Not so many years ago the prospect of a Western Kentucky football team playing against Division I opponents would have been a sure loss in the column. It never was a question of winning or losing, the Toppers were simply not in that class of competition and the question was would the final score be a 40, 50 or 60 point difference.
Times have changed and Hilltopper football,while obviously not an elite program, is capable of competing at this level and winning many games in out of conference play.
In 2013 the Tops played Navy and Army. While neither of these teams are what you would classify as elite football programs, they are elite programs in a sense because they are extremely disciplined, intelligent and unified teams.
This past weekend, the Tops defeated Army in a hard fought contest which saw a first half of tough defense and a second half of offenses which found the weaknesses of the opposition’s defense.
The Toppers down 17 – 14 with under 5 minutes to go, drove the length of the field and scored with under a minute to score. In this drive you got a glimpse of how the Petrino offense will look once he gets all of his pieces of the puzzle put together. It has been a point of frustration that in short yardage, Petrino’s lean towards passing and misgivings about running in short yardage situations has ended up in failed touchdown attempts and 3rd and 4th down conversions. Execution is a large part of these troubles, but also, you got the feeling that it wasn’t going to work.
There has been a shift since the game against Georgia State. Now, you sense a determination in the offense to force it’s will primarily with Petrino’s willingness to run in the red zone, or to pass out of the play action situation.
This bodes well for the remaining two games on the schedule. In the final drive, partially due to the Army “prevent” defense, but also due to Doughty”s willingness to use his feet, showed what a Petrino pass offense with the threat of a strong running attack can do and that is, fly down the field and score at will, which is what I think Petrino has expected to happen but hasn’t been able to realize primarily because his QB was throwing the ball to the wrong team or fumbling ending momentum and creating difficult situations for the defense.
With Andrews, Allen, Simpson and Jones in the backfield, you have a rare combination of power running backs, the best backfield in WKU history no doubt. While they may not gash you for the 60 yard TD sprint, they can get you 5 or 6 yards a carry, which is all you really need from a running attack.
I’ve never been a fan of the sideline dink passes for 2-3 yards, because an interception on those are pick sixes. But, I recognize their importance to spread out the defense, giving more space in the middle of the field. Not every play is designed to go for a TD, in fact most aren’t, so it is the combination of looks to keep the defense spread out increasing the ability to find holes.
Ah, the luxury of being an armchair QB. I am looking forward to the next two games, because I expect the offense to come of age in it, partially because Petrino finally got the memo about running the ball, and maybe Doughty has made the shift from talented prospect to playmaker.
Go Tops!