Western Kentucky athletic director Todd Stewart, football coach Jeff Brohm and redshirt-senior quarterback Brandon Doughty met with the media Wednesday. Doughty was granted a sixth year of eligibility and won a Conference USA MVP on Wednesday. The Hilltoppers (7-5) start practice Thursday.

Todd Stewart

    “Today is for Brandon and the bowl game, but I’ll kinda quickly walk through the sixth year and what that involves and how we got that.

    “As you know, this is just a little bit of background, Brandon tore his ACL in 2011 in the Indiana State game and missed the entire season and had surgery. And that actually healed, but then in the summer of 2012, preparing for the 2012 season, he re-injured the knee, and actually had to have it scoped, and as a result of that, was never really able to get healthy.

    “So he essentially missed the 2012 season, minus a couple games, because of that injury. The waiver that was filed – and John McCammon who is our associated athletic director for compliance was the point person for this and did a terrific job and gathered up all the medical information in an orderly fashion and ultimately that was sent on to the NCAA for them to review. The waiver that we asked for was for the 2012 season.

    “I really want to compliment the NCAA. It’s really hip to criticize the NCAA for not caring about the welfare for student-athletes, but I think without question, when they reviewed the information and they looked at this, they did care about Brandon’s welfare and they made, what we felt, was certainly the right decision, but obviously we appreciate them looking at the detail they did and coming to the conclusion that they did. We’re thrilled to have our quarterback back for another year and I know he’s happy to be back, too.”

    Applying for the redshirt retroactively: “You actually have to wait until your eligibility is complete to do that. So it wasn’t something that we could have done a couple of years ago. You have to wait until your eligibility has expired.”

    Timing: “His eligibility for this year, once you play more than 30 percent of the team’s games, then your eligibility for that year is up. We had to wait until that point and time, and then the information gathering process was in October and then everything was submitted in November.”

Jeff Brohm

    Idea of Doughty coming back: “I think early in the season some things we’re brought up. We went through the process during the year the proper way.

    “Obviously to get this news is tremendous for us, tremendous for Brandon, it’s tremendous for our team and university and we couldn’t be more excited. Any time you get the chance to come back and enjoy playing the game, first and foremost, and have fun doing that, and at the same time continue to get better and work on your craft. And then continue to get an education. Pursue that.

    “And then probably the fourth thing is to be around your teammates another year. I think that’s always a special thing to do. This whole team loves Brandon and we’re definitely excited to have him back.”

    Can Doughty be better? “Well he’s put up some tremendous numbers this year, so we’re definitely excited how he played. He made tremendous strides, tremendous improvements. He’s definitely the leader of our offense and, really, those numbers are hard to surpass.

    “I think that he understands that the chance to come back another year, to improve his game, to see how far he can take this team, to try to find ways to win a championship – and to spend a full year honing his craft and becoming the very best he can be.

    “Myself, coach (Tyson) Helton and our offensive staff we do whatever we can to help him. We’re gonna identify some things he needs to work on and definitely hone in on those and do whatever we can to help him achieve the very best that he can be. We think we have a good plan ready to go and he’ll do a great job.”

    No QB battle in 2015: “It’s huge to have Brandon back for sure. He’s played tremendous this year and to get him back next year is a huge plus.

    “I think we’ve got to just concentrate on getting better as a team. There’s a lot of areas we need to improve upon. There’s a lot of games we feel like we should have won but we didn’t. But on the flip side we probably won some games that some other people think think they should’ve won.

    “We’ve just gotta get better as a team. I think our guys have a great attitude, they work hard, they understand we gotta continue to improve and we’re definitely excited about the future.”

    Bowl practice: “We’re getting ready to have our first official practice (Thursday). We want our guys to get back in the flow. We want them to practice hard and continue to improve. We’ll have a chance to go 1s-on-1s for a good bit of the practice, but not all of it.

    “When our best players are going against our best players we’ll have a chance to work on our younger guys, get them a lot of work as well, get them ready for next year.

    “So it’s a great opportunity for us to improve as a team. I think we’ll do that. I think our guys are really itching to get back out there and I think they’ll do a great job.”

    Playing in the Bahamas: “Well there’s a chance you could have a little more fun than you normally would. I want our guys to have fun, I want them to enjoy the trip. We’re obviously staying at an outstanding place, playing in a great venue. It’s exciting. I want them to have a good time with it.

    “Now, we understand, we’ve talked about it a lot, that the No. 1 goal for our team is to win the football game. So we’re gonna make sure we do everything in our power to win the game, get ready to play, play at a high level, continue to try to improve and get better and this is a good test for us.”

Brandon Doughty

    The day that was: “It’s been a crazy day. It’s an honor being able to get a sixth year. Not many people get to do that so I think it’s really important.

    “We’re trying to keep the focus on going to the Bahamas and beating Central Michigan right now. Having this day is a really special day for my family.”

    The Conference USA MVP: “Yeah, yeah, that was cool. That MVP award, man, that goes to my teammates. Those guys make me look so good – Cam Clemmons, the guys on the line, they do a heckuva job. Receivers make plays for me. It’s not just about me, it’s about all those teammates, too.”

    Relief of the decision: “I really wasn’t thinking about it (during the season). I kinda tried to keep the game about the game. I really wasn’t aware of it until, probably, the end of the season a little bit, the last couple of games that that process was going on.

    “I was just trying to keep about playing each game one game at a time, one play at a time. I really didn’t think about it too much.”

    Worried about not getting the appeal? “Well you know, the way I played it this year was playing it like it was my last season. I think it’s just a bonus that I got the (extra) year and it’s really cool. I’m excited to come back to see what next year brings.”

    Hard decision to come back? “There’s a lot of things I have to work on as a player, as a person – grow up a little bit more.

    “And I think there’s goals out there as a team we didn’t achieve in. I think that we wanna achieve those goals. That’s the main thing. That’s why we play the game.

    “It was definitely an opportunity. I don’t think it was anything strenuous on me. I prayed about it and I think God gave me good guidance of where I wanted to go.”

    Learning of the decision: “I kinda learned about it last night and how we were gonna do it. It was kinda cool. It was really cool – not to me, but to my teammates. It was about my teammates. Those guys really, really make me look good.

    “We got guys that can make plays. We got offensive linemen that are giving me time and protection out there. I got all the stats and stuff, but those guys make me look good, man. I’ve said that many times before and I can’t say it enough.”

    2012 bowl vs. 2014 bowl: “Well it’s kinda cool that we’re playing the same team that we’re accustomed to seeing. I kind’ve remember a couple things that they do – it’s a whole new staff and stuff, but just personnel-wise.

    “It’s cool that we got a bowl. That was a goal going into the season, to be bowl-eligible and get into a bowl. As a team, we’re real excited. We’re real excited about going on the field even (Thursday).”

    Bahamas: “That’s a cool deal. I get to show off my beach body. I’m not sure who wants to see that. But yeah it’s cool. It’s cool that we’re opening the Bahamas bowl. I think that that’s something we’re taking pride in.

    “I think that just having a bowl game this year is important for our team.”