WKU One Win Away from Bowl

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!

Take a look at Casey Tinius the Clutch.

Courtesy of Hilltopper Video

Great Sports Weekend at WKU

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 13^th 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 400^th 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 2^nd (24:27.5), David Mokone finished 4^th (24:47.0) and Peter Okwera finished 5^th (24:53.1). In the women’s race, Marion Kandie (1^st) and Vasity Chemweno (4^th) 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 8^th time (1^st 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 10^th 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 26^th 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 4^th 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 4^th 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!

Courtesy of Hilltopper Video