Topper extra September 24, 2016

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Offensive line ready for Vanderbilt challenge

BY EVAN HEICHELBECH HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU WKU football fans have had little reason to worry about offensive production for the past two years.

Since Jeff Brohm took over as head coach before the 2014 season, the offense has thrived, averaging 44 point per game in each season.

Since 2014, WKU has used only four offensive line combinations to start a game. The starting combination of redshirt senior Forrest Lamp at left tackle, redshirt junior Brandon Ray at left guard, redshirt senior Max Halpin at center, redshirt sophomore Dennis Edwards at right guard and redshirt senior Darrell Williams at right tackle have started 16 of the last 17 games together.

The Hilltopper offensive line has been a key cog in Brohm’s offense and the success boils down to a few fundamental concepts: continuity, experience and chemistry.

One of the few things that can alter a continuity like WKU’s offensive line is injuries.

After being knocked out of last week’s game at Miami (Ohio) with a lower left leg injury, Lamp will not play for the first time in his career. He had started 42 of a possible 42 games since his first year of eligibility on the Hill in 2013.

“He’s been the rock of our team,” Brohm said at a press conference on Monday. “Up to this point he was very durable. I hate it for him because he’s been very healthy, he works hard and he’s in great shape. It’ll hurt our football team not having his leadership and his expertise out there on the field.”

Saturday’s showdown with Vanderbilt will mark the first time since week two of last season that group will not take the field together when the ball is lined up for the Toppers’ first offensive possession –– but they’re not too worried about it.

“It’s always a problem when somebody goes down, but we have a lot of

depth and a lot of experience on our O-line so to have somebody like Jimmie Sims step up and move Diesel [Williams] over, I don’t think it’ll be that much of a problem,” Halpin said.

While the continuity for the starting unit has been strong over the past two years, change is not a foreign concept to this veteran group.

This is offensive line coach Dale Williams’ first season with the Toppers after former offensive line coach Neil Callaway took the same position at USC this offseason.

Williams spent six seasons as the line coach at Florida Atlantic University, pairing up with Brohm for the one season he served as offensive coordinator there in 2009.

Before this season, Callaway was the only offensive line coach for all the current starters, but Williams hasn’t skipped a beat since making the transition from high school head coach back to the collegiate ranks.

“Coach Williams came in the spring and we just gave him respect. He’s been a great coach since he came through the door,” redshirt junior lineman Jimmie Sims said.

With Lamp out, coach Williams will move Darrell Williams over to left tackle and Sims will slide into the right tackle spot. Even with the void in Lamp’s absence, Sims’ teammates are confident he can step up and deliver against a solid front like Vanderbilt’s.

“I’m really confident because this year and last year Jimmie’s been that sixth man rotating in,” Edwards said.

“It’s not his first time out there. He’s played a lot of snaps and played a lot in the conference championship game and he played a lot in the bowl game, so I’m pretty confident that whoever we put out there is going to do pretty well.”

The Commodores’ defensive front is no joke. Every down lineman is at least 6’4” with three or more years of playing experience in the SEC under their belts.

One thing Brohm has been complimentary of Lamp up to this point is the level of physicality he plays with.

But according to Halpin, the drop-off

Redshirt senior offensive lineman Max Halpin (70) fights with a Miami (Ohio) during their 31-24 win on Sept. 17 in Oxford, Ohio. EVAN BOGGS/HERALD in physicality between the first unit and rotation players is not an issue.

“He’s very physical, pretty quick and he’s very strong,” Halpin said of Sims.

“The thing I like about Jimmie is that when he gets the chance to take a shot at somebody he’ll take it. He’s good at that.”

Sims’ and the rest of the offensive line’s experience will also be important for WKU’s offensive attack on Saturday, especially since the Toppers were only able to muster 246 yards of total offense against Vanderbilt in Nashville last season.

“They have really good team speed on defense,” coach Williams said.

“They’ve got big guys … they can run, they’re bigger and they’re very sound and well-coached. The kids are smart that play there so they know everything an opponent can do to them. They know where they belong on defense and where they fit.”

The challenge of facing an SEC team is one Sims says he should always be prepared for.

“Our coaches prepare every single one of us to be game ready, to step in,” Sims said. “Whenever it’s your turn and your number is called you have to be ready to step in. We’ve

got to prepare and execute and do what we would do any other week.”

While size, schemes and repetition play a major role in their preparation each week, it takes time for a group as interconnected as the offensive line to jell properly, and that’s something coach Williams said his guys have.

“That’s the thing I first noticed when I took the job,” Williams said. “I noticed that these kids like to be around each other. They like talking football so they’ve developed relationships that start here for football and then they go to the classrooms and on campus … it’s a good atmosphere for these guys.”

