The red zone has become somewhat of a danger zone during Western Kentucky’s last three games.

WKU (2-2 overall, 0-1 Conference USA) turned the ball over twice when it moved inside the 20-yard line against Ball State on Sept. 23, both being interceptions thrown by quarterback Mike White.

The red zone troubles didn’t just start there. The Hilltoppers have three turnovers in the red zone in the last three games. On the season, WKU is 12-of-17 in red zone conversions, which ranks 117th nationally at 71 percent.

The deficiencies led first-year coach Mike Sanford to put aside a good portion of Monday afternoon’s practice to solely focus on timing and execution inside the 20-yard line.

“Definitely big when you can get extra work, especially coming off a bye week,” White said. “Normally on Monday we’re still sore from a game on Saturday, but coming off a bye week we were able to get good work in and people were able to run.

“I think whenever we can get everybody on the same page in the red zone – because it’s where you score your points – and rep those things out, it’s good.”

White can erase those two interceptions from memory by piloting the offense against a Texas-El Paso team that has allowed teams to score on 24-of-26 trips in the red zone. WKU’s game at UTEP from the Sun Bowl in El Paso will kick off at 7 p.m. CDT and stream live on CUSA.tv.

WKU was officially 5-of-8 in red-zone conversions against Ball State, but it’s a statistic that can be misleading since it goes against a team for kneeling to run out the clock at the end of a game inside the 20-yard line.

White’s first interception in the first quarter of that game was due to miscommunication on a route between he and running back Jakairi Moses. His second pick in the third quarter was thrown as a gift right to a Ball State safety sitting in front of Lucky Jackson in the middle of the end zone.

On Sept. 16 against Louisiana Tech, WKU’s lone miscue in the red zone was a missed field goal from Ryan Nuss, which in the end proved crucial in a 23-22 loss.

On Sept. 9 at Illinois, WKU’s struggling offense made it to the red zone twice, but scored only once. White fumbled at the 12-yard line just before halftime, then ran in WKU’s only score in the fourth quarter.

Considering WKU was a perfect 3-for-3 inside the 20 in the opener against Eastern Kentucky, it’s clear that capitalizing close to the end zone has become a much-needed point of emphasis.

“I thought Monday was a great opportunity for us to get in a little more red zone work so we can start the week off with an area where we need to improve, particularly offensively,” Sanford said during Monday’s news conference. “It sounds cliché but it’s true. It really just comes down to 11 guys doing what they’re supposed to do in those situations and us as coaches, it falls on us to get those players to execute exactly what we’re doing in those situations.

“That might come down to eliminating several schemes we didn’t get enough practice work at, because if you don’t have the repetition in it, it’s going to be challenging to demand it out of our players on game day. I think the Monday practice really allows us to get more reps with what we want to do in the red zone.”

Sanford said that improving the offense’s red zone numbers comes with finding balance in the run and pass, which would lead to more touchdowns instead of field goals.

Of WKU’s 17 trips inside the red zone, 10 have been for touchdowns. Nuss kicked two field goals inside the 20 in the win over Ball State.

Sanford said on top of being able to run the ball, it is important for “a very talented quarterback and some athletic wide receivers and tight ends” to get chances to score as well.

“We want to have that balance,” Sanford said. “We didn’t really have it through three weeks. Week 4, we threw it a little more in the red zone and a couple of turnovers really came down to just minute details, just getting more work and reps in that. Those are plays we worked on in the bye week.”

WKU didn’t change anything with schemes during this recent emphasis of red zone work, and offensive coordinator Junior Adams said UTEP’s own deficiency in defending the red zone isn’t influencing the Hilltoppers’ approach to Saturday.

That practice on Monday, Adams said. consisted of about 10 minutes of only red zone work within the current offensive structure.

“It was nothing that we haven’t ran before,” Adams said. “It was our DNA offense and just getting comfortable in that area of the field. Things are a little tighter as far as windows and the catches are tighter. Just getting the timing down on Monday is always good.”{&end}