Tag: western kentucky

Dolphins lose assistant DL coach, hire Western Kentucky’s Kenny Baker

The Cardinals have hired Derrick LeBlanc.

As the NFL offseason continues, the Miami Dolphins coaching staff is everchanging.

According to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, the Arizona Cardinals are hiring Dolphins assistant defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc to become their defensive line coach.

LeBlanc came to Miami in 2022 after spending 21 years coaching collegiately with stops at Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU and a number of other schools.

To take his place, the Dolphins are hiring Western Kentucky’s defensive line coach Kenny Baker.

Baker was originally hired by Western Kentucky in 2020 as defensive ends coach after spending time with Chattanooga and Mercer. He played for Gardner-Webb from 2005-08.

Add another coach to Vic Fangio’s staff.

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Next up a quarterback for Ohio State: Part 3: The conclusion

How it could play out in about 8 months #GoBucks

We are finally here, the last of a three-part series looking at which candidate, [autotag]Kyle McCord[/autotag] or [autotag]Devin Brown[/autotag], has the leg up in the race to be [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag]’s quarterback in 2023.

I will reiterate I don’t believe this contest will be called early. Given the fairly easy early schedule ([autotag]Indiana[/autotag],  [autotag]Youngstown State[/autotag] and [autotag]Western Kentucky[/autotag]), this battle potentially could go into the season. If it does, [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] needs to make a choice before traveling to South Bend.

Part 1 of this series focused on McCord. The second focused on Brown. Now we will put that information together and handicap the race. My final takes on each of them and a prediction prior to spring practices and fall camp of what we will see in 2023 for Ohio State at quarterback.

Final 2022 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll: Tyson Helton votes Tennessee No. 5

Final 2022 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll ballot: Western Kentucky head coach and former Vols’ offensive coordinator Tyson Helton votes Tennessee ahead of Alabama

Georgia defeated TCU, 65-7, in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Following the national championship game, the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll was released.

Tennessee finished No. 6, while Alabama is ranked fifth.

Tennessee’s 2022 regular-season schedule featured home games against Ball State (W, 59-10), Akron (W, 63-6), Florida (W, 38-33), Alabama (W, 52-49), UT Martin (W, 65-24), Kentucky (W, 44-6) and Missouri (W, 66-24).

The Vols’ 2022 schedule featured road contests at Pittsburgh (W, 34-27 OT) in the second edition of the Johnny Majors Classic, LSU (W, 40-13), Georgia (L, 27-13), South Carolina (L, 63-38) and Vanderbilt (W, 56-0).

Tennessee defeated Clemson, 31-14, in the Capital One Orange Bowl to conclude its 2022 season on Dec. 30.

Tyson Helton, Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton voted in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll during the 2022 season. Helton served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2018 before becoming Western Kentucky’s head coach.

Helton’s final ballot is listed below.

Jimmy Holiday transfers to play for former Vols’ offensive coordinator

Wide receiver Jimmy Holiday transfers to play for former Vols’ offensive coordinator.

Tennessee sophomore wide receiver Jimmy Holiday entered the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 5.

Holiday has committed to play for head coach Tyson Helton at Western Kentucky. Helton served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tennessee in 2018 under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Helton has compiled a 32-21 record and is 3-1 in bowl games during his tenure as Western Kentucky’s head coach since 2019.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Holiday appeared in 31 games from 2020-22 for the Vols, recording seven receptions, 111 yards and one touchdown. Holiday totaled six rushing yards one attempt.

He returned 19 kickoffs for 407 yards.

Holiday came to Tennessee from Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi.

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Defensive keys to beating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

It’s another air raid adventure for the Auburn defense.

It’s almost gameday, and the Tigers are coming up against an offense similar to one it has seen before.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers like to throw the football, and the Tigers will be on guard after facing a similar style of offense in its close loss to Mississippi State two weeks ago. Auburn is sure to have learned, however, and interim head coach Cadillac Williams will likely hope to avoid the fate he suffered at the hands of Mike Leach’s Bulldogs this time around.

Here are four defensive keys the Tigers should look out for when playing WKU on Saturday:

The full Auburn depth chart for Week 12

One of Auburn’s quarterbacks is no longer listed.

It’s about that time of the week again, and this depth chart comes with two significant changes as the Tigers prepare to face Western Kentucky on Saturday.

The first big one is that quarterback T.J. Finley is no longer listed on the team’s depth chart. The news comes shortly after Finley decided to sit out the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal soon, so it would make sense that he would not appear on the depth chart.

Secondly, a permanent change has been made at kicker. Kicker Alex McPherson is officially listed as the team’s starting kicker on the Week 12 depth chart, which comes as a change from last week — McPherson did start against Texas A&M, but kicker Anders Carlson was still named as the starting kicker on the depth chart the week before that game.

Without further ado, here is Auburn’s football team for Week 12:

Everything coach Cadillac Williams said ahead of the Western Kentucky game

Interim head coach shares his thoughts ahead of Saturday’s home finale with Western Kentucky.

