Mike White sent Brent Stockstill a text earlier this month after the latter came back from an early-season shoulder injury.

“I texted him when he came back … and said, ‘Glad to see you out there, hopefully I get to play against you when you come to town,’ ” the Western Kentucky quarterback White said of Middle Tennessee counterpart Stockstill.

The two were both on the field Friday night in Houchens-Smith Stadium and they put on a show.

White completed 39 of 54 passes for 485 yards and five touchdowns. Stockstill’s numbers weren’t as prolific – 27-of-46, 294 yards, one touchdown – but his ability to evade pass rushers and make clutch throws helped keep his team in the game.

In the end, it was the Hilltoppers’ QB White who came out on the better end of a 41-38, triple-overtime decision. WKU (6-5 overall, 4-3 Conference USA) won for the third straight time in its rivalry series with the Blue Raiders (5-6, 3-4).

After that win, White and his coach Mike Sanford were sharing a moment on the field when the Topper coach spotted Stockstill.

“Mike and I are in an embrace and I look over at Brent and he’s just looking at me and Mike,” Sanford said. “I went up to him and just told him, ‘Hey man, you are an unbelievable football player.’

“For him to come back off the injury and probably not be at full strength, to be quite honest, that guy’s a ballplayer.”

Stockstill, son of MTSU coach Rick Stockstill, and White also engaged in a quarterback duel during the team’s 2016 meeting. White was 29-of-40 for 391 yards with two touchdowns and an interception last year in Murfreesboro, Tenn., while Stockstill completed 42 of 54 passes that Oct. 15 day for 434 yards, three TDs and one pick.

White got the best of that meeting, too, a 44-43, double-overtime WKU win.

“When healthy, those are the two best quarterbacks in this league hands down,” Sanford said.

White and Stockstill spent some time together this summer in Irving, Texas, at Conference USA media days. Both QBs were sent to represent their schools.

“We got to talking and you could tell he was in it for the right reasons, kind of like I am,” the redshirt senior White said. “He just loves being around his guys.”

White’s season got off to a slow start but picked up in October. He’s now completed 66.1 percent of his passes this year for 315.6 yards per game with 22 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

The redshirt junior Stockstill had high hopes for the 2017 season, but suffered a shoulder injury in September. He missed six games before coming back Nov. 4, leading the Blue Raiders to two straight wins before Friday night.

Both QBs were dynamic Friday night. White started the game by completing 14 straight passes, breaking a school record held by his predecessor, Brandon Doughty.

One of those throws was a 14-yard touchdown pass to Deon Yelder that put WKU up 7-0 in the first quarter.

“Watching their film, I’ve never coached against a team that blitzes as much as they do,” Sanford said of MTSU. “We needed to get the ball out of his hands.”

The Blue Raiders didn’t get their first TD until the first play of the fourth quarter. It came on a perfectly thrown 21-yard strike from Stockstill to Patrick Smith in the back corner of the end zone, which tied the game at 10.

After a Middle Tennessee fumble return for a touchdown, White then gave his team the lead back with two long touchdown throws. The first, a 65-yard deep shot to Kylen Towner, tied the game at 17.

The second, a 93-yard bomb to Lucky Jackson, gave the Toppers a 24-17 lead with 9:42 left.

Stockstill led his team on a nine-play, 75-yard TD drive to tie the game at 24 and force overtime.

The duel continued into overtime. Stockstill got his team into goal-line situations in the first two overtimes, which Raider running backs Tavares Thomas and Terelle West converted with TD runs.

White meanwhile kept his team alive with two overtime TD passes – a 5-yard throw toward the front-right pylon to Nacarius Fant and a 13-yard dart on a slant route to Cameron Echols-Luper.

Friday marked the third time this season White threw for five touchdown passes and no interceptions in a game. In each of those contests, White completed his TD passes to five different receivers.

“Whenever we can get all the guys involved, that’s what I love the most,” White said.

Neither QB led his team to a touchdown in the third overtime. But after MTSU kicker Canon Rooker missed a 42-yard field goal, WKU’s Ryan Nuss hit a 37-yard attempt to seal the Tops’ win.

“These battles with him have put some gray hairs on my head,” White said of Stockstill. “I won’t miss that too much.”

The victory gave White a victory in the final home game of a long college career. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Pembroke Pines, Fla., native started at South Florida in 2013, played two seasons and then transferred to WKU.

White led the Hilltoppers to an 11-3 record and a second straight Conference USA title last season, earning the C-USA Newcomer of the Year award with his impressive passing numbers.

Times haven’t been as easy this season, with the Toppers just 6-5. But the WKU QB delivered Friday in an emotional senior night victory.

“I’m really happy I was able to go out there today and on a personal level, kind of thank the fans with my play,” White said. “I was a transfer here coming in replacing one heck of a quarterback in Brandon Doughty. It would be very easy for them to compare me to him.

“They treated me as my own quarterback, as my own player. I’ve had an unbelievable two years here and I’m so happy we get another one with these guys.”

Notes

Sanford is now 6-5 both in his first year at WKU and overall in his head coaching career. White is 17-8 as the Hilltoppers’ starting quarterback. … WKU now trails its all-time series against Middle Tennessee 34-32-1. The Toppers have won three straight meetings for the first time since winning three in a row from 1978-80. … Jackson’s 93-yard touchdown catch is tied for the third-longest catch in WKU history, ranking behind 96-yard receptions from both 1970 and ’85. It was the sixth 90-plus yard pass play in the FBS this season. … The Hilltoppers have won six consecutive Friday night games dating back to 2002, including five in the past three years. WKU will look to extend that streak to seven Friday when it plays its regular-season finale at Florida International. … Announced attendance at Houchens-Smith Stadium was 12,612. WKU’s average attendance for its six home games this season was 15,706 – the program’s lowest since 2011 (15,310).{&end}