Western Kentucky football coach Tyson Helton is invariably “excited” about each and every game the Hilltoppers play, even if his deadpan delivery might suggest otherwise.

Helton’s customary inflection-free statement affirming his excited state for Wednesday’s matchup against James Madison in the Boca Raton Bowl sounds much the same, but it’s easy to believe this particular declaration even more than most. Boca has been good the Helton and the Hilltoppers.

Twice before, WKU (8-5) has played in the Boca Raton Bowl — a 51-31 win against Memphis in 2016, then a 59-38 win against Appalachian State in 2021. Helton was the head coach for that second Boca Raton Bowl win and would very much like to bring home yet another trophy home to Bowling Green by beating James Madison (8-4) in Wednesday’s 4:30 p.m. CT matchup at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida. ESPN will broadcast the game.

“We are really excited to be back,” Helton said. “When we found out we were headed back to the bowl and being here for the third time, our team was just ecstatic. What a fantastic job that this bowl puts on and we’ve had a ball every time we come down here.

” … We’re really excited to play a very, very good James Madison team,” Helton said. “Coach (Bob Chesney) does a fantastic job. … I’ve watched him from afar and watched his career. He is a fantastic coach and that is a fantastic football team that we’re about to play in James Madison.”

The Dukes, in their second season as a full FBS program and a member of the Sun Belt Conference, have their own motivation for Wednesday — winning the first bowl game in program history.

Chesney, who was hired as head coach shortly after Curt Cignetti left to that the head coaching job at Indiana, had to rebuild the Dukes’ roster with 60 newcomers following the upheaval of Cignetti’s departure.

Helton has regularly dealt with changes in his program as the NCAA transfer portal has opened up player movement to unprecedented levels. The Hilltoppers have dozens of players in the portal right now, with linebacker Darius Thomas (Louisville), defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler (Indiana) and running back L.T. Sanders (North Alabama) off this year’s team already committed elsewhere.

Those who are still in the portal are welcome to play Wednesday, and Helton said most of them will suit up for the Hilltoppers.

“We take bowl games very seriously — not necessarily not only going to bowls, but trying to win bowls. This is like a championship game to us. It means a lot to us.

” … The logo means a lot and they want to enjoy that time with each other. There’s a lot going on in everybody’s life. For somebody, it might be their last college football game. For somebody, this may be their last game before moving on to a different school. No matter what happens, there’s an honor and a camaraderie there with each other. They want to be on that battlefield with each other. Nothing changes from a perspective of what you’ve got to go do to win the game, but there’s definitely when they look in each other’s eyes and are about to take that field, it means a little more because they know for this particular season, this team, it will never be the same.”

WKU, which holds the Boca Raton Bowl single-game scoring record (59 points) and third-highest total (51), again brings an explosive offense to the game. This time, they’ll be facing a JMU defense that ranks nationally in the top 25.

The Tops will do it with their starting quarterback on the field. Redshirt sophomore Caden Veltkamp, one of the many WKU players currently in the portal, will play Wednesday.

“Caden’s gonna play,” Helton said. “I’ve had a lot of experience with the portal — every year we have guys that go in. But like I said, bowl games are important not only to our fanbase but to our team and to our players. We have the bulk of our team here. In today’s portal era, I may do it a little differently. I want to keep the team together, I want to win games, and our players have a lot of honor and they have a lot of pride for their team. So whether they’re in the portal or not, most of our guys are here and they’ll be ready to play.”

JMU will have to turn to backup quarterback Billy Atkins to with regular starter Alonza Barnett ruled out with an injury.

“He’s really been our backup for the majority of the year and has really taken a lot of reps throughout practice periods, had a couple game reps, but I really like the leadership he continues (to provide). He’s a mature kid. He’s not a freshman or a sophomore backup. He’s been in here for awhile.”

Helton expects the Dukes to operate fine on offense, and has a healthy respect for that defense as he tries to win a fourth straight bowl game as WKU’s head coach.

“We’re facing one of the top defenses in the country,” Helton said. “When you analyze that, you really just try to attack what are their weaknesses. It’s hard to find weaknesses because they’re pretty good on defense.”