Even though Lamp will be watching Saturday’s game from the sidelines, his impact will still be felt in the way he’s helped develop the chemistry between each member of the offensive line.

“I’ve been around these guys for years,” Sims said. “They’re great guys, great teammates with great chemistry.

On the field it’s the same thing; great chemistry when we play together.”

Reporter Evan Heichelbech can be reached at 270-745-6291 and evan. heichelbech059@topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @evanheich.

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three major keys in today’s game The Hilltoppers welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday in a rematch of last year’s 14-12 Topper victory.

The Commodores will be the first SEC team to play in Smith Stadium in WKU history. The Toppers will look to improve to 3-1 on the season after escaping Oxford, Ohio last Saturday with a 31-24 victory over Miami (Ohio).

The Commodores will look to improve to 2-2 on the season after being thumped 38-7 by Georgia Tech last week. The Commodores also hope to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss. As you prepare for the showdown, here are three keys to the game.

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Rice University by throwing for 517 yards, which led the nation in week one.

However, Brandon Doughty’s successor didn’t fare so well against Alabama and a below average Miami (Ohio) team the past two weeks.

This will be White’s first big game in the spotlight that he is fully expected to win as the Toppers are, as of press time, a seven point favorite at home.

White will go against a Commodore defense that returns eight starters who gave Doughty trouble a year ago in Nashville.

If WKU wants to repeat, White must keep his composure and control the offense for the Toppers from the beginning of the game until the end. He won’t need to put up big numbers, but he must take care of the football.

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Reporter Sam Porter can be reached at 270-745-6291 and samuel.porter841@ topper.wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @SammyP14.

If you don’t know who Ralph Webb is, there’s a good chance you will know his name once Saturday is over.

The Vanderbilt redshirt junior running back currently leads the SEC in rushing with 377 yards including 211 of those coming against WKU rival Middle Tennessee State University in a 47-24 thumping of the Blue Raiders.

Vanderbilt sophomore quarterback Kyle Shurmur ranks near the bottom in the SEC in passing, averaging just 112 yards passing a game.

It’s no secret Webb is the heart of the Commodores’ offense. If the Toppers contain Webb and put the pressure on a struggling quarterback, expect the Toppers to have their way with the Commodore offense like they did a year ago.

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turnover battle usually wins the game, but in low scoring games, the turnover battle becomes even more critical.

Last season, the Commodores were the only team the Toppers got in a defensive struggle with and the defense ultimately won the game for WKU. The Toppers won the turnover battle 3-0 last season which included a Nick Holt interception in the end zone when the Commodores were just outside the goal line.

If the Commodores can’t take care of the football again this year, expect the Toppers to hold off the Commodores for a second straight year.

However, if the Commodores take care of the football and force an inexperienced redshirt junior quarterback Mike White to make some mistakes, expect Vanderbilt to take advantage of opportunities they missed out on a year ago.

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Redshirt junior quarterback Mike White (14) looks for a receiver downfield during WKU’s 31-24 win over Miami (Ohio) Saturday, Sept. 17 in Oxford, Ohio. Evan Boggs/HERALD

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injuries open up new opportunities

BY EVAN HEICHELBECH

HERALD.FEATURES@WKU.EDU With Vanderbilt coming to Smith Stadium today, WKU isn’t as healthy as a team would like to be heading into arguably its biggest non-conference home game in program history.

Here are a few Hilltoppers who will get an opportunity to step up against the Commodores on Saturday in place of some injured starters.

Quinton Baker, Freshman Running Back

The running back depth chart looks completely different than it did when the Toppers and Commodores went at it in Nashville a year ago. Redshirt senior Leon Allen was WKU’s leading rusher gaining 56 yards on the ground in the 14-12 slugfest a year ago.

One week later Allen went down with a gruesome knee injury and he hasn’t seen the field since.

The second leading rusher in last year’s game was redshirt sophomore D’Andre Ferby, who gained just 14 yards on the ground and is currently out for an undisclosed amount of time with a shoulder injury he sustained in the first half of this season’s opener against Rice.

To make things even more complicated, normal starter redshirt senior Anthony “Ace” Wales didn’t play last week against Miami (Ohio) and was listed as

questionable with a hamstring injury all week during practice.

So with the top two rushing options sidelined, freshman Quinton Baker will earn a lot of playing time for a second consecutive game against a talented defensive front. Against Miami (Ohio) Baker racked up 103 yards on the ground along with a touchdown.

Jimmie Sims, Redshirt Junior Right Tackle

Jeff Brohm described redshirt senior left tackle Forrest Lamp as “the rock” of his team over the past three seasons, and he isn’t wrong.

