Prior to the football season’s beginning, redshirt senior receiver Willie McNeal said his quarterback, fellow redshirt senior Brandon Doughty, would have a season to remember.

Twelve games, 44 touchdowns and 4,344 passing yards later, McNeal was correct.

One year after setting new school records for passing yards, completion percentage, single-game completions and single-game passing yards, he broke all of them again with 4,344 yards, a 67.5 completion percentage, 46 single-game completions and 593 single-game passing yards.

Doughty also set new marks of 58 career touchdowns, 44 single-season touchdown passes — which is just one shy of any other team in the FBS — and eight single-game touchdown passes.

“I think he’s played tremendous,” Head Coach Jeff Brohm said. “He’s had an outstanding year. He’s definitely rose to the occasion, he’s improved in every area of his game … He did extremely well all year in getting rid of the ball quickly, being accurate, making good decisions, processing information.”

The redshirt senior’s eight-touchdown performance ranks 16th on the all-time FBS list, and it’s the highest of any quarterback playing on the road in FBS history.

He’s just the eighth quarterback in FBS history to throw eight touchdowns in a game and the third to accomplish the feat against a nationally ranked opponent.

Then-No. 19 Marshall entered the game as the 14th-best total defense in the country.

His 44 touchdowns and 4,344 passing yards are No. 1 among FBS quarterbacks this season to go along with his No. 2 ranking in points responsible for at 278, his No. 3 ranking in total offense at 357.3 yards per game and his No. 6 passing efficiency rating at 163.5.

In addition to Doughty’s gaudy regular-season numbers, he completed 159-of-213 (74.6 percent) of his passes in six home games this season for 2,107 yards, 24 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

“I’m ecstatic for him,” Brohm said. “I think that he has really had an outstanding year. To put up the numbers he’s put up is really mind-boggling. To put up the numbers he put up in the home games is even more mind-boggling. He’s put in the hard work. He knows what his strengths are. He’s improved upon his weaknesses. We try to play to his strengths, and he understands that … He leads by example.”

Doughty has orchestrated a Hilltopper offense that’s broken single-season records for points, touchdowns, total yards, single-game yards, passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, first downs, passing first downs and first-quarter points.

WKU’s new mark for points in a season sits at 528, surpassing the former total of 432 that was reached in 15 games during the 2002 season — three more than the Hilltoppers played this season.

Doughty, McNeal and company will have a shot at breaking even more records in the team’s bowl opportunity that was solidified with the Hilltoppers’ 67-66 overtime victory at Marshall.

Now, as WKU fans have grown accustomed to all season, we just have to sit back and enjoy the show.