Ray Harper greets estimated 1,100 fans in E.A. Diddle Arena
for his introduction as the new Head Coach.
It's been a while since I've posted, and I mean awhile...but since WKU is officially back in every way, I think now is a perfect time. WKU just officially made Ray Harper the Head Men's Basketball coach. He received a 4 year deal worth $375,000 a year. He can buy GAD's for the entire campus with that kind of money. Harper has done well as the Interim Coach. His record may not be overall satisfying but the team is giving much more effort and the pace of play has sped up. The fans have certainly supported Ray by packing Diddle and I fully expect a full house for the final 2 home games. He can recruit well and develop players just as good as anybody at the mid-major level. I am personally a huge Ray Harper fan because I watched him year after year at KWC as a kid. His teams in the late 90's early 00's were locks to reach the DII championship every year. He just has that head coach swagger about him. He goes out of his way to shake hands with fans and makes sure every player gets individual attention in practice and games. He is the perfect fit and I could not be happier to see a great guy, with a great family, and a great baskeball resume, end up leading a great program like WKU.
On another note, Iman Shumpert dropped out of the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest Saturday night, so the NBA decided to fix its mistake and let Jeremy Evans into the contest. How could they leave him off in the first place? Over 63% of his career points are on dunks and he has the highest dunk percentage in the NBA over the past 2 seasons. Those statistics, along with a Twitter push from the Jazz and a number of WKU students, couldn't have gone unnoticed. By gones are by gones NBA, and I'm glad to see you came to your senses and #letjeremydunk. I just want to see a good showing from Jeremy Saturday night, but why not think big. He can definitely win it, he just needs to show creativity. I have a couple ideas. First, I've always thought Jeremy resemebles Flick from "A Bug's Life", so I'd love to see him dunk in a costume over a ladybug or something. My other idea is for Courtney Lee to sport a WKU jersey, as well as Jeremy, and collaborate on a lob. That way no matter what WKU gets the much needed exposure. Proud of Jeremy and I'll certainly be watching Saturday night.
WKU Football continued their hot streak Saturday, defeating FIU 10-9 on a last second field goal. Bowling Green native Casey Tinius got the nod for the final kick and did not disappoint. Tinius was nowhere to be found on the Tops previous 3 attempts of the game, but those attempts failed so Coach Taggart went with his gut. Tinius was iced with a timeout from the FIU sideline. He stayed calm and cool under pressure, knocking in the 34 yarder from the left hash. Linebacker Xavius Boyd led the rush of the field with his signature backflip, and the rest of the team followed. Rainey did his thing as always with 155 yards rushing on 28 carries. He also was involved in the biggest play of the game. His 3rd and 12 reception from Kawaun Jakes to pick up a crucial first down in the waning seconds kept WKU's hopes alive. He then got cheapshotted out of bounds and drew the personal foul call after the play, putting the Tops in field goal position. Kawaun continued to manage the game well while Andrew Jackson led the defense that was outstanding. The win streak continues and so does the hope of a bowl for the WKU faithful. ESPN's Mark Schlabach projects WKU to get a bid to the Military Bowl against NC State. I for one think his prediciton is BS. The team plays two very beatable teams in North Texas and Troy to round out the season. If they win those two games and Arkansas State loses to Layfeyette then it's possible for a Sun Belt title. Another likely scenario is WKU wins out and finishes second in the conference and gets invited to the GoDaddy.Com Bowl in Mobile. Either way, none of the speculation matters unless the team wins the remainder of their conference games, which I fully believe they will do. Bobby Rainey and the other seniors know their time on the hill is coming to an end, and will play inspired. WKU Football is finally here and on the map. Wins are no longer a commodity, there an expectation. Coach Taggart is bringing the JUICE!
It was a great weekend for WKU sports. Im actually going to say it was the BEST weekend WKU sports has had in the last five years. Although there have been great sports moments like “The Shot” and WKU’s magical sweet-16 run, but rarely have all of WKU sports been so successful in a single weekend. The Tops were truly on top this weekend. The Lady Toppers started off the weekend strong last Friday. The women’s soccer team had a dramatic finish against rival MTSU. With :16 seconds left in overtime, Mallory Outerbridge scored her 13th goal of the season and led the Tops to a 2-1 victory.
Simultaneously, the Lady Topper Volleyball team was looking to not only improve to an outstanding 24-3 on the season, but they were also looking to get Coach Travis Hudson his 400th career victory. The Tops came out strong against Denver and won in straight sets 25-12, 25-16, and 25-13.
