Head Coach: Tyson Helton is entering his 6th season as the head coach of the Tops with a 40-26 record. He’s been the Hallmark of consistency for the program, the weird 2020 season is the only time they won less than 8 games and didn’t win a bowl under his watch. He’s pretty underrated as a head coach.
Program Outlook: The Hilltoppers program is in a good place. They’re a consistent contender and most seasons are expected to be Liberty’s biggest challenger in the new look CUSA. There’s such a good history of winning and a great fanbase, the new playoff system means Western Kentucky could make it there one day.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: Ever since the down 2020 season Western Kentucky went to a aggressive pass heavy system and this year will be no different. TJ Finley, a Texas State transfer via Auburn via LSU is expected to be the favorite to start, but the Tops also have Famous Toastery Bowl hero Caden Veltkamp who was originally in the portal but withdrew after playing very well to rally the Tops to victory. They’ll be on the search for more consistency on offense, it was great a lot of the time but they would stall out for huge portions of games at times. They will need to do this without Malachi Corley who is off to the NFL, but they still have a good group of receivers back and added talented Alabama transfer Kisean Johnson who can add some pop to the unit. The offensive line did its job last year, returns most of that unit and added a couple transfers to help out. Maybe the Tops will run the ball a little more? This is a Mike Leach (RIP) style of Air-raid offense where they almost never run the ball. Western Kentucky generally struggled on defense last year, they forced turnovers but had too many low points. The Tops need to figure out how to improve against the run, teams ran all over them in their losses. The defensive line also struggled to get to the opposing QB. The secondary is another area in transition but there’s help on the way. The Tops added a litany of talented transfers including a few from SEC schools to help their secondary.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: Western Kentucky has a fun and challenging non-conference schedule. They’re the first team to face a Post-Nick Saban Alabama. In recent years facing Alabama in the opener has resulted in rough seasons for the teams facing them, with Saban gone the Tops will be hoping that isn’t the case for them. They also play Eastern Kentucky which is fun to see, it’s only the 2nd time the programs met since Western Kentucky moved up to FBS. Toledo and Boston College will also be challenging non-conference challenges. They will have time to recover as the conference schedule is quite favorable early before they end the season with their biggest CUSA championship foes.
Vegas Projection: Western Kentucky’s win total is set at 7.5 with the odds dead even for the over and under. If you count the Alabama game as a loss Toledo, BC, Jacksonville State and Liberty are the games to keep in mind.
2024 Best Case: Western Kentucky gets back into a groove and returns to being one of the best passing offenses in the sport. They catch Alabama by surprise early with a quick 14-0 lead early, “stop the count” tweets reign in all over and the Tops keep it a competitive game until late. They’re ready to take the momentum the rest of the way. They follow up the effort with satisfying blow outs of Eastern Kentucky and Mid Tenn State. Then Western Kentucky battles back and forth with Toledo in a shootout, but a strong 4th quarter by the Tops allows them to come out with a critical victory. They hit the road to face Boston College and once again Finley and the offense are on fire but the defense does their part forcing 3 turnovers from Castellanos to give the Hilltoppers a big victory over an ACC foe. Western Kentucky carries the momentum into conference play rolling to a 5-0 start to set up a huge showdown with Liberty. The Tops play their best game of the season and overcome the challenge of it being a road game for a massive victory in the CUSA race. They avoid a letdown and beat Jacksonville State the following week to finish conference play undefeated. They get a rematch with Liberty the next round but aren’t bothered by that, the Tops beat the Flames again to win the conference. They earn a spot in the playoff and a matchup with Ohio State. They don’t win that one but hang around long enough that everyone remembers they were there.
2024 Worst Case: The Alabama opener is rough on teams, it’s actually startling how bad it is. USC in 2016 is the last team to have a winning record after opening with Alabama (they lost the opener 52-6.) 3 coaches were fired that season, and Jimbo Fisher resigned from Florida State, plus had very little success in his career after. Needless to say this is a scary position. Those fears come to fruition when Western Kentucky trails 42-0 at the half on their way to a blowout loss. It gets worse the next week when they’re upset by Eastern Kentucky. Middle Tennessee sees them struggling heading into 100 Miles of Hate and doesn’t waste the opportunity, the Tops are crushed by the Blue Raiders and this season is officially in the danger zone. It gets worse before it gets better as they lose the next 4 to be 0-7 and already out of a bowl game. They end the season 2-10 and suddenly there’s concern about where this program is going in the future. Adding insult to injury is Mid Tenn State winning 9 games and the MAC spot the Tops once had their eyes on surprisingly goes to Eastern Kentucky.
Welcome to Updog Sports Talk 
Leave a comment