Lamp has started in all 42 games he’s been eligible for since he got to WKU, but that streak will come to an end Saturday.

After suffering a lower leg injury against Miami (Ohio), starting right tackle redshirt senior Darrell Williams will move over to replace Lamp and experienced lineman Jimmie Sims will slide into the right tackle spot.

Sims faces the same challenge as Baker: find a way to outwork the stout defensive front Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason has built.

Drell Greene, Sophomore Safety

While WKU’s secondary has been shaky at times over the

Freshman running back Quinton Baker (3) runs from the defense during the first half of the Hilltoppers’ 3124 win over Miami on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio. Matt Lunsford/HERALD past two seasons, one player has consistently performed well at the safety position for defensive coordinator Nick Holt.

He is senior Marcus Ward, and he will not be available for Holt to use on the field today.

Ward left in the third quarter of the game against the University of Alabama two weeks ago with an undisclosed injury, and Brohm doesn’t expect him back anytime soon.

Being down a key cog in the secondary means sophomore safety Drell Greene will make his second career start Saturday after recording a career-high five

tackles against the Redhawks a week ago.

Greene was the only true freshman to see game action last year for the Tops, as he played in the final 11 games down the stretch.

Marquez Trigg, Redshirt Freshman Running Back

While Baker is expected to handle the bulk of the rushing responsibilities against the Commodores, Trigg will likely see action in a backup role.

Brohm mentioned he needed to “find more creative ways to run the ball” compared to what the Toppers have done up to this point in the season.

Trigg is a talented back who has shown flashes of potential in the time he has gotten thus far.

He picked up 22 yards on seven touches last week while spelling Baker.

Reporter Evan Heichelbech can be reached at 270-745-6291 and evan.heichelbech059@topper. wku.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @evanheich.

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College Heights Herald football pick ‘em WKUHERALD.COM

GAMES WKU vs.

Vanderbilt Kentucky vs.

South Carolina Louisville vs.

Marshall

MTSU vs.

LA Tech

Southern Miss vs.

UTEP Tennessee vs.

Florida* *College GameDay game of the week

John Reecer

Tyler Mansfield

Sam Porter

Matthew Stewart

Evan Heichelbech

Jeremy Chisenhall

Sports Editor

Soccer Beat Reporter

Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter

Volleyball & Men’s Basketball Beat Reporter

Football Beat Reporter

General Assignment Reporter

Vanderbilt 24-23

WKU 21-17

WKU 24-17

Vanderbilt 28-21

WKU 23-16

WKU 28-21

South Carolina 35-17

South Carolina 27-13

Kentucky 31-28

South Carolina 27-13

South Carolina 24-20

Kentucky 38-35

Louisville 59-14

Louisville 56-17

Louisville 45-21

Louisville 45-14

Louisville 56-13

Louisville 49-10

MTSU 38-31

MTSU 42-31

MTSU 31-23

MTSU 35-21

LA Tech 38-30

MTSU 49-38

Southern Miss.

42-21

Southern Miss.

48-10

Southern Miss.

34-20

Southern Miss.

45-14

Southern Miss.

45-20

Southern Miss.

35-14

Tennessee 28-17

Florida 38-35

Tennessee 27-23

Tennessee 21-17

Tennessee 20-19

Tennessee 17-14

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Players To Watch: WKU vs. Vanderbilt

BY TYLER MANSFIELD

HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU WKU plays its second home game of the 2016 season this afternoon at Smith Stadium. As it may seem like it’s just another football game, that’s certainly not the case.

When the Hilltoppers and Commodores kickoff at 3:30 p.m. today, it’ll mark the first time a team from the Southeastern Conference has played on Feix Field.

With a big game comes big names to keep eyes on. Here are three players from each respected club you might want to watch on this Saturday of college football:

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Mike White –– WKU Quarterback Head Coach Jeff Brohm’s offensive pilot in redshirt junior Mike White is who you’ll see making a majority of the big passes today.

In just two outings as the Toppers’ starter, the University of South Florida transfer has completed 54 out of 86 passes (62.8 percent) for 920 yards and five touchdowns with just two interceptions. White, who threw a total of 11 touchdown passes combined in his 2013 and ’14 outings, has already a little less than half of that.

The quarterback currently ranks fourth nationally with 17.04 yards per completion, 13th in passing yards, 17th in passing efficiency (167.2), 42nd in completion percentage (62.8), 46th in completions per game (18) and 50th in passing touchdowns.

White has never played in a game against Vanderbilt, so we’ll see how it plays out.

Kyle Shurmur –– Vandy Quarterback Sophomore Kyle Shurmur is Head Coach Derek Mason’s new starting quarterback this season. In last year’s matchup between the two programs in Nashville, WKU’s defense was defending former Commodore quarterback Johnny McCrary, who threw for just 217 yards and a touchdown along with two red-zone interceptions.

