A Sea Of Red

Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, Kentucky


WKU Football Official Site

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Tyson Helton
2nd Season as WKU Head Coach
Son of Longtime College Coach Kim Helton & Brother of USC Head Coach Clay Helton
9-4 Record in 2019 Debut Season


2020 Schedule

SEP 12 - @ LOUISVILLE (ACC Net) ................................ L 35-21
SEP 19 - LIBERTY (ESPNU) ......................................... 11 AM CT
OCT 03 - @ MTSU* (ESPN 3) ........................................ 4 PM CT
OCT 10 - MARSHALL* (Stadium) .............................. 6:30 PM CT
OCT 17 - @ UAB* (Stadium) .............................................. TBD
OCT 24 - UTC* (ESPN3) ............................................... 3 PM CT
OCT 31 - @ BYU ................................................................ TBD
NOV 07 - @ FAU* (Stadium) ......... .............................. 5 PM CT
NOV 14 - SOUTHERN MISS* (CBS Sports) .................... 5 PM CT
NOV 21 - FIU* (ESPN3) ............................................... 1 PM CT
NOV 28 - @ Charlotte* (CBS Sports) ................................. TBD


Key Players



#1 Tyrrell Pigrome
5' 10" 210 lbs Senior Quarterback
2020 Season Totals: 10-of-23 for 129 Yds with 1 TD + 17 Carries for 68 Yds
*** Grad Transfer with 13 Career Starts at Maryland ***



#5 Gaej Walker
6' 0" 195 lbs Senior Running Back
2020 Season Totals: 9 Carries for 19 Yds with 1 Rushing TD



#7 Jahcour Pearson
5' 9" 180 lbs Senior Receiver
2020 Season Totals: 5 Catches for 67 Yds




#10 DeAngelo Malone
6' 4" 230 lbs Senior Defensive End
2020 Season Totals: 7 Solo & 1 Assist for 8 Total Tackles + 1 Sack
*** 2019 CUSA Defensive Player of Year ***

great to have a game to look forward to!

Helton had an incredible debut season last fall after returning to campus after OC stops at USC & Tennessee. But it certainly helped having Arkansas grad transfer Ty Storey come in and light it up in his lone season at WKU. Helton is considered one of the top offenisve minds in the game. He did a solid job calling plays for Jeremy Pruitt in his 1st season trying to clean up the mess in Knoxville.

But DeAngelo Malone is a flat out beast. He's projected on several boards as a first rounder of the upcoming NFL Draft. He faced double & triple teams most of last season and still put up monster numbers.

Their coach has a serious chin

Purple Haize wrote: ↑September 1st, 2020, 4:58 pm Their coach has a serious chin

It's almost Cowheresque

Sly Fox wrote: ↑September 1st, 2020, 3:19 pm Helton had an incredible debut season last fall after returning to campus after OC stops at USC & Tennessee. But it certainly helped having Arkansas grad transfer Ty Storey come in and light it up in his lone season at WKU. Helton is considered one of the top offenisve minds in the game. He did a solid job calling plays for Jeremy Pruitt in his 1st season trying to clean up the mess in Knoxville.

But DeAngelo Malone is a flat out beast. He's projected on several boards as a first rounder of the upcoming NFL Draft. He faced double & triple teams most of last season and still put up monster numbers.

i'm hoping a dual threat QB can help us here.

If we can go on the road and get an upset here, I feel something special coming through the first 5.

2 things:

1. How many of you will be tuning in to scout our opponent for next week.

2. Do not be fooled by the Power 5 tag that WKU's grad transfer qb has. He was atrocious at Maryland. Unless he has had a re-birth from the QB whispers, I don't think he will scare us with his arm. Now, his ability to scramble will be key for our defense to stop.

Watched every 2019 game of every upcoming opponent. Predicting how LU looks with either a
-decent FCS QB and new receivers
- or a complete unknown Auburn transfer with new receivers and comparing the LU trenches vs Louisville a tough task.
Hoping Louisville bruises em up pretty good. We will need every break we can get...
Oh, and yes I will be scouting. Good thing for road games - home field advantage is nominal this season with exception of long travel games.

WKU qb is an average passer at best, but the dual threat ability is what may bite us. Other than that WKU has been anemic. It should easily be 35-0 in favor of Louisville but that fumble in the first quarter cost them a shutout thus far. I think Mack and Pickett are in for a good game next week!

