Tag: Western Kentucky Football

Kickoff time, network revealed for Kentucky at Texas on Nov. 23

The kickoff time and network have been announced for the Kentucky Wildcat’s trip to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 23.

With the Texas Longhorns preparing for rival Arkansas on Saturday, the game for the following weekend finally has its kickoff time set.

Texas hosts Kentucky on Nov. 23 at DKR. The game will kickoff at 2:30 PM CT and be broadcast on ABC. No word on which announcing crew will work the game.

The Longhorns have only faced Kentucky once in football. Texas won 7-6 in 1951. Kentucky was helmed by legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and traveled to Austin early in the year as the No. 6 team in the country. UT was No. 11.

The Wildcats have had an odd 2024 campaign. UK 1-6 in conference, but it played Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt tough and beat Ole Miss.

UT’s clash with Kentucky will be a classic ‘trap game,’ sandwiched between rivalry games against Arkansas and Texas A&M.

The UT-UK game will be proceeded on ABC by Ole Miss at Florida and followed by Alabama at Oklahoma.

Western Kentucky’s Red Out game will feature amazing Big Red-inspired helmets

Western Kentucky wins the custom college football helmet contest so far this season.

Western Kentucky football has its Red Out game scheduled for Oct. 10 against UTEP, and the team’s helmets are perfect for the occasion.

Paying homage to WKU’s mascot, the red helmets will feature none other than Big Red’s eyes on them.

Oh yeah, the Hilltoppers will essentially be sporting Big Red on the helmets. How cool is that? As far as customized college football helmets go this season, Western Kentucky may take the cake.

Will Big Red wear one of these Big Red-inspired helmets? One can only hopee. Even if the beloved mascot doesn’t, the football players wearing these fantastic helmets works for us.

 

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Alabama’s 2024 season-opening kickoff time vs. Western Kentucky revealed

The stage is set for the Kalen DeBoer era to start in Tuscaloosa with a kickoff time revealed for Alabama vs. Western Kentucky in Week 1.

A new era of Alabama Crimson Tide football will begin on Aug. 31, 2024 as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers take on the Kalen DeBoer-led Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium to kickoff the 2024 season.

With Nick Saban announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2023 season, fans are not sure how to feel about DeBoer, who was previously at the helm of the Washington Huskies program and made it all the way to the national championship game after defeating the Texas Longhorns in the Sugar Bowl.

Though the offseason has been filled with exciting Alabama football news regarding recruiting and the transfer portal, fans are still a bit uneasy about the change.

Aside from Alabama’s A-Day spring game, the Week 1 matchup against Western Kentucky will be the first time in nearly two decades, aside from the Iron Bowl in 2020, that a coach not named Nick Saban will be roaming the sidelines in Bryant-Denny.

As the season inches closer, kickoff times are being announced and there’s none more important than the one that tells us when the 2024 season begins for the Tide.

When does the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide football season kickoff?

Alabama and Western Kentucky will meet in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Aug. 31, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. CT for the Week 1 matchup to get the season started.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM. 

Texas hires Miami Dolphins assistant Kenny Baker as DL coach

Texas announced its defensive line coach on Thursday.

The Texas Longhorns have a defensive line coach. On Thursday, news broke that the Longhorns had chosen former Miami Dolphins and Western Kentucky assistant Kenny Baker as its defensive line coach.

Baker served as the Dolphins assistant defensive line coach in 2023 after building an impressive reputation in the college ranks at Western Kentucky. More importantly, it appears Baker is a good teacher and culture fit for the team which is all you could ask for at the position.

Culture fit, of course, includes having strong recruiting traits at Texas. The team is uninterested in being average in any sense much less in talent acquisition.

Some will have questions over his ability to recruit because of lack of experience at the college level. But in football hires, traits translate more than track record. It’s why Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian coached in the playoff last season while former national title winner Jimbo Fisher is getting paid not to coach.

Whether or not Baker has the traits will be revealed over the next few seasons. Nevertheless, he has the work ethic and NFL pedigree to potentially win over top recruits.

Texas proved it could recruit defensive linemen without a defensive line coach this week. Baker will look to prove he can leverage the power of the Texas brand in recruiting as the team’s next defensive line coach.

Western Kentucky pulls off epic 28-point Famous Toastery Bowl comeback against Old Dominion

Western Kentucky’s comeback was the fourth-largest in bowl history.

Western Kentucky looked to be down and out in the second quarter against Old Dominion in the Famous Toastery Bowl — which was held in Charlotte in place of the Bahamas Bowl — on Monday afternoon.

After giving up 21 points in the first quarter, the Hilltoppers found themselves in a 28-0 deficit after a Monarchs touchdown early in the second quarter. Western Kentucky would break the shutout before the half, but it still found itself down three touchdowns heading into the locker room.

The second half, however, was a different story.

