In THE GAME that many people thought was a sure victory for WKU, the Hilltoppers failed again to get their first home win in 3 years. The home winless streak has climbed to 17 as WKU fell 44-16. The Indiana St Sycamores rallied after the opening kickoff, in which Gordon Cheeseborough was carried off on a stretcher, and scored to get up early. Indiana St. never trailed after that.
After looking strong in the season opener against UK, the WKU defense has been shaky. They allowed over 500 yards of total offense vs. Navy last week, and continued their struggles giving up 430 yards to the I-AA team. Ronnie Fouch, Jake Locker’s backup from Washington, exploited the Hilloppers secondary throwing for 227 yards and 3 TD.
The biggest question going into the game was who would be taking the snaps for WKU this weekend. To the surprise and excitement of the fans, Brandon Doughty was announced as the starting QB. However, excitement quickly ended as Doughty left the game due to injury after taking only 3 snaps. He could be seen walking the WKU sideline on crutches the rest of the game.
Turnovers rocked the WKU offense. Every time the Hilltoppers started to gain some momentum on a drive, it seemed like a fumble or interception ended it. Down by just 11 with less than a thirty seconds left in the 2nd quarter, the Hilltoppers were on Indiana State’s 24-yard line. However, Kawaun Jakes’ pass on 3rd and six was intercepted by Larry Carter and returned 65 yards. The interception led to a 43-yard field goal to put Indiana St. 14-3 at half. Coach Taggart tried to get his team back on track after the half, but it quickly ended. On just the 4th play of the 2nd half, Antonio Andrews fumbled. Indiana St. capitalized and marched down the field for a touchdown, basically ending WKU’s hope of a comeback. WKU ended with 4 turnovers- 3 fumbles and an interception. Its hard to win games giving up the ball so often.
One of the few positive moments came when Bobby Rainey reached 100 rushing yards on the game. With it, he tied a school record set by Antwan Floyd for 8 straight games with 100+ rushing yards. However, Rainey was lucky to get the record. Indiana State’s D- Line dominated most of the game. Rainey was held to just 73 yards until the 7:00 in the 4th quarter. In their final drive of the game, Rainey rushed for 26 yards and then for another 6 yards to get to 105 yards.
Other Notes:
Indiana St. assistant Athletic Director said Gordon Cheeseborough was experiencing pain in his neck, but had movement in all his extremities.
The Win against WKU was IN State’s first non-conference road-win since 2004 and their first win against an FBS team since 2001.
Official attendance for the game was 15,793.
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