Early Saturday morning WKU swept the conference meet in cross-country. The men’s meet results were: 1. WKU- 36; 2. UALR- 51; 3. MTSU- 64; 4. FIU 126. This was the first men’s title since 2008. WKU had three of the top five finishers in the meet. Deus Rwaheru finished 2nd (24:27.5), David Mokone finished 4th (24:47.0) and Peter Okwera finished 5th (24:53.1). In the women’s race, Marion Kandie (1st) and Vasity Chemweno (4th) helped the women’s team win their sixth straight cross-country title. WKU placed first with 60 points while UNT (74) and USA (97) rounded off the top three.This marked the 8th time (1st since 2008) that WKU has swept the conference tournament. Mokone was named SBC Freshman of the Year award while Coach Erik Jenkins won SBC Men’s Coach of the Year.
The Lady Tops volleyball played their last home game of the year on Saturday afternoon. On senior night, the Lady tops crushed North Texas in three sets to reach the 25-win mark on the season. This is the 10th straight season that WKU has compiled 25 wins. Senior Lindsey Williams finished the match with 11 kills, while Senior Tiffany Elmore added 7 kills in her final home match. WKU is now ranked 26th in the national rankings.
Shortly after the conclusion of the volleyball game, the WKU football team was in danger of losing a game in which they led 20-7. This 4th quarter collapse seemed to become a reality when ULM took a 1-point lead (21-20) with 1:00 left in the game. WKU didn’t want to relive their 4th quarter collapse to ULM last year and decided to respond. On the ensuing kickoff, WKU’s John Evans returned the ball to the ULM 9 yard line. Two rushes later, Bobby Rainey was in the end zone for his first touchdown of the day (2 point conversion good). However the game would only get more interesting. ULM marched down the field to score with six seconds left to tie the game at 28 (ULM decided to kick extra point instead of going for the win). In OT, ULM had first possession. Derrius Brooks intercepted the ball and allowed WKU an opportunity to win the game. WKU took advantage. After four rushes by Bobby Rainey, Roy kicked a 24-yard field goal to win the game. This marks WKU’s first 4-game win streak since 2005.
Swimming also opened their season this past weekend. The women’s team split the meet defeating Vanderbilt 240-54 but losing to UK 138-162. The men’s team lost to UK 141-159. Although the Hilltopper’s lost to UK, the meet was very close. The teams combined to win 10 events and both meet were decided by the last few events.
Clearly this was a good weekend on the hill. WKU teams were very successful in their respected games, meets, and matches this weekend. Hopefully this weekend will be just as successful. The WKU football team will look to continue their 4-game win streak vs FIU at home this weekend. Also, this weekend marks the “opening” of college basketball at WKU as both the men’s and women’s teams host exhibition games. GO TOPS!
In the final home game of the season, the Lady Toppers soccer team faced the Lady Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University. For seven lady toppers, it would be the last time they took the field at the WKU Soccer Complex. This game had very little implications on the season, as the two teams would face off in the first round of the Sunbelt Conference Tournament regardless of the result. However, neither team appeared to take this game lightly. The two teams were evenly matched early on as both teams had several scoring opportunities. However, in the 30th minute, the Lady Toppers would finally capitalize. The Lady Toppers broke the tie on a Lindsey Williams’ corner kick. Williams played the corner kick in to Chrissy Tchoula, and the ball deflected off senior forward Amanda Buechel and into the back of the net. The Tops would take this lead into half time. Once again in the second half, Middle Tennessee would have plenty of chances to score. MTSU took the first four shots of the half, but failed to find the net on any of these opportunities. The Hilltoppers held their lead late in the game before MTSU finally tied the game in the 82nd minute on a Regina Thomas goal. The score remained tied at the end of regulation and forced the game into golden-goal overtime. The stage was set. One goal, ten minutes, one final home game for seven lady toppers. Both sides had their chances, but heading into the final seconds of the game, redshirt-senior forward Mallory Outerbridge once again became the hero. Outerbridge netted a goal past the diving Rebecca Cushing for the 2-1 win with 13 seconds left in overtime. Outerbridge left the fans with one last impression of her WKU career: one of greatness, poise, and the ability to score under pressure. For the final time in her career, Outerbridge left the WKU Soccer Complex on top. With the win, WKU secured the 4th place seed for the Sunbelt Tournament, while MTSU fell to the 5th seed. The two teams will face off in the first round on November 2nd at 1 PM. The game could go either way, but WKU may find momentum coming off this overtime win against MTSU.
