SAN ANTONIO – The Western Kentucky football team will get another shot against UTSA, and this time the Conference USA title is on the line.

The Roadrunners were the last team to hand the Hilltoppers a loss, and after seven straight wins, WKU will meet UTSA again in the C-USA championship game at 6 p.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“Championship week. Been working really hard to get to this point. Our team’s really excited,” WKU head coach Tyson Helton said. “It’s a great opportunity. Really exciting times and looking forward to the opportunity.”

WKU (8-4 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) fell to UTSA (11-1, 7-1) 52-46 at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Oct. 9 in a shootout. The Hilltoppers had an opportunity to take the lead in the closing minutes, but came up just short and the Roadrunners left Bowling Green victorious.

“We have a lot of respect for coach Helton and Western Kentucky,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said. “We’ve already played them once, which I think that makes it unique and (it was) just an incredible ballgame. They ended up on the 1-yard line, they were one yard away from beating us. So that’s how close both teams are, and his kids play the right way. We’re excited.”

More points heading into Friday’s C-USA championship game:

HILLTOPPER TURNAROUND

The loss to UTSA was the last WKU has had this season. It moved the Hilltoppers to 1-4 overall, but WKU has reeled off seven straight wins since that game.

“We kind of came out of that a stronger team, a team that knows everything about ourselves – what our strengths and weaknesses are,” Helton said. “I think it’s great we had an opportunity to play each other. We kind of know everything about each other now, to be honest with you. Should be a great matchup.”

The biggest difference for WKU during its current winning streak? Its defense.

The Hilltoppers were allowing 38.4 points per game through their first five games, including a season-high 52 points to the Roadrunners last time around. WKU now ranks seventh in C-USA in scoring defense at 27 points allowed per game, and during its current winning streak has allowed just 18.9 points per game.

“I think this will be a culmination of the entire season going into the UTSA game, particularly after playing against them the first time,” WKU defensive coordinator Maurice Crum said. “I think it’ll be good to go against a team again to really see how well we’ve improved, where we’ve changed, where we’ve gotten better. I think that’ll be the ultimate test for us.”

UTSA COMING OFF A LOSS

The Roadrunners rolled through much of the season, reaching 11-0 and top-25 rankings in various polls and climbing as high as No. 15 in the Associated Press poll.

But after its hot start, UTSA fell last week in a cold, rainy game at North Texas 45-23.

“Like I told them as soon as the game was over, there were only three teams that hadn’t lost before we went down, and now I think there’s only two left,” Traylor said. “ … Everybody else has had to handle a loss, let’s see how we handle it. I know our two practices have been fantastic and I’m excited to see what we look like Friday night.”

UTSA already knew it was in the C-USA final and would host after the previous week’s results, however. The Roadrunners scored in the final seconds to knock off defending C-USA champion UAB and earn a berth in the final.

The Roadrunners no longer have the stress of trying to preserve an unbeaten season, but Traylor is hoping his team responds in a positive way instead of seeing it turn into two or three losses. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to a C-USA team – last year, Marshall lost three straight games, including the championship and a bowl, after an unbeaten start and a top-25 ranking.

“It’s a fine line,” said Traylor, who held a team meeting after returning from Denton, Texas. “ … Of course the plane ride was just as rough as the game was. Isn’t that the way it always goes? I asked the pilot, ‘What was the plane ride going to be?’ And he said, ‘It’s going to be rough, coach. We’re going through a bunch of weather.’ I’m like, ‘Joy.’ I’m watching the game riding a bucking bronco, it felt like.

“I got to watch the game so I knew what more to talk to my team about and we tried like heck to get that game behind us, but there’s still lingering moments in the game kind of like, I don’t know, post-traumatic stress syndrome, right? It’s like we still feel some of that. I feel like we’ll be fine Friday, I hope.”

ZAPPE CHASING RECORDS

The focal point in WKU’s offense throughout the year has been Houston Baptist transfer Bailey Zappe.

The quarterback has thrown for 4,968 yards and 52 touchdowns to nine interceptions on 406-of-580 passing so far this season with two games to play.

WKU offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, who also came from HBU, believes he’s made his case to be considered the best in college football this season.

