Can't believe this thread hasn't been started! The Toppers come into Huntington 4-0 in conference play. Marshall is 2-1. WKU has the #1 scoring defense in CUSA giving up 11 points/game. Line started out +4.5 WKU, went to +6.5 and is now +5.5. So, how does this one go?

(10-23-2019 07:13 AM)Psychored Wrote:  Can't believe this thread hasn't been started! The Toppers come into Huntington 4-0 in conference play. Marshall is 2-1. WKU has the #1 scoring defense in CUSA giving up 11 points/game. Line started out +4.5 WKU, went to +6.5 and is now +5.5. So, how does this one go?

Close low scoring game, anything else would surprise me....

Have to see what effect the FAU win had on the Marshall crowd. ODU was a dead stadium, after MTSU loss. If we're under 20k the crowd won't be much of an advantage and the line may be much closer. I expect something like last year, either way, with overtime or real close to it.

If WKU can stop Knox, you win. Our D is good overall but our secondary is the weak link by far. We suck at pass coverage. Will be a close game for sure.

Rain is in the forecast. Could be another small crowd.

(10-23-2019 10:03 AM)MUsince96 Wrote:  Rain is in the forecast. Could be another small crowd.

Can guarantee Facebook streaming will for not work if a hint of rain in forecast...

Herd gonna tag WKU like they’re Alexis Texas

(10-23-2019 02:36 PM)IslandHerd1 Wrote:  Herd gonna tag WKU like they’re Alexis Texas

Just hope you don't have any more starters arrested before kickoff...

I’m looking forward to this game. Gonna be my first trip to Huntington. Bringing my dad and grandpa to game. Marshall locals: any local recommendations for restaurants before the game? Thanks! Looking forward to a good game between two good teams!

(10-24-2019 09:04 AM)Talleyjenkins Wrote:  I’m looking forward to this game. Gonna be my first trip to Huntington. Bringing my dad and grandpa to game. Marshall locals: any local recommendations for restaurants before the game? Thanks! Looking forward to a good game between two good teams!

Hillbilly Hotdogs, Jim's Spaghetti, The Peddler or Fat Patty's by the stadium are all solid.

if you come a few hours before the game you can walk through the tailgates and many Marshall fans will welcome you. I know it doesn't look like sometimes on these forums, but we are some of the more welcoming fans during game day you will find.

(10-24-2019 09:44 AM)rileylives Wrote:  

(10-24-2019 09:04 AM)Talleyjenkins Wrote:  I’m looking forward to this game. Gonna be my first trip to Huntington. Bringing my dad and grandpa to game. Marshall locals: any local recommendations for restaurants before the game? Thanks! Looking forward to a good game between two good teams!

Hillbilly Hotdogs, Jim's Spaghetti, The Peddler or Fat Patty's by the stadium are all solid.

if you come a few hours before the game you can walk through the tailgates and many Marshall fans will welcome you. I know it doesn't look like sometimes on these forums, but we are some of the more welcoming fans during game day you will find.

I think most fanbases are like that as long as you avoid drunk college students. Fans on message boards are a lot different in person. On boards like these its easy to let your competitive nature take over. In person you just dont go there. Usually its more general talk and wishing each other good luck and a safe game for everyone in it. About like each of us would do in our daily life.

Hope the rain holds off but right now it's a 50/50 shot on if its raining at kickoff. Looked at the weather channel and from 4am to 1pm its a 75-95% chance of rain.

Going to hurt the attendance and play on the field if its mid 50s and raining. I know we will be making the decision on going based off the weather. At Western we have the upper deck over us. But no where to go to avoid it at Marshall.

All Right you Topper Fans. As you know, we already know what Herd folks think about Doc. What about Helton? what is the early grade on your new coach?

(10-24-2019 02:46 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  All Right you Topper Fans. As you know, we already know what Herd folks think about Doc. What about Helton? what is the early grade on your new coach?