FlamesHighontheTide wrote: ↑September 12th, 2020, 9:27 pm WKU qb is an average passer at best, but the dual threat ability is what may bite us. Other than that WKU has been anemic. It should easily be 35-0 in favor of Louisville but that fumble in the first quarter cost them a shutout thus far. I think Mack and Pickett are in for a good game next week!

If they watch the tape and adapt - call a bunch of designed QB runs and make LU stop him vs trying to make him a pass first QB. He took a big hit last 6 minutes of the game ( when they went to that philosophy ) and his throwing shoulder is going to be sore all week. I predict they open with trying to overpower us early with the run game. Hoping Malik can throw it better than that cat.

Game week is here!!!

This year has been anything but typical and I am sure we are all in for a surprise or two as we move forward but game week is finally here!!!

GAME WEEK HAS ARRIVED
By:Jon Manson

Like many schools and conferences have done, Liberty has begun testing three times per week, starting last week and into this week. We have seen other college football teams successfully pull off games, some have even played multiple games, giving Freeze even more confidence the Flames will actually make it to game day.

“I think all of us still have these lingering doubts, are we really going to get to do it, are we really going to get to do it? And then, when you see people doing it, it starts to feel real.”

Cut between the WKU-UL game and a couple of others in which I had simultaneous interest. That DE Malone is a beast and we will need to gameplan for how we are going to manage him. #10 was all over the field. The rest of the WKU defense didn't show much of anything. The WKU offense was simply overmatched with the talent level of the Cardinals D. So it is tough to gauge much off that performance.

I am anxious to see what new wrinkles Coach Freeze brings to the mix with an offseason to better understand his talent and to scheme these opponents. Forgive my optimistic outlook, but I am expecting some pretty creative offensive looks in the coming weeks with the extra practice time.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑September 13th, 2020, 12:25 pm Cut between the WKU-UL game and a couple of others in which I had simultaneous interest. That DE Malone is a beast and we will need to gameplan for how we are going to manage him. #10 was all over the field. The rest of the WKU defense didn't show much of anything. The WKU offense was simply overmatched with the talent level of the Cardinals D. So it is tough to gauge much off that performance.

I am anxious to see what new wrinkles Coach Freeze brings to the mix with an offseason to better understand his talent and to scheme these opponents. Forgive my optimistic outlook, but I am expecting some pretty creative offensive looks in the coming weeks with the extra practice time.

Malone is indeed very good. He did get handled a few times one on one by their tackle. However, he is definitely fast and one that you have to game plan for. WKU's QB isn't a great passer, but he sure did a great job running the ball. QB draws, etc.
WKU also gave up a lot of yards on deep balls. It will be interesting to see if we can exploit that.

In years past GS would have sliced and diced us in Cure bowl. Looking forward to see how they handle WKU.

I updated the stats above to reflect the Louisville game.

Anyone else just jazzed to finally have a game to be excited about on Saturday?

Yeah, i can't wait for Saturday that is for sure.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑September 13th, 2020, 3:50 pm I updated the stats above to reflect the Louisville game.

Anyone else just jazzed to finally have a game to be excited about on Saturday?

Years past ? Last year was first year of bowl eligibility. If you mean you like our new d coordinator philosophy and execution compared to old - then I concur. I think we will love him when we are stacked 3 deep with talent. Doubt he is around by that time - but he will be the reason we can win 8 games this year.

The depth chart has been released. The mystery at QB still remains

LIBERTY RELEASES WEEK 1 DEPTH CHART FOR WESTERN KENTUCKY
By: Jon Manson

Liberty football game week is finally here with the Flames set to take on Western Kentucky in Bowling Green on Saturday at noon eastern on ESPNU. The Hilltoppers opened as a 13.5 point favorite following their season opening loss to Louisville, 35-21.

Mystery no more

Of the Helton brothers Tyson definitely got the better hair genes.

Anyone know how many fans WKU will allow in the stands ?

20% capacity

https://www.bgdailynews.com/sports/wku/ ... 20students.

I see us losing by two touchdowns. While I am not super impressed with WKU's offense, I just don't see how Liberty is going to produce sustainable offense themselves. Louisville hit big plays on passes because they have some of the most elite skill position players you will see. WKU completely shut down the run against them. I am not sure we will be able to do that. I am afraid our defense spends too much time on the field and wears down.

Still excited for football.

We didn't really tackle during fall camp according to Coach Freeze. This game may look like how Navy played against BYU (hope I am wrong).