Tyson Helton remembers that post-Thanksgiving afternoon in 2014 very well.
He was serving as first-year head coach Jeff Brohm’s offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky. It was in Huntington, West Virginia. It was packed. It was cold. It was the Hilltoppers’ final game of the regular season. It was an all-out battle.
It was the start of WKU-Marshall.
“That was a heck of a game,” Helton, now WKU’s head coach, said Monday during his weekly press conference. “I was really excited to be able to be a part of the Rose Bowl and beat Penn State (as USC’s quarterbacks coach in 2017), but my favorite game of all-time is at Marshall. Just two good football teams going back-and-forth and whoever had the ball last was going to win – and to go for it with a two-point conversion there late is great.
“You never know how a game is going to change up or how each side is going to break. You’ve got to try to rekindle that magic like we did last time.”
The Hilltoppers, who entered the contest at 6-5 overall and 3-4 in Conference USA play, and Marshall – who came into the matchup undefeated and ranked No. 24 in The Associated Press poll – competed in an unbelievable offensive-powered showdown that included 1,466 total yards of offense and 133 total points.
With WKU trailing 66-59, quarterback Brandon Doughty threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Dangerfield to bring it within 66-65. Brohm, Helton and the Hilltoppers had the option to make the PAT and send the game into a second overtime – or try and assemble a successful two-point conversion attempt and win in walk-off fashion.
That’s exactly what the Toppers did.
Doughty – who completed 34-of-50 passes for 491 yards, eight TDs and two interceptions, threw a perfect pass to wideout Willie McNeal in the end zone to send WKU back to Bowling Green with an upset victory and spoil Marshall’s perfect season.
Ever since then, the Tops and Thundering Herd have become fierce competitors – and the rivalry will continue Saturday as Western (5-2 overall, 4-0 C-USA) travels back to Huntington for a 1:30 p.m. CDT kickoff at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in a marquee game between the top two teams in the C-USA East Division.
“You talk about you wanna be the best, you’ve gotta beat the best,” Helton said. “Marshall’s kind of been the standard in the league for a long time and great history there. Doc Holliday does a great job with his team. Should be a very challenging game, but a game we’re very excited to play.”
While the matchup is important for both teams, WKU would become bowl eligible and remain atop the East Division standings with a win. Although those two things mean a lot, Helton and his squad are focused on their one main goal – beating Marshall (4-3, 2-1).
“I want to be more than just bowl eligible,” said Helton. “Let’s go win a conference championship. That’s the name of the game. And everything else falls into place – it happens naturally. Would I be very happy to be bowl eligible? There’s no question about it.
“I just want to go play Marshall, get a win at Marshall and then keep on going.”
