Western Kentucky's 2020 football season came to an end with a 39-21 loss to Georgia State on Saturday in the LendingTree Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The Hilltoppers finished the campaign at 5-7 overall – with a 4-3 mark in Conference USA play.
To reflect on the season that was, Inside Hilltopper Sports has three observations, two questions and a prediction regarding the Toppers' program.
Three observations
1.) Being able to play 12 games in 2020 was incredible.
This year has been one unlike any other – there's no question about that. Having to navigate through an unprecedented global pandemic hasn't been easy, especially for athletic programs, but WKU has handled it like all-stars.
The Hilltoppers were able to play 12 games this season – 12. There are some teams that weren't able to play any, but WKU was able to get 12 in – including a postseason bowl game. That's incredible, and WKU Director of Athletics Todd Stewart deserves a ton of praise for his efforts guiding the program and athletics department through the year.
As of Saturday night, WKU was one of just eight teams to play 12 or more games during the 2020 season.
2.) The schedule wasn't a cakewalk by any means.
WKU played a challenging schedule in 2020. There were no "cupcake games".
The Hilltoppers faced three teams that were all ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll at some point this season with Liberty (finished 10-1 with a bowl win), Marshall (finished 7-3 with a bowl loss) and BYU (finished 11-1 with a bowl win). They also had matchups with UAB (the Conference USA champion), an ACC opponent in Louisville and closed the season against a tough Georgia State team from the Sun Belt.
Although Coach Tyson Helton and WKU won't make any excuses for not beating those teams, it was certainly a challenging slate. The Toppers could've easily played cupcake teams all year long, but they didn't – they instead went out and found top-tier competition.
3.) There was more expected out of this year's squad.
The Hilltoppers went 9-4 overall with a 6-2 mark in C-USA and an exciting bowl win in 2019, so there were high expectations coming into the 2020 season. Were those expectations achieved? Most WKU fans and supporters wouldn't say so. Helton even said this after the loss to Georgia State in Saturday's LendingTree Bowl: "It's a losing season. There's nothing good about a losing season."
WKU got off to a rough start – going just 1-4 in its first five games with a win over Middle Tennessee and losses to Louisville, Liberty, Marshall and UAB. It was then 2-6 after defeating Chattanooga – an FCS program, and only by 3 points – and losing to BYU and Florida Atlantic.
The Tops turned things around – winning three straight over Southern Miss, FIU and Charlotte to improve to 5-6 – and were trending in the right direction heading into the postseason, but it didn't even seem like they showed up to play against Georgia State. They were flat, didn't play with a lot of energy and allowed 27 straight points to get down 27-7 at halftime and couldn't overcome that deficit.
It was a strange season in all due to COVID-19 altering summer workouts and fall camp, but the Hilltoppers were expected to be better than they were.
Two questions
1.) Where'd the offense go?
That's one of the main questions to takeaway from the season – and one that was asked quite often throughout the year.
WKU averaged 19 points per game in 2020 – 19. It averaged 290 yards per game – 290. Those are two mind-boggling stats that mightily hurt the Hilltoppers throughout the season. When you can't score points, you're not going to win many games. That was the case this season.
The Tops put up 25 points and 388 yards per game in 2019 and won nine games as a result. Gaej Walker rushed for 1,208 yards and eight touchdowns a season ago and dropped off to 645 yards and three TDs this year. Ty Storey threw for 2,567 yards and 14 TDs last year, and Tyrrell Pigrome passed for just 1,603 yards and nine TDs this season. The team's top returning receiver – Jahcour Pearson – tallied 804 yards and seven TDs last season. He left the program in September, and this season's top receiver was Mitchell Tinsley with just 377 yards and four TDs.
To add onto all of that, WKU ranked 120th in total offense among FBS teams as of Sunday – 120th.
2.) Is WKU going to be able to keep Clayton White?
Defensive coordinator Clayton White is one hell of a coach and will have a job at the Power Five level before too long. Could "before too long" mean this offseason?
White's defenses at WKU have been sensational and haven't allowed 30 points per game in each of his four seasons. In 2017, the Hilltoppers only gave up 26.9 points. In 2018, they only gave up 27.8 points. In 2019, the unit only gave up 20.1 points. In 2020, White's group only allowed 25.3 points.
The Hilltoppers ranked 29th in total defense among FBS teams as of Sunday, which is impressive and another job well done by Coach White – who WKU is going to have to work hard to keep.
One prediction
I'm going to make this short and sweet: WKU will be much, much better – from an overall standpoint, especially offensively – in 2021. There'll be a night and day difference in the Hilltoppers' offense and the way they play, and they will score more than 19 points and average more than 290 yards per game and also win more than five games.
Helton hasn't wasted any time making the proper changes, having already hired new offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and signed transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe and wide receivers Josh Sterns and Jerreth Sterns – all four coming from Houston Baptist, where together they put up 547.5 yards and 33.8 points per game through four contests in 2020.
Kittley said this during this first press conference with the media: “Bottom line is that I was brought here to light up the scoreboard. That’s going to be the attitude that we bring every day. We’re going to to have a mentality that we’re going to score. 40 points a game is kind of the goal. That’s going to be the mentality that I bring. Every meeting that we walk into, we’re going to have that mindset that we’re going to go light up the scoreboard. I think the style’s going to be a lot different, and the different playmakers you’re going to see on the field is going to be a different thing for this program.”
That alone should have WKU fans and supporters excited for next season.
