With more than 50 newcomers on the roster this season, Western Kentucky’s football team is fairly typical in the age of the NCAA transfer portal.

Within that group of new faces are the usual incoming freshmen, a smattering of walk-ons and an influx of transfers from other programs. And within that group of transfers exists another more exclusive club – current WKU players who have previously played against the Hilltoppers.

This season, eight newcomers of the program fit that description, joining returning WKU wide receiver Willie Taggart Jr., of current Hilltoppers who once suited up against them on the football field.

Last season, WKU senior defensive back Keyshawn Swanson, redshirt senior offensive lineman Blake Austin and senior defensive end Zach Edwards were all gearing up to face the Hilltopper for Troy in a Sept. 23 matchup in Troy, Alabama.

Austin started on the offensive line for the Trojans in their 27-24 win.

Edwards – who was also on Louisville’s roster but did not see action in 2019 and 2020 when the Cardinals played WKU – tallied a tackle against the Tops last year.

Swanson finished with three tackles and forced fumble by WKU star wide receiver Malachi Corley, which Swanson recovered in the second quarter.

“We knew that we had to come up with a game plan, we knew that we had to be aggressive and we knew that we had to stop Malachi,” Swanson said. “Stop Malachi and stop the run, it was going to be a close game. So we just knew as a defense and as a whole, we just had to come in with our heads straight and make the plays that we needed to make.”

Troy went on to win the Sun Belt Conference championship game and finish the season 11-3 under head coach Jon Sumrall, who then left to become Tulane’s new head coach. Sumrall’s departure prompted a flurry of transfers at Troy, including Swanson, Austin and Edwards.

“If he would’ve stayed, I would’ve stayed with him and rocked out for my last year because I love coach Sumrall – he’s the one that gave me a scholarship,” Swanson said. “But it’s no hard feelings or anything – I understand how the business goes.”

Swanson’s search led him to WKU, the team he twice faced while at Troy – in the Trojans’ 2022 win at Houchens-Smith Stadium, he tallied a pair of tackles.

“The crazy thing is I was supposed to come to Western Kentucky out of high school, but I didn’t have the grades, so I ended up going to Akron (where he played his first college season in 2019),” said Swanson, a Pensacola, Florida, native. “But overall, it’s surreal type of feeling in my opinion.”

“ … We always knew when we played Western Kentucky that it was going to be a hard game. So it’s just moreso know what I’m walking into. I know they’re competitors and they’re going to win – regardless, they’re going to try to win and do whatever it takes to win.”

WKU senior wide receiver Bryce Childress couldn’t have known his Nov. 11 visit to Houchens-Smith Stadium was the first look at his future football home. At the time, Childress was doing all he could to help New Mexico State beat the Hilltoppers in their bid to reach the Conference USA championship.

The Aggies did just that with a 39-28 victory over the Hilltoppers, with Childress contributing with two catches for 21 yards in the win.

“Western Kentucky’s obviously a great team always – top three in the conference every year,” Childress said. “Great team, great coach – so I know leading in when I was at New Mexico State it’d be a tough game.”

The Tops made an impression, and when New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill stepped down after the season and Childress started looking at his options, the combination of WKU’s pass-heavy offense and closer proximity to his hometown of St. Louis was enough to convince the 5-foot-9 wideout to make the move.

“They play hard, they play physical,” Childress said. “Obviously, you know, when I’m on the other side, I really don’t say I want to go there. The offense here is a pretty good offense to fit my skill-set – better than New Mexico State,” Childress said. ‘’Obviously as a guy like me, when you’re looking at those opportunities … transferring in (to WKU), I’ve gotten a lot of those opportunities more than I had at New Mexico State.”

Newly arrived senior wide receiver Koy Moore, who joined the program this month as a transfer from Auburn, arguably did the most damage against his new team as a past opponent. In Auburn’s 41-17 win in 2022, Moore hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Hilltoppers and finished with two catches for 31 yards in the win.

WKU redshirt junior quarterback TJ Finley, who is vying for the starting job, was also on that 2022 Auburn team but did not see action in the matchup against the Tops.

Redshirt senior kicker/punter Riley Stephens, a transfer from Austin Peay, played against the Hilltoppers back in 2022. Stephens, the Governors’ kickoff specialist, had six kickoffs that all went for touchbacks in the Tops’ season-opening 38-27 home win.

Redshirt junior linebacker Terreance Ellis, who transferred in from Alcorn State, played some special teams against the Tops during his two seasons at Rice (2020-21), when that program was a member of Conference USA.

Taggart played at Florida Atlantic for three seasons (2020-22) when the Owls were also in CUSA, but did not see action against WKU.

WKU defensive backs coach Da’Von Brown sees much more in common among the Tops’ transfer additions than the occasional experience playing against the program – the winning mentality that Swanson and others Brown brought into the room is what binds the position group together and what led to the offers to come suit up for the Hilltoppers.

“When we went out there recruiting, we wanted guys to have the mindset to win,” Brown said. “So we brought guys in – guys in the back end, they want to win, they want to compete every day. These guys fill and play and act like they’ve been together three or four years. That’s the feeling you want.”{&end}