Zappe Doing Zappe Things
One question going into Saturday's game was could Bailey Zappe be effective against a stingy Spartan defense. Well, we definitely received our answer. Zappe was still able to air it out and find his wide receivers when he needed them. The first year Topper was also tried to make a few nice runs even though he plodded to get those yards and was eventually taken down enough times to negate all of that work. His haul was nearly 500 yards in the air.
Zappe has a nice ability to change the play at the line of scrimmage and most of the time, his instincts were correct against Michigan State. He seemed unbothered by a hungry defensive line in green jerseys. His even keel approach kept the Tops in the game after it seemed the Spartans may run away from the Tops without even a fight.
Although the Tops fell hard in the one, I feel confident Zappe will go into Conference USA play ready to pick up some much needed wins.
Learning Lessons
Earlier this week on Facebook, I came across a question on why WKU would play a third big time game in their non-conference schedule. Some argued the checks the football program receives are not worth the L's taken and the damage it can pose to the overall record for the team. I responded to that thread and said it's actually a good thing to play against the "big boys" and test your mettle, no matter the outcome. Saturday's game confirmed this for me.
Sure, WKU was blown out according to the box score and there are no moral victories in football. Yet, what the Tops gain is valuable experience. Just think that in 2 of the 3 games against major programs, the Tops were in it until the very end and could easily be 3-1. The Michigan State game has shown us that Zappe is for real even if the score doesn't reflect it. It showed at times the Topper defense can run with anybody. Finally, how will you ever grow into a program of consequence if you only play talent on your level or below? Simple, you won't. The battle-tested Tops should be able to weather most any storm the impending conference schedule should present, leaving them in a prime spot to reach a bowl and to take the next step of the program's development.
Stop That Man
WKU had big problems with Michigan State's three-headed monster of Reed, Walker and Thorne. Why? Because of the elusiveness of each player. Reed burned the Tops from the onset because it seemed like the red and white had molasses in their shoes. It didn't improve as the game wore on. Reed carved up WKU on the run, Thorne aired out the ball and ran at a high clip, and Walker was clearly the top target of Thorne all night long.
WKU left gaping holes which were easy to run through. Another problem that will haunt the Tops is a lack of wrapping up the offensive player. WKU let MSU off of the hook several times by not completing the tackle. There's no way to win a game against a big time tackle without committing to the fundamentals of football, like tackling. The lack of tackling has bitten WKU in every game this season and threatens to derail the conference season if it is not remedied.
Red Zone Regression
WKU took one step forward and 5 to 10 yards back in the red zone on Saturday. Obviously, the failure to score from the 1-yard line will be what most people remember from this game. However, the red zone was unfortunate for the Tops more often than not. That's when the Tops struggled to more to get in the end zone. As the game progressed, the Tops found ways to get in, but it sure wasn't easy. False starts and other penalties kept the Tops from making the game tighter than it ended up being.
Conference Season is Coming
It's a new season ahead. Next week, WKU will turn the page on a non-conference schedule which only produced one win in four tries. WKU Coach, Tyson Helton, will have the task of accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative. WKU is still in the hunt to make a bowl game, provided the team strings together several wins. The Tops sit in the middle of the Eastern part of the conference, namely because it hasn't played a down of in-conference.
UTSA will be tough test out of the gate as it is undefeated to this point. It will be up to the Tops to rise to the occasion and band together now before the rest of the season passes them by.
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