In today’s meeting, the Tops will be presented with Shurmur.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native is 40 out of 76 for 335 yards, two touchdowns and an interception entering this afternoon’s affair.

Reporter Tyler Mansfield can be reached at 270745-6291 and james.mansfield143@topper.wku. edu. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMansfield.

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Nicholas Norris –– WKU Wide Receiver

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Ralph Webb –– Vandy Running Back

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Zach Cunningham –– Vandy Linebacker

The senior is one of WKU’s major scoring threats, as he’s already caught 20 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns this season.

In four years with the Toppers, the wideout has tallied 2,127 yards with 15 touchdowns off 138 catches. Currently, Norris ranks 17th nationally in receiving yards and 15th in receptions per game with 6.7.

Norris may have tallied just three catches for 19 yards in last year’s meeting against Vanderbilt, but he should be able to find many different ways to better those stats today.

The Commodores’ leading rusher in redshirt junior Ralph Webb is who Shurmur will be handing the ball to most of the afternoon.

Webb has ran for 377 yards and two touchdowns on 67 carries so far in 2016.

In last season’s match up against WKU, the runner took 18 hand-offs for a total of 70 yards and no scores.

Joel Iyiegbuniwe –– WKU Linebacker In order to win games, you have to score more points than the other team. Yes, the offense puts most of the points on the scoreboard, but the defense keeps the opponent from being able to do it.

Redshirt sophomore Joel Iyiegbuniwe, the Toppers’ starting linebacker, has already recorded 16 tackles, with 11 of those being solo, on the year. Against the University of Alabama on Sept. 10, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder made a career-high 10 stops while also adding a sack.

In order for WKU to escape with a win, Iyiegbuniwe will need to do his part on the defensive side of things for defensive coordinator Nick Holt’s unit.

Although Vanderbilt is known for its outstanding defense, one of its main forces is redshirt junior linebacker Zach Cunningham.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound linebacker leads his Commodores in tackles with 29 total, 18 of those being unassisted. In his last outing, Cunningham recorded seven solo tackles in Vanderbilt’s loss at Georgia Tech University last Saturday.

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wku depth chart

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Busy day for Conference USA football ahead

BY JOHN REECER

HERALD.SPORTS@WKU.EDU The Hilltoppers are not the only team in Conference USA who will have a big non-conference game today as Marshall University will be taking on the University of Louisville in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Thundering Herd will have an uphill task as the Cardinals are now ranked third in the Associated Press top-25 poll after putting up 63 points on the then-second ranked Florida State University Seminoles.

Last week Marshall lost to Akron University after giving up 65 points to their Mid-American Conference opponent.

However, despite the Thundering Herd’s 1-1 start, sophomore quarterback Chase Litton has gotten off to a great start this season as he has thrown for 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He is also averaging 361 yards per game through the air.

Marshall’s defense will have to pick things up in order to defeat Louisville and Heisman Trophy candidate Lamar Jackson if they want a shot at beating the Cardinals.

After games against Morgan State University and Akron, the Thundering Herd are giving up 373 yards per game.

Elsewhere in C-USA football are four match-ups between schools in the con-

ference: Middle Tennessee State University versus Louisiana Tech University, the University of Southern Mississippi versus the University of Texas at El-Paso, North Texas University versus Rice University and Florida Atlantic University versus Florida International University.

The most important of these games is the matchup between MTSU (2-1) and Louisiana Tech (1-2).

Both programs will be in bowl contention toward the end of the year and this game will have big C-USA title game implications.

The Blue Raiders were picked to finish first in the east division and the Bulldogs were picked to finish second

in the west division in the C-USA Preseason Media Poll.

So far on the year, MTSU has defeated Alabama A&M and Bowling Green State University. However, the Blue Raiders were blown out by Vanderbilt University 47-24 on Sept. 10.

Louisiana Tech has fared better against power-five conference opponents on the season as they only lost to the University of Arkansas and Texas Tech University by a combined 15 points.

The Bulldogs are paced by running back Jarred Craft who has 314 yards rushing through three games while also averaging seven yards a carry.

In order for the Blue

Raiders to pull off the win in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, quarterback Brent Stockstill will have to keep up the blistering pace he has had so far this season.

Through three games Stockstill has passed for 1,006 yards and 10 touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions.

Regardless of who wins any one of these important conference matchups, the landscape of C-USA football will be much different come Sunday morning.

Reporter John Reecer can be reached at 270-745-6291 and john.reecer104@topper.wku. edu. Follow him on Twitter at @Reece_12_Falcon.

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