The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will travel to Michie Stadium to take on the Army Black Knights this Saturday morning in College Football action.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers improved to 1-0 on the season after defeating the UT Martin Skyhawks, 59-21, this past Saturday. Western Kentucky had no trouble generating plenty of offense against UT Martin and pulled away early in the 3rd quarter after a 7-yard TD reception by the Hilltoppers Jerreth Sterens gave Western Kentucky a 35-14 lead with 12:31 left in the 3rd quarter. Western Kentucky outgained UT Martin by a 587-396 margin and converted 25 first downs against the Skyhawks. Offensively, Western Kentucky was led by QB Bailey Zappe who completed 28 of 35 passes for 424 yards, 7 TD, & 1 INT. Zappe did a great job spreading the ball around to his receivers as six different receivers scored TD’s for the Hilltoppers, led by Jerreth Sterns (7 rec, 107 yards, 2 TD), Daewood Davis (2 rec, 83 yards, 1 TD), & Joshua Simon (3 rec, 73 yards, 2 TD). Leading the way for the Hilltoppers backfield was Kye Robichaux who had 44 rushing yards on 9 carries.
Defensively, Western Kentucky struggled a bit against the UT Martin rushing attack, allowing the Skyhawks to rush for over 200 yards while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Leading the way for the Hilltoppers defense was Antwon Kincade (7 tackles) & Michael Pitts (3 tackles, 1 sack).
The Army Black Knights kicked off their 2021 season an impressive fashion, improving to 1-0 on the season, after defeating the Georgia State Panthers, 43-10, this past Saturday. Army had no trouble securing the victory after racing out to a 21-0 lead midway through the 2nd quarter on a Jakobi Buchanan 2-yard TD run. Army dominated Georgia State on both ends of the field, outgaining Georgia State by a 356-177 margin while also winning the turnover battle by a 2-0 margin. Offensively, Army has been led by QB Christian Anderson who completed 1 of 2 passes for 40 yards & 1 TD, while rushing for 55 yards & 1 TD on 15 carries. Army is a team that uses an option rushing attack as they demonstrated against the Panthers, rushing the ball 67 times while throwing it just 4 times. Also contributing for the Black Knights was FB Jakobi Buchanan (11 car, 38 yards, TD), QB Tyhier Tyler (8 car, 36 yards), Tyson Riley (6 car, 27 yards, TD), & WR Tyrell Robinson (1 rec, 40 yards, TD).
Defensively, Army did a great job slowing down the Georgia State rushing attack as the Panthers rushed for just 48 yards on 28 carries (1.7 yds/carry). Leading the way for the Black Knights defense was Andre Carter II who had 3 sacks.
The hilltoppers are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 games following a straight up win and 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 road games. The Black Knights are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 September games.
Western Kentucky is a team on the rise, especially on the offensive end as offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and QB Bailey Zappe should be able to put up solid passing numbers this season, however, there are going to face a tough match-up with an Army team that has one of their best rosters in recent memory and a defense that ranked 2nd in passing defense last season. Army is a team that likes to control the clock and run the football and after seeing Western Kentucky struggle slowing down the UT Martin rushing attack, I think the Black Knights have no trouble finding the end zone in this one and do enough to cover this home spread. Good Luck!
AUTHOR: Brett Nault
Mitch's Take...