“Once again, the stats don’t lie. I think, to me, what I’ve seen the last 10 years or so with the Heisman Trophy, first and foremost you’ve got to be a winner and you do have to have the stats to back that up. I don’t think there’s any better person out there than Bailey Zappe,” Kittley said. “You look at a guy that came in here and he led his team to the conference championship game. Statistically, it’s not even close. No one is in the same ballpark as he is.

“The Heisman Trophy also goes to who’s the most important player to the team, and I’m biased clearly, but I don’t think there’s a more important football player in the whole country than Bailey Zappe is to this football program and this team. I think if you ask our players, they’ll say the same thing. He deserves to be there. We’ll see what happens.”

Zappe is chasing all-time numbers right now, both at WKU and nationally.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Victoria, Texas, native has already broken program single-season records for pass attempts by surpassing Mike White’s 560 in 2017, pass completions by surpassing Brandon Doughty’s 388 in 2015 and touchdown passes by surpassing Doughty’s 49 in 2014. Doughty has the single-season record for passing yards with 5,055 and Zappe’s also on pace to break Doughty’s record of passing yards per game – the former QB averaged 371.5 per game in 2014. Doughty also holds the single-season completion percentage record by connecting on 71.9% of his passes in 2015 and White has the highest passer rating in a single-season at 181.4 in 2016 – Zappe’s is currently 168.1.

Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons has the FBS record with 5,833 yards in 13 games in 2003, and Joe Burrow’s 60 passing touchdowns in 15 games with LSU in 2019 on the way to a national title is the all-time FBS mark in that category.

WKU has the top offense in C-USA at 43.3 points per game, while UTSA has the top scoring defense at 22.2 points allowed per game. WKU’s 424.8 yards passing per game leads the nation – Virginia’s 392.6 are second-most – and Zappe showed out in the first meeting with 523 yards and five touchdowns on 38-of-60 passing.

ZAPPE’S COUNTERPART

With those numbers on Oct. 9, Zappe had to be C-USA’s Offensive Player of the Week, right?

Wrong.

UTSA quarterback Frank Harris threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns on 28-of-38 passing, and added 51 yards on nine rushing attempts and a 23-yard touchdown reception in the Roadrunner victory.

“They were able to score really quickly down the field and we’ve got to make them go the distance, go the long way,” Helton said. “When you do that, you hope they mess it up – you hope you can get a turnover or something bad happens, you get a sack and make them have to punt the football. That was probably the biggest takeaway from the first game, is defensively just limit the explosive plays and not allow them to put all the points on the board that they did.”

Harris has thrown for 2,688 yards and 23 touchdowns on 222-of-334 passing with five interceptions this season. He’s also rushed for 484 yards and five scores on 94 attempts.

“He’s the reason we’re here,” Traylor said. “I know he takes it very personal that only people talk about Bailey Zappe and nobody ever speaks about Frank. That’s just the way I want it with Frank. He loves to be doubted. He’s been doubted most of his career, whether that be injury, whether that be his throwing form, whether that be he won’t stay in the pocket. He takes all that stuff like great competitors do. He wants to prove to people he’s a good quarterback and he’s a championship quarterback, and we wouldn’t be here without 0.”

The lefty was pulled from Saturday’s loss to North Texas at halftime to keep him fresh and healthy heading into Friday’s championship, despite the quarterback’s objections.

Harris, who’s battled back from two knee injuries – including one that kept him out all of 2018 – and a shoulder injury that ended his 2019 season after four games, will be ready for the title game, however.

“He’s like a snake. You can’t kill him. He’ll be out there,” Traylor said. “If you ask him how he is, he’ll say he’s totally fine. He’s a tough kid, loves to play the game and he’s the reason we’re here, so he’ll be out there.”

RUNNING IT BACK

With plenty of focus on each team’s quarterbacks, don’t forget about the run game.

UTSA has reigning C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Sincere McCormick, who has 1,275 yards and 12 touchdowns on 262 rushing attempts this season.

The 5-foot-9, 205-pound local product accounted for 120 of UTSA’s 196 yards rushing in the regular-season meeting. McCormick was held out of the end zone on his 23 attempts.

