – combined to produce 89 receptions for 1,256 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Zappe and the Huskies put up 480 pass yards and three scores at North Texas, 406 and five scores at LA Tech, and 380 and three scores at Eastern Kentucky, but the most notable performance was against Kittley’s former school.

At Texas Tech, Zappe completed 30-of-49 passes for 567 yards with four touchdowns, as the Huskies dropped a 35-33 heartbreaker even though they entered the game as 40-point underdogs. The 567 pass yards were the most ever for an FCS player against an FBS defense. At 458.3 yards per game, Zappe’s average ranks 85.7 yards above the leading FBS passer (Dillon Gabriel of UCF – 372.6 yards per game) in 2020.

In 2019, HBU had one of the most explosive offenses in the FCS, ranking second in the Southland Conference and 12th nationally in total offense with 426.6 yards per game and third nationally in passing offense with 334.3 yards per game. As a junior, Zappe led the nation in completions and attempts per game, ranked second in passing yards per game and led the nation with 35 touchdown passes during the regular season.

In 2018 under Kittley’s guidance, the Huskies’ offense averaged 27.4 points and 394.3 yards per game. As a sophomore, Zappe earned All-Southland Conference Honorable Mention, tying for the league lead with 23 touchdown passes and breaking the school career and single-season records for completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns. Receiver Jerreth Sterns also earned All-Conference honors, leading the league with 68 receptions.

Kittley spent three seasons as a graduate assistant coach and assistant quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech under head coach Kliff Kingsbury. He was an offensive intern for the Red Raiders in 2014 and a student assistant coach in 2013. Texas Tech finished among the top 10 nationally in passing offense and averaged more than 30 points per game each of his last three seasons, leading the nation in total offense and passing offense and ranking fifth in scoring offense in 2016. The Red Raiders were second nationally in total offense and scoring offense in 2015.

Two of Kittley’s proteges were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. Patrick Mahomes was one the top quarterbacks in Red Raider history, and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 10th overall pick. And Davis Webb, who finished his collegiate career at Cal, was drafted with the 87th pick overall by the New York Giants.

A native of Lubbock, Texas, Kittley originally went to Abilene Christian to play basketball, but earned a bachelor of arts in history from Texas Tech in 2014, then a Master of Science in interdisciplinary studies in 2016. He is the son of Texas Tech head track and field coach Wes Kittley, who is entering his 21st season at the helm of the nationally-ranked program.

Kittley and his wife, Emily, were married in February of 2017 and their son, Knox, is almost two years old.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury quote: “I’m really excited for Zach and this opportunity at Western Kentucky. He is incredibly sharp and is definitely one of the brightest young minds in the game. That was obvious early at Texas Tech and he did a tremendous job for us; I know he had a big impact on Patrick Mahomes and was critical to his development. His dad is a legend in Lubbock because of the success he has had coaching Track & Field at Tech. I know Zach was a really good hoops player, but I’m glad he chose to coach football because the game is better with sharp, young coaches like him in it.”

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes quote: “I’m excited for Zach and his family to get this opportunity at Western Kentucky. He’s a talented young coach who certainly made an impact on my career while we were together at Texas Tech. I appreciate the time he invested in me on and off the field, and I know he will do the same for the student-athletes at WKU. I’m looking forward to watching him continue his coaching career and wish him the best of luck.”

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For the seventh time in the last nine season, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will be participating in college football’s bowl season.

WKU will face Georgia State in the LendingTree Bowl on December 26th in Mobile, Alabama, as first reported by Stadium.com’s Brett McMurphy on Sunday night and confirmed by the program shortly thereafter.

The Hilltoppers (5-6, 4-3) got off to a disappointing 1-4 start to the 2020 campaign, but have turned things around with wins in 4 of their final 6 contests, including a current three game winning streak to close out the regular season.

Tyson Helton’s squad will take on the Georgia State Panthers (5-4, 4-4), who similarly finished strong with wins in three of their last four games.

The LendingTree Bowl will be held at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama on December 26th at 2:30 p.m. CST and broadcasted on ESPN.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Clayton White was listed as 1-of-56 nominees for the Broyles Award, it was announced Tuesday. It is the third time in four seasons with the Hilltoppers that he has been named a Broyles Award Nominee (2020, 2019 and 2017).

White is only 1-of-24 defensive coordinators, 1-of-24 non-Power Five coaches and 1-of-4 from Conference USA (LA Tech outside receivers coach John Allen, Marshall defensive coordinator Brad Lambert and North Texas co-offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch). The honor recognizes the top assistant coach out of approximately 1,270 in 127 FBS programs across the country.

White’s full-time defensive coaching staff at WKU consists of Maurice Crum (co-defensive coordinator/linebackers), Andy LaRussa (safeties/special teams coordinator), Kenny Baker (defensive ends) and Kenny Martin (defensive tackles).

Through 11 games this season, the 5-6 Hilltoppers rank among the best in the nation in:

• Passes defended (66 – leads the FBS)
• Pass breakups (61 – leads the FBS)
• Passing defense (170.1 yards per game – sixth)
• Completion percentage against (52% – seventh)
• Yards per pass attempt (6.2 – tied for 13th)
• Passer rating against (113.4 – 14th)
• Yards per play (4.99 – 21st)
• Total defense (336.4 yards per game – 24th)
• First downs allowed (18.6 per game – tied for 27th)
• Scoring defense (24.1 points per game – tied for 35th)

WKU’s well-rounded defensive unit boasts six different Hilltoppers with at least 48 total tackles, 14 with at least one tackle for loss, 10 with multiple pass breakups, nine with multiple quarterback hurries, eight with at least one sack, five with an interception, five with at least one forced fumble and four with a fumble recovery.

As for individual highlights, defensive end DeAngelo Malone ranks tied for second in C-USA with 11 tackles for loss and third with six sacks, while his 65 total tackles rank second in the FBS among defensive linemen. Safety Devon Key ranks tied for the C-USA lead with 86 total tackles, while that total ranks tied for 15th in the FBS. Over four years in White’s system, both Malone (25 sacks) and Key (334 tackles) have been able to rack up the numbers necessary to ink their names at the top of the all-time Hilltopper record books in the program’s FBS Era (since 2009).

White’s cornerbacks have especially flourished this season, with senior Dionté Ruffin (11 pass breakups), redshirt junior Dominique Bradshaw (10 pass breakups) and senior Roger Cray (nine pass breakups) holding the top three spots in that statistic in C-USA.

Linebackers Kyle Bailey (72 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and three sacks) and Eli Brown (53 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks) have also put up big numbers, as well as defensive tackles Ricky Barber (48 total tackles, six tackles for loss and four sacks) and Jeremy Darvin (28 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks).

Other main contributors for the WKU defense are safety Antwon Kincade (79 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and seven pass breakups), defensive end Juwuan Jones (33 total tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks) and nickelback Trae Meadows (28 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and four pass breakups).

The Broyles Award was created in 1996 recognizing Coach Frank Broyles’ legacy of selecting and developing great assistants during his hall of fame career as head coach at Arkansas. A 43-member selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, broadcasters, and a committee representing the FWAA will select 15 semi-finalists and five finalists from the list of nominees and an overall winner for 2020.