Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Last Year: 12-2 (8-0)/1st East
2015 was very good to WKU and Conference USA Most Valuable Player Brandon Doughty. Doughty was the nation’s #1 passer throwing for 5055 yards and 48 TDs. The #25 ranked Hilltoppers defeated South Florida 45-35 in the Miami Beach Bowl. In conference play, the only team to sniff at a win was Louisiana Tech in week 2, but other than that, no C-USA team got within 14 (FAU was the closest at 35-19). Doughty wasn’t the only producing weapon on offense. Anthony Wales was the league’s 2nd leading rusher with 1091 yards and 9 TDs.
Players to Watch in 2016
RB Anthony Wales
WR Taywan Taylor
LB T.J. McCollum
The biggest question coming into 2016 will no question be, who replaces Doughty at QB. Sadly, Nelson Fishback will not be the guy. Fishback injured his right pectoral tendon and will miss the season. The others in contention for the starting job includes SR Tyler Ferguson, JR Mike White, SO Drew Eckels and incoming FR Steven Duncan. Ferguson seems to be the front-runner, but it’s way too early to speculate. But whoever wins the starting job, they’ll be throwing to WR Taywan Taylor, a lot. Taylor set the single-season mark for receptions in a season with 86 and caught a school-record 17 TDs. RB Anthony Wales will look to follow up a spectacular 2015, and will run with the help of Conference USA 1st Team selection Forrest Lamp.
On defense, LB T.J. McCollum leads the list of the 4 returning starters. He lead the team with 106 tackles. This defense from last year does lose 7 starters, but this defense isn’t as star driven. Overall, this was the 6th best defense, they were top 5 in both rushing and passing defense, and most importantly, lead the league in Turnover Margin at +14. There’s a lot of depth for this defense.
Total Offense
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9th/1st (526)
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Total Defense
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60th/6th (405.1)
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Passing Offense
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4th/1st (372.2)
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Passing Defense
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82nd/4th (234.5)
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Rushing Offense
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90th/9th (154.1)
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Rushing Defense
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50th/5th (156.0)
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Scoring Offense
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3rd/1st (44.3)
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Scoring Defense
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54th/3rd (25.9)
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Big Games in 2016
Oct 6 Louisiana Tech
Oct 15 Middle Tennessee State University
Nov 26 Marshall
Prediction
8-4 (5-3)/ 3rd in East
This may be the biggest shocker of my previews. WKU was so good last year behind the arm of Brandon Doughty, and with his loss, the team will suffer. And, suffer is such a harsh word for a team that I have winning 8 games, but that comes from being 3rd in the division. The East Division is the overall strength of the conference this year, and the Hilltoppers have to battle through both MTSU and Marshall, who both will be improved from last year. WKU should breeze through their non-conference schedule, well, obviously against anyone not named Alabama, but the Miami (OH) game could be tricky on the road with a new QB. There’s been so much progress in this program since the addition of Jeff Brohm, and this will seem to be the first rebuilding season for the Hilltoppers.
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