BOWL ELIGIBLE: Tops beat Kennesaw State 31-14 to earn sixth win

Published 11:17 pm Wednesday, October 30, 2024

by Jeff Nations

By JEFF NATIONS / jeff.nations@bgdailynews.com

It’s not even November, but Western Kentucky’s football team can already start planning for a potential bowl this holiday season.

The Hilltoppers reached the minimum six-win threshold Wednesday night with a 31-14 win against Kennesaw State at Houchens-Smith Stadium, marking the sixth straight season the team has been bowl eligible during head coach Tyson Helton’s six-year tenure leading the program at WKU. It is the first time the Tops have become bowl eligible before November during Helton’s run as head coach, although WKU (6-2 overall, 4-0 Conference USA) is one of just 16 programs to have played in a bowl game each of the past five seasons and one of seven to have won at least three straight.

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“It’s great – bowl games mean a lot to us and not only going to bowl games, but winning bowl games,” Helton said. “So it’s good to be there, but that’s one hurdle or one accomplishment. We’re trying to keep stacking these wins, and the end of the day we hope that we can do that and try to make a run and hopefully be in a championship game. So that’s the main goal. But it’s nice that we did that and took care of business tonight.”

After a pregame concert featuring Flo Rida on WKU’s South Lawn, Hilltopper fans saw their team channel the rap artist’s hit song “Welcome to My House,” although it could be considered a rather rude greeting for the visiting Owls.

The Tops scored on the game’s first possession when quarterback Caden Veltkamp found tight end Trevor Borland on a 5-yard touchdown pass.

Kennesaw State (1-7, 1-3), in its first year in CUSA and coming off a monumental upset win against defending league champion Liberty for the program’s first win as a D1 program, answered that touchdown with a 37-yard touchdown run by Michael Benefield.

After that, the first half was all Hilltoppers.

Veltkamp (17 of 22 passing for 276 yards and three touchdowns) zipped a pass down the middle to wide receiver Easton Messer, who turned upfield and outraced the Owls’ secondary for a 64-yard touchdown reception to put the Tops up 14-7 with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

The Tops then forced a punt, and WKU running back George Hart III capped a five-play, 78-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown run – his first career TD – to push the lead to 21-7 on the last play of the first quarter.

Lucas Carneiro’s 32-yard field goal with 3:46 left in the second quarter stretched the lead to 24-7.

In the third quarter, Veltkamp struck again with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Noah Meyers. It was the first career catch and touchdown for Meyers, who like Borland got extra opportunities with starting tight end River Helms sidelined with an injury.

“They did a nice job,” Veltkamp said of the duo. “I always tell them that I love tight ends, ‘I love throwing the ball to y’all.’ They’re big bodies, easy to throw to and they all have good hands. Everybody in that room can catch the ball. Those two other guys stepped up tonight and both of them made some really good plays.”

The Owls finally answered on their ensuing drive when quarterback Davis Bryson broke loose on a 20-yard touchdown run, then Kennesaw recovered an onside kick. WKU defensive back Kent Robinson’s interception ended that drive, and the teams then traded punts before the Tops ran out the clock for the win.

“Forcing turnovers – that’s what we look forward to every game,” WKU defensive back Devonte’ Mathews said. “We want to lead the country in turnovers, so that’s our motto.”

WKU’s defense continued its stellar play, with defensive back Darius Thomas tallying two of the Tops’ three sacks of Bryson. The Hilltoppers have allowed 21 points or less in seven straight games after the season-opening 63-0 loss at Alabama and the Tops are 5-1 in those contests.

“We play good on game days because we practice hard during the week,” said WKU linebacker Chandler Matthews, who finished with a team-high nine tackles. “We practice very hard during the week and we’re very critical of everything we do, so then when we show up and it’s game time, we’re ready to go.”

Helton said the Tops’ steady defense this season has eased the pressure on the offense.

“I tell you what, we have been building defensively here since coach (Tyson) Summers got here,” Helton said of the Tops’ defensive coordinator. “This is his third year, he’s put together great staffs, he’s recruited very well and slowly but surely you can see that we’re coming and we’re coming along. Really felt like going into this year that they could do a lot of big things and it’s really neat to see them out there. It helps us a lot offensively, it makes our blood pressure go down that you don’t have to go out there and score a ton of points every week. Really, the defense leads the way for us and I don’t mind saying that, because if you have a really good defense you’ve got a good chance to make a championship.”

WKU outgained the Owls 462-272 in total offense and held Kennesaw to just 96 passing yards. Even more impressive, the Tops had the edge in rushing yards (186-176) against their run-oriented opponent. Elijah Young led the way with 114 rushing yards, the first time this season the senior running back has eclipsed 100 yards rushing.

“It was just the game plan,” Young said. “We just went in this week saying we’re just going to make our mark and we’re going to run the ball. They’ve been holding teams down with minus rushing yards, so we made that a priority.”

The Tops, who went 3-0 in the CUSA’s mid-week October schedule, return to the routine of Saturdays their next time out when they visit New Mexico State on Nov. 9 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

“Winning on the road is tough so we’ve got to continue to have that mentality about us, a pro mentality and respect everybody we play because New Mexico State has some good players and we need to play our bests football if we want to win,” Helton said.

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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