“We felt like they kind of did whatever they wanted to do. Two hundred rushing yards and the quarterback had seven total touchdowns – six through the air. That’s kind of embarrassing and you take it personal,” WKU defensive end Juwuan Jones said. “This week it’s personal and we’re going out there, we’re trying to stop the run and then when it’s third down – money down – we’re going to get after the quarterback, force turnovers and get the ball back to the offense. Do all those things, we win the game.”

While WKU’s passing offense gets much of the attention, its run game got going last time against UTSA and is coming off its best performance of the season. The Hilltoppers rushed for 147 yards on 29 attempts last time against the Roadrunners, led by 65 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts from Adam Cofield.

“Until you get into the game you just never know. I think our offense does a great job of having Plan A and Plan B and Plan C, so we see how they’re playing us and we try to take advantage of the weaknesses of what they give us,” Helton said. “ … If they’re loading the box, (Zappe’s) going to take his shots down the field. Just having that balance there of a solid run game and a great passing game, that’s going to be key in this game.”

WKU rushed for a season-high 157 yards in Saturday’s 53-21 win at Marshall, led by 69 yards on 14 attempts from Noah Whittington.

The Hilltoppers are averaging 102.4 yards rushing per game on 305 attempts. The Hilltoppers are averaging 4 yards per carry.

“They’re well-coached. They take what’s there,” Traylor said. “When they’ve got a light box, they’re going to check the inside zone or whatever little scheme they’ve got for the week. Then the back’s good – both those backs that run the ball are good. That’s probably where people don’t talk enough about, is how good their line is. They’re very well-coached up there. Those guys are mature and they block. They handled us way better than most have.”

EXPECTING A CROWD

Coming from Houchens-Smith Stadium this week was a roar from a crowd.

The only thing – there weren’t fans there.

The Hilltoppers are expecting a large crowd on the road at the Alamodome and have been preparing for it throughout the week.

“I fully anticipate it’s going to be a great environment, electric environment,” Helton said. “I’ve been in that stadium before. It’s very loud because it is a dome. I think it’s going to be a great crowd, so I do think crowd noise will play very much into it. We’re a silent count team, silent clap team, all those kind of things, so we’ll have answers for that. I do think that crowd noise will definitely be a factor in this game for sure and we’ve been preparing for that in our daily practice routine.”

UTSA’s home attendance has grown steadily throughout the year, from 16,229 in its home opener against Lamar to 35,147 on Nov. 20 when it beat UAB. The Roadrunners are 37-28 all-time in home games, including 11-1 under Traylor with a program-record nine straight wins.

“That’s why we signed a 10-year extension here. We believe in San Antonio. We believe in the UTSA school system. We believe in it strongly,” Traylor said. “We felt like we put a good product on the field, we behaved correctly, went to class – just did things the right way – people want to root for good things and our players are good people. We’ve tried really hard to recruit San Antonio kids and we just felt like the more kids we could get from the area, the more they’ll come to the games. … They’re just good kids. That’s what I’m proud of, is people responding to some really good local kids that are good people.”

Since C-USA began holding championship games in 2005, the host’s record is 11-5.

Traylor said, “We beat UAB by an inch and we beat Western Kentucky by a yard, so it matters,” and is hoping the home crowd in the 36,582-seat Alamodome will be able to provide some assistance.

GOING FOR A THIRD

UTSA will be playing in its first-ever C-USA championship game, while WKU makes its third appearance and first since claiming back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016.

No team has ever claimed three C-USA football titles. In addition to WKU, ECU, FAU, UAB, UCF and Tulsa have each won two championships since the inaugural game in 2005.

Helton was part of WKU’s first in 2015, when he was offensive coordinator/QBs coach and the Hilltoppers beat Southern Miss 45-28.

On Friday, he’ll be looking for another with the program.

“Very proud of what we accomplished in the past, but the past is the past and this is a special football team,” Helton said. “The team that won it in ‘15 that I was a part of had special men on it, but very comparable football teams – I’ll just say that. We have great people, very special men, very talented players. I’d like to have the opportunity to look back and be able to compare those two teams after the fact with a championship.

“But at the end of the day, no matter what happens, I love these men, I love our coaches, our players – they’re what you want as a head football coach. … No matter what happens, I’m going to look back on this season and be really proud of these men and these women that were a part of this season with us.”{&end}