The Herd trampled WKU in the latest edition of the Moonshine Throwdown and made it quite clear WKU is FAR from the team which won a bowl game last year. The reality of where this team should be and where its at is stark. Let's talk about what we learned from this game.
Why Aren't You More Defensive?
Where do I start? Since the saying goes "defense wins championships," let's start there. WKU got worked from the beginning of the game. Marshall took only two plays to move the ball 75 yards and score on the Tops, and it only got worse from there. WKU consistently allowed Marshall to march down the field with relative ease. Out of 13 drives, Marshall was able to score on six of them. WKU's defense looked shaken up after that first campaign by Marshall and lethargic the rest of the way.
While Devon Key and DeAngelo Malone led the team in tackles, the rest of the defense felt largely unimpressive. You could tell that Marshall didn't fear anything WKU tried to dish out. No fumbles and no interceptions and very little pressure on the quarterback led to little chance for the Tops to win. As the Tops look to next week against UAB, the defense has to stop regressing and start to show it's teeth again. This is a veteran defensive line and extremely talented secondary, so there is no real excuse for the paltry performance we saw this week.
Hold The Rock
The lack of fundamentals showed for WKU as the offense handed the ball to the Thundering Herd three times by fumbles. Yes, two of them were forced, but still, protecting the ball has to be a top priority. Those three gaffes ended up costing the Tops dearly, 21 of Marshall's 38 points came directly from those three turnovers. You couldn't have made it easier for Marshall to take advantage. Mental mistakes by running back Jakairi Moses caused him to drop the ball right into the hands of Marshall defenders for an easy 38-yard fumble recovery and return for a TD. This comes after quarterback Tyrell Pigrome had already coughed the ball up twice while running for yards on previous drives. This comes down to simple lack of concentration and sloppy play.
Time For A Change
I've held off on saying this for a couple of weeks now and I'm glad Coach Helton read my mind, because Piggy T needed to take a seat on the bench. While he is a very talented player who has a good arm and can run to make a play, the offense has never seemed fluid under him. Most of the times, his passes have been off target or he has had to scramble just to get a play off. His deficiencies within the offense became ever more apparent on Saturday. He went 12-21 for 61 yards and ran for 28 yards with 2 forced fumbles on his ledger. He couldn't make plays when Marshall's defense clamped down on the Tops and put pressure on him.
Although it was clearly a situation of too little, too late, Kevaris Thomas came into the game in the second half and was able to make daylight out of darkness for the Tops. Thomas, who many in Topper Nation have been expecting to take over the starter's role since he arrived on campus a couple of years ago, finally got an extended chance to show what he can do. He drove WKU to 2 scoring drives in the second half and racked up 148 yards on 9-18 passing to help make the final score and stat line not look as bad as it could have. Thomas has the arm and the smarts to be successful under Helton's offense if given a chance.
Piggy T shouldn't just be discarded as he is a unique talent, but it may be time to let Kevaris go out and see if he can turn things around. Let's not forget, last season an injury to then starting quarterback Steven Duncan allowed Arkansas transfer, Ty Storey to come in a save the season for a flailing WKU squad. Maybe that could happen again this season.
Run Hardly
Stop me if you've heard this song before, but WKU needs a running game. Last season, Gaej Walker was like a revelation for this team and ran through most of the opponents WKU faced. Now in 2020, he has struggled to get any traction against anyone. His fellow running backs have also been hard pressed to make any moves on the ground.
How futile was WKU's run game against Marshall? 85 yards.... between five different rushers... that's all WKU could muster. Where as Marshall's Brenden Knox had 107 yards on the ground, averaging nearly seven yards a carry, which was nearly double WKU's output. Not to mention the fumbles by Pigrome, who has been WKU's leading rusher all season by a large margin despite the fact that he is the quarterback. WKU has been outhustled on the ground by opponents 782 yards to 452 yards. There is no way this team can hope to get the house in order and make it to a bowl game with this type of production.
In order for the Tops to turn things around, there has to be a recommitment to the running game and quick. I'm not sure if that is continuing to use the running back by committee approach or trying harder to get guys like Walker and Jakairi Moses to have that breakout game which fuels a resurgence. Either way, the running game plan needs to fixed before next week.
It's Tricky... Tricky, Tricky, Tricky
Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a fan of trick plays and gimmicks which can get a team fired up. WKU could have used one or two of these psychological boosting plays on Saturday. As I previously mentioned, the defense seemed defeated almost from the outset and the offense had absolutely no rhythm. So what would it have hurt to throw in a wrinkle play that saw a flea flicker, or a Statue of Liberty, or anything that would create some excitement on the field and on the sidelines? Plus, when you are down by more than 20 points in the second half, it couldn't have been worse than anything that what they were already running. WKU was missing its swagger all night. That could have been a quick and simple way to get that swag back quickly and give them momentum that was sorely needed in this blowout loss.
