Tyson Helton’s hiring as Western Kentucky’s coach came with the directive to reboot a stagnant Hilltopper offense. A look at WKU’s final stat rankings for the 2018 season shows why that’s needed.

The Toppers (3-9 overall, 2-6 Conference USA) finished the year ranked 118th of 130 FBS teams in points per game, according to cfbstats.com.

WKU averaged 21.1 points per game in 2018 under coach Mike Sanford, who was fired Nov. 25. Helton was announced as Sanford’s replacement two days later.

Those 21.1 ppg were a decrease from 2017, when the Hilltoppers ranked 87th with 25.5 ppg. And both those numbers represented a dramatic drop-off from 2016, when WKU led the nation with 45.5 ppg in its final year under former coach Jeff Brohm.

“The things that everyone was used to seeing (during Brohm’s tenure), you’re going to see that again,” Helton said at his introductory news conference.

“I mentioned before, we need to be creative. We need to be aggressive. When our fans come to the stadium, I want to put on a show for them.”

The 2018 season stats were finalized Monday after Clemson beat Alabama to win the national championship.

Here’ a look at other key stat rankings the 2018 WKU squad produced:

Yards per play, 5.02, No. 114 nationally

This number is also down significantly from 2016, when the Hilltoppers led FBS with 7.65 ypp. WKU ranked so low in this category largely because it failed to produce chunk plays. Only three teams achieved fewer plays of 20 yards or more in 2018 than the Tops’ 38.

Field-goal percentage, 58.8, t-No. 121 nationally

Field goals were anything but automatic for WKU in 2018. Kickers Ryan Nuss (3-of-7) and Alex Rinella (7-of-10) combined to go 10-of-17 on field-goal attempts. The Hilltoppers didn’t hit a kick this season from longer than 41 yards.

Fourth-down conversion percentage, 37.5, t-No. 116 nationally

WKU was middle-of-the-road this year on third downs (38.92 percent, t-No. 68). But when the Toppers couldn’t convert on third down and chose to go for it on fourth down, they ran into trouble. WKU was 9-for-24 on fourth-down conversion attempts. Notable failed conversions included a fourth-and-1 from the Hilltoppers’ own 15-yard line Sept. 8 against Maine. The Black Bears stuffed a Marquez Trigg rush and scored on the next play to go up 28-21 in a game the FCS program won 31-28.

Sacks per game, 2.33, t-No. 49 nationally

This represented an area of steep improvement from 2017, when WKU ranked 125th in sacks per game (0.92). The Tops brought down quarterbacks 28 times over 12 games for 164 yards. Two young defensive ends, sophomore DeAngelo Malone (six sacks) and redshirt freshman Juwuan Jones (five) led those efforts. Both are expected to be defensive leaders next season for coordinator Clayton White, who Helton retained.

Defensive red-zone touchdown percentage, 46.94, No. 12 nationally

This was another positive area for White’s defense. WKU’s defense was put in bad spots by an ineffective offense and shaky special teams – the Hilltoppers ranked 126th in punting at 36.94 yards per attempt – but it stood tall in front of its own goal line. WKU allowed opponents to score only 23 touchdowns in 49 red-zone trips and held teams scoreless nine times in those situations.{&end}