Western Kentucky didn’t handle Eastern Kentucky’s pressure too effectively.

It was a big reason the Hilltoppers’ offense took a step back from the razzle-dazzle play the program has identified with the last few seasons.

WKU still did enough to get the job done in a 31-17 win over EKU in the season opener Saturday night at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

The same team that generated a nation-best 7.6 yards per play last year was shook by EKU’s pressure. WKU still averaged 5.1 yards per play, but never got its footing in the run game. WKU totaled 100 yards on the ground with just 2.5 yards per carry.

First-year coach Mike Sanford gave the most credit to an improved Eastern Kentucky defense in Year 2 of Mark Elder’s system. Sanford said there were plenty of pressures the Colonels brought Saturday that didn’t show up on film from what he called an “unsound” first year in the system. He mentioned 6-foot-4, 236-pound defensive end Aaron Patrick as one the Hilltoppers were really keying in on.

“I’ll be quite honest, going into this game looking at last year’s film, they were not a sound defensive football team,” Sanford said. “But it was Year 1 in the system. They had spring ball and fall camp and they were a much (more) sound defensive football team.

“Today, it all fit together. That’s the kind of growth you should see from Year 1 to Year 2 in a program with a new staff.”

On the other side, Sanford knows protecting quarterback Mike White and handling future pressures is the biggest need moving forward. WKU will likely face a much bigger front next week against Big 10 opponent Illinois.

White was sacked three times and the Colonels got in the backfield for nine tackles for loss. White fumbled twice and lost one of them in the second quarter.

White had high praise for how the offensive line reacted. Four of the five starters are in new positions between Matt Nord at right tackle, Jimmie Simms at left tackle, Dennis Edwards at center and Jeremy Darvin at right guard. Left guard Brandon Ray held the same position last year.

“Our offensive line did a good job battling back and they didn’t really have the best game they thought they did, but I thought they did a good job fighting every single play and not giving up and not getting frustrated,” White said. “I think we did a good job being positive and sticking together.

“EKU is a pretty good ball club. They’ve got some dudes on their defensive line that we wouldn’t mind having on ours. They had a great scheme. There’s stuff we didn’t see on film and they came out and did some different things. … It was a really good wake-up call and shaking the cobwebs off.”

D’Andre Ferby and Marquez Trigg carried the load out of the backfield while Quinton Baker served his one-game suspension. Ferby scored twice on runs of two and five yards and finished with 57 yards on 19 attempts, while Trigg had 61 yards on 16 carries.

Sanford said having Baker back next week will bring a change of pace that will hopefully increase production.

“We had (40) yards in the first half, we finished with 100, obviously not good enough,” Sanford said. “We were close to breaking some loose. Now you get to throw in a change-of-pace back with elite speed, so that’s a really good group. They played well today, we’ll play better next week.”{&end}