TJ Finley broke out a red marker the first time he looked at Western Kentucky’s 2024 football schedule.

Finley, already a well-traveled and experienced college quarterback when he exited the NCAA transfer portal and joined the Hilltoppers in the spring, spotted that opening game right away – Aug. 31, at Alabama – and put that marker to work by slashing a big red circle around that date. Facing the Crimson Tide one last time – it’s all Finley could ask for in his final college season.

The 6-foot-7, 238-pound native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, will get the start for the Hilltoppers on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It will be Finley’s first time playing in that stadium, but not his first time facing the Crimson Tide. Twice before, Finley earned the starting nod against Alabama – first at LSU in 2020, then again a year later while playing for Auburn. Both were losses, the second a particularly excruciating defeat – a quadruple-overtime loss to the Crimson Tide in the annual Iron Bowl.

So, third time the charm?

Finley thinks so, and that past experience going toe-to-toe with Alabama plus the maturity and game experience he’s acquired since then only adds to his confidence.

“It was good experience,” Finley said of playing against Alabama. “Being a young buck in the SEC can test your mental a lot. I feel like just being a veteran on this group of men that we’ve got on this team right here, mentally, physically it’s going to make a big difference this time.”

WKU head coach Tyson Helton named Finley the starting quarterback for Saturday’s 6 p.m. matchup against No. 5 Alabama during Monday’s news conference, ending what had been a long-running QB battle between Finley, who transferred from Texas State, and redshirt sophomore Caden Veltkamp.

Finley always had a major edge in experience, having started games previously at LSU and Auburn before producing his breakout season last year at Texas State.

Finley passed for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns with just eight interceptions on 279-of-414 passing while starting all 13 games for the Bobcats. He also rushed for 81 yards and five touchdowns.

Finley set the Texas State program record for passing yards in a season, finished 17th in the country in passing yards, ranked 23rd in the nation in passing yards per game and passing touchdowns, ranked 16th in the country in completion percentage, and was 23rd in passing efficiency. He helped the Bobcats have the 15th-best offense in the country (457.6 yards per game) and the 28th-best passing offense (270.9 yards per game).

Veltkamp, a 6-6, 236-pound Bowling Green native, had barely seen the field during his college career before he rallied the Hilltoppers from a four-touchdown deficit for a 38-35 overtime win against Old Dominion on Dec. 18 in the Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina. Veltkamp threw for 383 yards and five touchdowns on 40-of-52 passing and ran 53 yards on 19 attempts to earn the bowl game’s Offensive MVP honors.

Helton stressed that both quarterbacks will see action this season, possibly even Saturday against Alabama. But the start goes to Finley.

“It feels amazing,” Finley said. “I came here with one thing on my mind, and that was to win football games. Caden and I had a great competition. Coach Helton sat us down and talked to us and told us what it was going to be. God allowed me to win the job again. I’m looking forward to the season. I’m looking forward to the ride that we’ve got coming on. I love this team. I love what we built. We’re going to go out there and show the world what we can do.”

Finley said his relationship with Veltkamp has been strong from the start, and that won’t change no matter who is on the field leading the offense.

“It’s nothing but love, and I’ve told Caden this a million times – I’ve been in multiple quarterback battles where the room became toxic,” Finley said. “And that’s not what I wanted for this team, that’s not what I wanted for my last year of college. So whether it was him or whether it was me, I wanted to make sure that we both had each other’s support because at the end of the day it’s going to take both of us to win.”

Another big season is expected of Finley, whose name has popped up on all the major award preseason watch lists.

Finley would love to add a win against Alabama to his resume after two previous tries. Playing for LSU in 2020, Finley got the start at Tiger Stadium in a 55-17 loss to top-ranked Alabama. Finley was 14-of-28 passing for 144 yards and a touchdown.

The following season, Finley – who had transferred to Auburn – was again the starter against Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl matchup. In a quadruple-overtime 24-22 loss at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, Finley helped the Tigers nearly upset the third-ranked Crimson Tide by completing 17 of 26 passes for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

But to Finley, that’s all history now.

“Every game is a new game,” Finley said. “And especially with them having a new coaching staff, everything about this ballgame is different. Now the environment – I’ve never played (at) Alabama. They came to me in 2020, they came to me in ‘21. In ‘22 I didn’t travel to Alabama and then I was at Texas State in 2023, so I’ve never played in the stadium but I’ve been there on an unofficial visit. But like I tell the guys, every game is each it’s own game.

“To us, we’re approaching as if we’re going out there and playing ourselves. It’s all about us. We’ve got to execute and know the final details of the game plan. I think we’ve got a shot to go in there and put up some points.”

Finley said his move to Bowling Green was a smooth one, describing himself as “a person of easy change.” Running a pass-heavy offense that has helped get quarterbacks to the NFL added to the appeal of joining the Hilltoppers.

“I love it,” Finley said. “It’s a pass-first offense. We’ve got Izzy (running back Elijah Young) in the backfield that can run downhill and catch balls out of the backfield, which is amazing for us, which allows us to put him in different spots and utilize him in different ways. It’s kind of similar to the Texas State offense with the up-tempo, the vertical shots and stuff like that.

“As you’ve seen the past couple years, it’s a quarterback factory over here. That’s why I ended up coming here is because they’ve put three or four quarterbacks in the league the past couple years and I like my chances to do it as well.”