It’s Western Kentucky week, and interim head coach [autotag]Cadillac Williams[/autotag] has a lot to say.

Williams had his weekly press conference on Tuesday, where he addressed a variety of topics. He talked about facing the air raid yet again after getting a glimpse of it against Mississippi State, getting game ball after his performance coaching against Texas A&M, getting the receivers more involved in the offensive game and the confidence of the team’s running backs, among other topics. Willaims will be looking for his second consecutive win as interim head coach of the Tigers this upcoming Saturday.

Check out everything he said on Tuesday below:

Indiana vs Western Kentucky Prediction, Game Preview

Indiana vs Western Kentucky game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the Week 3 game on Saturday, September 17

Indiana vs Western Kentucky prediction, game preview, how to watch. Week 3, Saturday, September 17

Indiana vs Western Kentucky How To Watch

Date: Saturday, September 17
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
How To Watch: BTN
Record: Indiana (2-0), Western Kentucky (2-0)
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Indiana vs Western Kentucky Game Preview

Why Western Kentucky Will Win

No, the passing game isn’t matching the craziness of what the 2021 version did, but it’s effective.

The Hilltoppers have only played Austin Peay and Hawaii so far, but Austin Reed has been good. He might not be Bailey Zappe, but he bombed away for 551 yards and seven touchdowns so far, doing a nice job of spreading the ball around a bit.

Again, the competition hasn’t been anything special, but the defense has been a rock against the run, the pass rush has been great, and it all has to work to bother …

– CFN Expert Picks, Week 3

Why Indiana Will Win

The Indiana backfield.

The Hoosiers are moving the chains, they’re not making mistakes with a slew of penalties, and they’re getting the pass rush rolling over their first two games against Illinois and Idaho.

Time of possession is an issue for IU – the O just doesn’t care about bleeding the clock – but that’s not a problem this week with WKU not caring a lick about working the play clock.

Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak need to be more accurate, but he pulled the Illinois win out of the fire and looks like the type of veteran who can handle the work. Combine him with Shaun Shivers and the solid running backs, and WKU will have to deal with the ground game for the first time all year.

– Week 3 Schedule, Predictions, Game Preview

What’s Going To Happen

It was a bit too much of a struggle for IU to put away Idaho, but that will bounce back quickly with good day on the ground.

The offense couldn’t run against Illinois, it tore through the Vandals, and now it’s about to pound away a bit to take the pressure off Bazelak.

WKU has enough of an offense and enough good parts to provide a push, but it’s about to go through a major upgrade in opponent. It’s rested, but it’ll wear down defensively as the game goes on.

– CFN Week 3 Predictions

Indiana vs Western Kentucky Prediction, Line

Indiana 38, Western Kentucky 27
Line: Indiana -6.5, o/u: 61.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Indiana vs Western Kentucky Must See Rating (out of 5): 2

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Western Kentucky sweeps Lady Vols

Western Kentucky sweeps the Lady Vols.

Tennessee lost to No. 21 Western Kentucky Tuesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Hilltoppers (10-1) swept Tennessee, 25, 13, 25-21, 25-23, before an announced crowd of 723.

Morgahn Fingall led the Lady Vols (6-4) with 13 kills, three blocks and one assist. Erykah Lovett recorded seven kills, 11 digs and one ace.

Kadynce Booth finished with six kills and 11 digs. Natale Hayward posted 28 assists and one ace, while Paola Laborda added 10 kills for the Lady Vols.

Lauren Matthews led Western Kentucky with 15 kills and nine blocks for the Hilltoppers, who ended Tennessee’s four-match winning streak.

The Lady Vols return to action Friday at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. EDT).

Tennessee will play Ohio State in Pittsburgh Saturday. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. EDT.

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Late-season Auburn game tabbed for potential upset in new list

The Tigers could find themselves on the wrong end of an upset come November.

Confidence in this season’s Auburn Tigers has been a point of conversation this offseason, with some writers and experts having far less than others.

This was the case in a new list by USA Today, which outlined potential upsets this season in college football in conjunction with the payment those teams are receiving to play the Power 5 squads in question. Auburn’s 1.9 million-dollar game with Western Kentucky was named as a potential upset for the Tigers late in the season — here is what the article had to say about the matchup:

It’s true that the Tigers came within a couple of points of Alabama last season. It is equally true that that same outfit had been in a four-quarter struggle with Georgia State earlier in the campaign. In short, you never know quite what you’ll get with Auburn, which incidentally will also have the date with the Crimson Tide on the horizon when WKU comes to town. The Hilltoppers probably won’t be piling up touchdown passes like they were last season with record-setting QB Bailey Zappe at the controls, but the wide-open system is still in place, and some early success on the Plains will have the home crowd nervous.

With a very tough schedule and a coin-toss non-conference matchup against Penn State, losing to Western Kentucky at home would certainly spell disaster for the Tigers’ bowl game chances under head coach [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag]. The Hilltoppers’ air raid offense could possibly give teams trouble, though, so the only thing left to do is to see what happens on Nov. 17 when the two teams face off at Jordan-Hare.

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