Western Kentucky rallied for a 27-16 win over Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl on Tuesday night at the Caesar Superdome in New Orleans.

WKU graduate senior quarterback Maverick McIvor, who came on in relief of injured starter Rodney Tisdale Jr., earned Most Valuable Player honors after competing 12 of 19 passing for 199 yards. He also tallied 48 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries, leading the Tops back from a 13-6 halftime deficit to earn the program’s second New Orleans Bowl win after previously claiming the title in 2022. It was McIvor’s first game action since the Oct. 10 game against FIU.

“Shout out to the guys,” McIvor said in a news release. “They played really hard the whole game. Unfortunately Rodney went down. He’s going to be a great player and he played good for us this season. I think when your time’s called, you have to be ready to play. Going throughout all these weeks of prep, you’ve got to stay ready, and when your number is called, it’s time for you to go out there and play good. I think today we got that done.”

WKU (9-4) struck first on its second possession, taking a 3-0 lead with 11:38 remaining in the opening quarter after John Cannon converted a 31-yard field goal.

Southern Miss answered late in the period, pulling ahead 7-3 on a 35-yard touchdown reception at the 4:06 mark.

The Hilltoppers trimmed the deficit to one early in the second quarter as Cannon connected again from 31 yards out with 11:09 left before halftime.

The Golden Eagles responded with a pair of field goals, including one as time expired in the half, to carry a 13-6 advantage into the break.

WKU evened the score midway through the third quarter when McIvor found the end zone on an 11-yard rush to cap an 8-play, 65-yard drive, knotting the game at 13-13.

Southern Miss regained the lead late in the period, 16-13, with a 41-yard field goal.

The Hilltoppers went back on top early in the fourth, grinding out an 11-play, 65-yard drive that George Hart III finished with a 1-yard touchdown to make it 20-16.

WKU then delivered the clincher with 3:38 to play, as freshman running back Marvis Parrish sprinted 54 yards for a score to extend the lead to 27-16 and seal the victory for the Hilltoppers.

Hilltopper defensive back Jaylen Lewis had the game-clinching interception late in the fourth quarter, his third of the season.

“I talk to the guys all the time about how magical bowl games are and how guys wait for their opportunity, and for some reason this stage, bowl games, kind of put guys on that stage,” WKU coach Tyson Helton said. “When Rodney got dinged up and we went into halftime, I said, ‘What better opportunity for Maverick to go out there and be a rockstar and go lead this team.’ When we said that at halftime – ‘Hey Mav, you’ve got it, you’re up, babe’ – you just saw the light. The locker room lit up. We love Rodney. Rodney is awesome, too. It says a lot about how the guys feel about him and it gave us that spark.

“Second play of the second half we hit Noah Meyers and we fumble right there, but we’re about to go in. I knew right then and there – here we go, the magic is starting. That’s why bowl games are so important. That’s why you play them. It’s for nights like tonight. There’s going to be a lot of great memories that were made tonight.”

Parrish led the Tops with 65 rushing yards and a touchdown. Redshirt senior wide receiver Matthew Henry tallied a team-high seven catches for 126 yards.
“I would just say it was a blessing to come back,” Henry said. “It was a tough loss last game, but coach (Helton) says, bowl games matter. Everything is on the line. We just had to come back, come out here and win.”

Senior linebacker Jaylen Wester led WKU with 12 tackles, including a sack, a forced fumble, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Senior linebacker Anthony Brackenridge added 11 tackles with a sack and a quarterback hurry as the Tops held the Golden Eagles to just a fied goal over the final two quarters.

“Just embracing the grind, you know?,” Wester said. “The good and the bad coming together. Knowing that we needed to get this win and everybody being on the same page 11 as one.”

Consensus All-American punter Cole Maynard averaged 45.7 yards on six punts in the win. He had two travel 50 yards, with a long of 56. He finishes the season with a program record 48.4 yards per punt.

The Hilltoppers improved to 8-4 in bowl games during its FBS Era (since 2009). WKU has now played in bowl games in 12 of the last 14 seasons, including seven straight seasons. The Hilltoppers are one of just eight teams in the country, and one of two non-Power Conference programs, that has played in a bowl or CFP game in each of the last six seasons and is also scheduled to play in one or has played in one this season. WKU has played in a bowl game in all seven seasons under Helton. The Hilltoppers are 5-2 in bowl games under Helton.

Helton is now 57-36 as WKU’s head coach. The 57 wins are tied for third-most in program history with Nick Denes, who claimed 57 wins in 11 seasons from 1957-67. WKU has four nine-win seasons under Helton, with an additional two eight-win seasons in seven seasons.

WKU recorded 422 yards of offense in the win, with 267 passing and 155 rushing.

The 2025 season was the second-longest season in program history at 123 days between the first game and last game. The 2019 season was 124 days. The Dec. 23 game was the sixth-latest game WKU has played in a calendar year.