On Saturday, the Hilltopper football team did something they haven’t done in 1,127 days. For the first time in 3 years, they left L.T. Smith Stadium winners. Heading into the game, many students were optimistic, but on paper, the Rajin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana Lafayette were heavy favorites. ULL entered the game boasting a 6-1 record with the lone loss coming from #3 Oklahoma State. The Rajin’ Cajuns were looking for a big game out of Bobby Rainey, but there was no way to predict that both Rainey (RB) and Kawaun Jakes (QB) would have a career day.
The Hilltoppers started off strong with their first drive ending with a 1-yard TD run by Bobby Rainey. From this point on, the Hilltoppers would never lose the lead. This was due in part to an exceptional offensive performance all around lead by Jakes and Rainey. Jakes arguably had the best game of his career completing 15 of his 18 passes for 242 yards and a touch down. This performance prevented the defense from expecting the run and forced them to play deep. This opened up the field and Rainey took advantage. Rainey ran for 206 yards on 32 carries and found the endzone a career high 3 times. This exceptional performance earned Rainey national recognition. He received an ESPN College Gameday helmet sticker, along with the honor of being named national running back of the week from the College Football Performance Awards.
The performance on the field was great, as well as the fan support (on the field). The loyal WKU students have been waiting a while to rush the field, and on Saturday they finally got the chance. WKU had its biggest win of the season in front of its home crowd and the Hilltoppers definitely have momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. If the Hilltoppers can secure a win on the road this weekend against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, they will extend their winning streak to four. It would be the first time since 2005 the Hilltoppers have achieved this feat.
If you missed any of the exciting action from the Homecoming win last Saturday, check out this video courtesy of HSSN.
The Hilltoppers traveled down to Boca Raton looking to spoil FAU’s new stadium opener. Not only did WKU win the game, but they did two things they haven’t done since 2007. The Hilltoppers not only beat FAU, they shut them out in front of the 29,103 FAU fans. This is WKU’s first shutout since defeating West Virginia Tech 87-0 on September 8, 2007. The win also gave WKU its first winning streak since the 2007 season.
Bobby Rainey was a workforce in the game carrying the ball 34 times for 131 yards and 2 TD.
Defense was in full force for the FAU game allowing only 121 total offensive yards. Peterson and Jackson led the team with 8 tackles. WKU forced 0 turnovers.
Offense and defense might have been the key to this game, but the WKU field goal kicking team must improve.The Hilltopper kickers combined for an 0 for 3 performance. Not only that, but for the season the WKU kickers are a disappointing 20% (2-10) on the season.
Although WKU beat ULL 54-21 last year, ULL is a much better team this year. After falling predictably to Oklahoma St. to open the season, ULL won their next 6 games. ULL has a very balanced rushing and passing offense spread the ball almost equally. QB Blaine Gautier will look to continue his successful season against the questionable WKU secondary. Although WKU has been strong at points throughout the season, there have been games where they have shown huge gaps in coverage. On the season he has completed nearly 65% of his passes and ranks second with 10 passing TD. WKU will also have a tough task of stopping the ULL running game. ULL spread the ball between 3 different running backs, who are all capable of efficiently moving the ball.
Other Notes:
Jack Doyle was named to the Mackey Award Midseason watch list. He is one of 25 others named to the midseason list, which is awarded to the best collegiate Tight End.
Rivalries are what college athletics are all about. WKU's only real rival, MTSU, couldn't handle the Hilltoppers last week. WKU took down the Blue Raiders for the first time since 2007 with big games from the usual names. Kawaun Jakes and Bobby Rainey paced the team on offense. Jakes threw for 222 yards and a game winning TD. Rainey had a usual day at the office with 166 yards on the ground while hauling in 6 catches for 57 yards including the game winning snag. Andrew Jackson had his usual swagger leading the defense to an impressive performance. Jackson had nine tackles including one for a safety, while intercepting a key pass in the redzone. WKU now finds itself with momentum heading into a hostile environment in Boca Raton Saturday. FAU may be 0-5 but this weekend is the opening game of their brand new beautiful stadium. Emotions will be high for both teams but when the adreniline fades WKU is the better team on both sides of the ball. Special teams may be another story. Casey Tinius is 1-6 on Field Goal attempts this season and it's killing the team's scoring and overall strategy when it comes to field position. The game marks the mid-point in the season and hopefully a turning point for Tinius and the special teams. Coach Taggart handled the win last week perfectly, showing his happy but unsatisfied demeanor after the game. Taggart will have his game face on this weekend and lead the team to a strong performance despite the opening of the new stadium. Look for returner John Evans and of course Bobby Rainey to have big games Saturday.