The Hilltoppers outscored Old Dominion 28-7 in the final two quarters, sending the game to overtime. The Monarchs missed a field goal on the first possession of the overtime period, but Western Kentucky’s Lucas Carneiro wouldn’t make the same mistake.

His 29-yard walk-off field goal sailed through the uprights to give the Hilltoppers a 38-35 win and complete the fourth-largest comeback in bowl history.

The historic comeback was made even more impressive by the fact that Western Kentucky was without star quarterback Austin Reed, who has thrown 60 touchdowns in the last two seasons. Reed opted to sit out the game while he focuses on the upcoming 2024 NFL draft.

Without Reed, Turner Helton got the start but was ultimately benched after two series that ended with a strip sack and an interception returned for a touchdown.

In his place, third-stringer Caden Veltkamp shined. He completed 40 of 52 passes for 383 yards and five touchdowns while also adding 53 yards on the ground.

In the transfer portal and opt-out era, these bowl games can be hard to project. But regardless of the available personnel, bowl season always has some magic up its sleeve.

New Mexico State taunted Western Kentucky with suggestive chicken-eating, then showed off a uniform

Tastes like chicken.

New Mexico State’s football team found a very unorthodox way to unveil its Week 10 uniforms.

The school’s social media team poked some fun at the team’s upcoming opponent Western Kentucky (and perhaps paid homage to National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day) with this very chicken-friendly promo video.

It featured a few Aggies players humorously munching down on some fried chicken (y’know … Kentucky Fried Chicken and all) to both taunt its Kentuckian challengers and show off this week’s threads.

For a team that’s found unique ways to share game attires at times this season, this video probably takes the cake … or the chicken … whichever you prefer.

This video might not be the most intimidating example of trying to intimidate the opponent that we’ve seen this season, but it’s certainly the most creative.

And, hey, the chicken looked pretty tasty! When you taunt your opponent, you might as well get a full stomach out of it, too.

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Ohio State football issues availability report for Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Ohio State football issues availability report for Western Kentucky Hilltoppers #GoBucks

The fine folks with the Ohio State Football team have issued the availability report for the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and it looks fairly similar to what we saw last week against the Youngstown State Penguins, but the safeties have rotated. Last week Josh Proctor was listed as questionable and did not play and this week Lathan Ransom is listed as questionable.

With this contest being the last one before the season kicks into high gear and Notre Dame on the horizon, it may be in the best interest of the Buckeyes to keep Ransom on the sideline. Ransom played every snap on the defensive side of the ball the last two weeks, but this could be an opportunity to evaluate the depth behind him. The report is listed as follows:

QUESTIONABLE

  • SAF Lathan Ransom
OUT
  • WR Kiyon Grayes
  • TE Zak Herbstreit
  • LB/DE Arvell Reese
  • DT Will Smith Jr.
  • WR Reis Stocksdale
  • SAF Kourt Williams II

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Josh Keatley on X.

2023 NFL draft: Chargers had meeting with Western Kentucky DT Brodric Martin

The Chargers are looking to shore up the depth chart at the nose tackle position.

The Chargers met with former Western Kentucky defensive tackle Brodric Martin this past Sunday, according to The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler.

Martin totaled 81 tackles, 37 solo tackles, nine tackles for loss, four passes defended, and two sacks during his collegiate career for the Hilltoppers.

Miller also earned an East-West Shrine Bowl invite, where he had two tackles and a fumble recovery.

Towering at 6-foot-4 and 337 pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms, Martin is a stout interior defender who is strong at occupying double teams and eating up space to clear the way for linebackers.

With Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia still working their way back from their significant knee injuries and Breiden Fehoko now on the Steelers, Los Angeles could be in the market for more nose tackle depth.

Martin projects as a sixth or seventh-round selection.

Former Georgia LB enters 2023 NFL draft

Former UGA football linebacker Jaden Hunter has entered the 2023 NFL draft

Former Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Jaden Hunter has entered the 2023 NFL draft. Hunter has spent the past four seasons with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

The former four-star recruit racked up 132 total tackles, 5.5 sacks and three forced turnovers over his four seasons at Western Kentucky.

Hunter was originally a member of the class of 2017. He played high school football at Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jaden Hunter appeared in five games during his career at Georgia. He did not record a stat. The former Westlake standout transferred from Georgia in the spring of 2019.

Hunter helped Western Kentucky finish the 2022 college football season 9-5.

Hunter announced he was entering the 2023 NFL draft via Twitter:

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New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama, live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will meet the South Alabama Jaguars in the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday night. 

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will meet the South Alabama Jaguars in the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday night.

Western Kentucky finished off the season with a win over FAU to give them an 8-5 season, while South Alabama comes into tonight’s game with a 10-2 record after knocking off Old Dominion 27-20 in their last regular season game.

This will be a great game tonight, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama

  • When: Wednesday, December 21
  • Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN, ESPN Deportes
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama (-3.5)

O/U: 57.5

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