Mike Sanford and his staff have five full games of film to review. And with 1-4 Western Kentucky on a bye week, the Hilltopper coach said he and his assistants are looking over every single play.

“You could be 4-1 right now and a lot of times, you’re probably not going to go back to the film as passionately and vigilantly to find your own flaws as you are when you’re 1-4,” Sanford said. “Ultimately, that can bode well. You should do your best coaching of your career in times like this.”

WKU and Conference USA opponent Charlotte are each off this week in advance of their Oct. 13 meeting on the 49ers’ home field.

Sanford’s staff turned its focus inward during the bye week. The second-year coach called it a “week of reflection and self-scout evaluation” after a frustrating start to the year.

WKU lost its season opener 34-3 at then-No. 4 Wisconsin. That defeat was followed by four straight close games, three of which were losses by three points each.

The Hilltoppers fell 31-28 at home to FCS program Maine, lost 20-17 at Louisville, rebounded for a 28-20 win at Ball State, then took another 20-17 loss Saturday against Marshall.

“It’s a wild deal,” Sanford said. “You look at the season so far, we’re nine points away from being 4-1, right? And we’re really eight points away from being 0-5. That’s the reality of our situation right now.”

WKU’s quarterback situation has been an area of focus this week for Sanford. The Tops are in a unique situation in that three QBs split reps almost evenly across the team’s first five games.

Drew Eckels and Steven Duncan have taken 124 offensive snaps each, Sanford said, while Davis Shanley has taken 117.

Eckels started the Wisconsin and Maine games. The redshirt senior hasn’t appeared again after taking a hard hit Sept. 8 vs. the Black Bears.

Sanford said Eckels has thrown during rehab sessions but isn’t fully participating in practice.

Duncan started against Louisville, but the redshirt freshman Shanley came off the bench and played the final 3½ quarters.

Shanley started at Ball State but experienced tightness warming up for the second half and was shut down for the afternoon. The redshirt sophomore Duncan came off the bench and piloted WKU to three second-half scoring drives.

Duncan then started and played the whole game Saturday against Marshall.

“Continuity at that position is critical,” said Sanford, who coaches the Hilltopper QBs along with assistant Matthew Mitchell.

“Quite honestly, I’ve never been part of anything like that … through five games, to almost have an even split (of quarterback snaps). Certainly, it hasn’t been by design. It’s been by virtue of guys getting dinged up.”

Shanley has the best quarterback rating of the three (136.2), followed by Eckels (135.93) and Duncan (127.61). WKU’s team QB rating (131.45) ranks No. 81 of 130 FBS programs.

Eckels has 514 passing yards compared to Shanley’s 412 and Duncan’s 377. Duncan and Eckels have thrown three touchdown passes each, while Shanley’s thrown one.

Shanley’s completion percentage (67.27) is ahead of Duncan (65) and Eckels (56.72). Duncan’s thrown two interceptions, while neither Eckels of Shanley has thrown any.

Sanford said health, play over the last five weeks and practice performance will dictate the QB decision going forward.

“We’ve done some efficiency studies about how our offense is operating with each quarterback in there,” Sanford said. “Obviously, we’re going to go from there, make some decisions off this bye week and the week of the Charlotte game, see who’s healthy, ready and raring to go and make a decision and roll with it.”

Sanford and his offensive staff also looked at efficiency and explosiveness of offensive skill players.

The coach highlighted the catch ratios of wide receiver Lucky Jackson (25 catches on 37 targets) and tight end Kyle Fourtenbary (17 catches on 21 targets).

Jackson has a team-best 314 receiving yards. The redshirt junior’s 13.08 yards per catch are second only to receiver Jacquez Sloan’s 17 yards per grab.

Sloan hauled in a 60-yard deep ball late in WKU’s loss to Marshall, setting the Toppers up at the Herd’s 20-yard line on their final series. Unfortunately for WKU, the drive ended four plays later on a turnover that sealed Marshall’s three-point win.

Sloan was named Wednesday to the Pro Football Focus College Conference USA Team of the Week. PFF also honored left guard Tyler Witt and linebacker Masai Whyte for their performances against the Thundering Herd.

Sanford said the speedy sophomore Sloan has earned more touches going forward.

“He brings a lot of speed,” the Lexington native Jackson said of Sloan. “It’s a scary speed. He puts heat on the defense.

“He’s fast and he’s able to take the ceiling off on some of those coverages. He’s someone that can make some explosive plays for us.”

Sanford also highlighted wide receiver Quin Jernighan and tight end Mik’Quan Deane as playmakers he wants to feature in coming weeks. Deane has a team-best three touchdown grabs and was named as a John Mackey Award Honorable Mention Tight End of the Week.

WKU’s rushing attack has improved from last season, when it ranked as the worst across the nation (60.85 yards per game, 2.02 yards per carry).

The 2018 Hilltoppers still rank toward the bottom of the FBS on the ground. WKU is No. 114 in rushing ypg (117.4) and No. 116 in ypc (3.26).

WKU mounted the two best rushing performances of Sanford’s tenure against Louisville (168 yards) and Ball State (192). But the Tops gained only 61 yards on the ground last week and fumbled twice in the second half.

An inconsistent rushing attack has contributed to WKU’s offense ranking 121st nationally in scoring (18.6 points per game).

“We take a lot of pride in what we do offensively,” Sanford said. “I’m frustrated that we’re not getting the points. We need the points. We need to get across the goal line.

“But I think we’re able to go back and identify the things that we’re doing well and also identify the things we need to do more of.”

Defensive coordinator Clayton White’s unit gave up 20 points each of the last three weeks. That fits in the defense’s goal of 22 points or less allowed each week.

The Hilltoppers have allowed 20 points or less against three straight FBS opponents for the first time since WKU completed its move to FBS in 2009.

“We feel like if we can hold a team to 22, you have a chance,” White said. “That’s kind of where we are, and we want to continue that.”

The Topper defense forced four turnovers last week in the loss to Marshall. Whyte, Ta’Corian Darden and DeAndre Farris intercepted one pass each, while Jeremy Darvin recovered a fumble.

White said the WKU defense has done a good job both getting off the field on third down and preventing red-zone touchdowns.

The Hilltoppers’ opponent third-down conversion rate is 34.29 percent, 44th best in the nation.

WKU has allowed its opponents six touchdowns on 14 red-zone trips. That 42.86 percent defensive red-zone TD rate ranks 14th best in the FBS.

White wants his defense to prevent more big passing plays. The Tops have allowed nine completions of 30-plus yards through five games after allowing 15 such plays through 13 games in 2017.

“We’re looking at stats and seeing where we stand in the country compared to the other college football defenses out there,” White said. “Right now, we’re trying to continue to get better every week and keep striving.”{&end}