Austin Reed, Bailey Zappe and Mike White.
Since 2016, WKU Football has had three different quarterbacks throw for over 3,000 yards, and before he even throws a pass for the Hilltoppers, redshirt junior quarterback TJ Finley would already fit right into that list. Last year at Texas State, Finley threw for 24 touchdowns and 3,439 yards, a mark that ranked 17th in the nation.
Now, Finley will look to find similar success in a new jersey as he leads WKU into the 2024 season.
“Excited about game week finally being here,” Head Coach Tyson Helton said. “(The team’s) been working really hard for a long time now and I know our players are really excited for this week.”
Despite losing quarterback Austin Reed and wide receiver Malachi Corley to the NFL, WKU returns playmakers from last year’s squad, including senior running back Elijah Young, redshirt senior Dalvin Smith, and redshirt sophomore K.D. Hutchinson.
Smith caught three touchdowns in the team’s comeback win in the Famous Toastery Bowl. Young will join redshirt senior running back Davion Ervin-Poindexter in the backfield.
The WKU defense gave up 28.69 points per game last season and struggled against the run, giving up 2,473 total rush yards, 4.8 yards per attempt and 24 touchdowns. With senior defensive back Anthony Johnson Jr., junior defensive back Kendrick Simpkins and redshirt senior linebacker Kylan Guidry, the defense will look to form a new identity this season.
“I tell you what, I feel like we’ve made good improvements in the secondary,” Helton said. “We’ve got some mature guys back there and they’ve worked really well. I was a little concerned because there’s a lot of new faces back there, but a lot of guys that have you know, come from winning programs and love competition.”
Following the Hilltoppers week one contest at Alabama, WKU will host Eastern Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass. This will not be the only rival they play early in the season, as they will travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to play Middle Tennessee State in the 100 Miles of Hate rivalry. The Hilltoppers lead the series overall 37-35-1 and have won the last four meetings versus the Blue Raiders.
WKU will then play two non-conference games against Toledo and at Boston College.
The Hilltoppers will kick off conference play against UTEP and Sam Houston. Newcomer to the conference Kennesaw State will come to Bowling Green the day before Halloween.
From there, the final four games of the season feature a pivotal stretch of conference games.
WKU will travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico to play the New Mexico State Aggies. They return for homecoming to play LA Tech, then will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia to play Liberty. Finally, WKU will close the season at home against Jacksonville State on November 30th. LA Tech is the only one of these four teams WKU beat last season.
In a preseason prediction done by the media involved with C-USA, WKU was picked to finish second behind Liberty.
