WKU staked its claim for a bowl berth with a defensive clinic. Let’s look at what we can take away from the Toppers 7th win of the season.

Defensive Masterpiece

The Topper defense showed up and showed out in Hattiesburg as WKU held Southern Miss to 10 points, the fewest by the Golden Eagles at home in six seasons. WKU also capitalized on the mistakes of Southern Miss by scoring 14 points off turnovers for the 2nd straight game. The WKU defense held Southern Miss to a 3-of-14 mark on third downs and 1-of-4 on fourth downs. Every game the defense gets stronger and plays to its strengths more than it does bending to the will of the opponents.

Putting the “D” In Defense

D’Angelo Malone needs to win someone’s end of the year award for his spectacular play, I’m just saying. Malone has been solid all season and especially so on Saturday. Malone recorded six tackles (3 solo and 3 assisted) and scooped up a fumble and rumbled into the end zone. His presence made Southern Miss have to rethink its game plan on multiple occasions. Malone, along with teammate Kyle Bailey who chipped in 11 tackles, made it a miserable day for the Golden Eagles. Malone should once again have a strong performance against an underwhelming Middle Tennessee squad next week.

Offensive Protection

Ty Storey kept his clothes clean Saturday, thanks to the efforts of his offensive linemen. The WKU offensive line did not allow a sack for the 2nd straight game. It was the first time Southern Miss was held without a sack in five years. The progression of the offensive line has been impressive. The unit seems to understand how to give plenty of spacing to keep bigger and stronger D-linemen from sneaking in and catching Storey or the running back (usually Gaej Walker) behind the line of scrimmage.

Fine Tuned Machine

The season is almost over and WKU is looking like a team that is locked in. They are averaging around 28 points per contest and are growing in potency and confidence with every single game. Coach Tyson Helton has proved that he is the right guy for the job by infusing some fun and fire back into Hilltopper football. Saturday’s game was probably the most reminiscent of a Jeff Brohm era contest. (Sure, there were no video game numbers to accompany the win, but the dominance from bell to bell was definitely there just like it used to be.) I would put the Tops up again most any team in most any conference at this point of the season and I think they could give them a run for their money.

100 Miles Of Hate

No better way to close out the season coming off of a strong win than to come home against your most hated rival. WKU will likely use MTSU as a tune up for whatever bowl game it will be assigned to. The Tops are not playing for the division title and won’t be eligible for the conference championship, so the team can use Middle as a chance to test out some things. Don’t be surprised to see more of Kevaris Thomas during that game as well, as he did get limited run during the Southern Miss game. It’s always an interesting game between these bitter rivals and it should be no different this year, even though MTSU is having a down season.