A+ compared to last guy...He is down to earth, says it like it is and seems to be able to motivate and develop these kids....So far so good!

(10-24-2019 03:21 PM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  

(10-24-2019 02:46 PM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  All Right you Topper Fans. As you know, we already know what Herd folks think about Doc. What about Helton? what is the early grade on your new coach?

A+ compared to last guy...He is down to earth, says it like it is and seems to be able to motivate and develop these kids....So far so good!

.
i would say B myself. The loss to Central Arkansas has to be a factor, still stuck in my craw.
Otherwise I agree with 518, better than expected, averaging 112 yards a game with just one running back beats last fall.
The defense is worlds better even with the same defensive coach. When Helton speaks he just sounds like he has a better understanding of what it takes to win football games.

IMO, WKU is the story of the year...at least so far.

The Toppers only average 21 pts per game against FBS competition. WKU has miraculously won 5 FBS games by an average margin of only 11 pts per game. And they now boast a very respectable record of 5-1 against those 6 FBS opponents.

HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT?

Seriously folks......this is a miracle. It's very hard to win like this. WKU hasn't blown anyone out, but they keep winning. Their biggest win margin is over ODU, 20-3. Word is, Blood Pressure medicine sales in Bowling Green have peaked.

But I think the party ends this Saturday in Huntington. Playing Marshall, --at home in John Denver country-- ain't no picnic.

Marshall 30
WKU 21 (of course)

(10-24-2019 05:00 PM)HogDawg Wrote:  IMO, WKU is the story of the year...at least so far.

The Toppers only average 21 pts per game against FBS competition. WKU has miraculously won 5 FBS games by an average margin of only 11 pts per game. And they now boast a very respectable record of 5-1 against those 6 FBS opponents.

HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT?

Seriously folks......this is a miracle. It's very hard to win like this. WKU hasn't blown anyone out, but they keep winning. Their biggest win margin is over ODU, 20-3. Word is, Blood Pressure medicine sales in Bowling Green have peaked.

But I think the party ends this Saturday in Huntington. Playing Marshall, --at home in John Denver country-- ain't no picnic.

Marshall 30
WKU 21 (of course)

I was in Weescahnsun for a wedding when we played FIU but was able to sneak out during the reception and catch the last part of the game on Tune-In Radio app. It was a nail biter down the stretch.

Louieville was ugly early but we came back and had a good second half with Duncan playing on a broken foot/ankle.

The UAB game was definitely nick and tuck but the second half we held them to a field goal and it never seemed like they were in danger of scoring a bunch on us. We just felt good to be in a game tied up with a quarter to play. We scored a touchdown to go ahead and UAB never really threatened. But still a nail biter just from us being Western fans knowing we can Western it at any time.

ODU was never really in the game. They just flat out couldn’t move the ball.

We played lights out defensively against Army. It was a shutout with 4:05 to go. We went into a prevent and they started slinging it to get their only score. I never felt Army would beat us that day. No nail biter there.

Charlotte came out and ate up half a quarter on a clean drive to open up the game with a touchdown. We scored back to back touchdowns to go up 14-7. They got us good on a toss to LeMay for a ~50 yard touchdown to tie it up 14-14. They never moved the ball the second half. No nail biter.

I watched the Marshall vs FAU game last week and was impressed with both of them. Right now Helton is playing fairly conservative trying to eat up clock. That said we scored two touchdowns on trick plays last week. We’ve used them before but they didn’t hit. The first one was a flea flicker where Walker took the handoff and pitched it back to Storey who threw a perfect bomb to Lucky Jackson who actually didn’t drop it. Lucky has been known to be unlucky on drops at times. The second one also involved Lucky. Storey handed off to the left wide receiver going right. He tossed it to Lucky who had lined up right and now heading left. Storey had continued running after handing off the first end around and Lucky (who is left handed) tossed a dying quail to Storey for the touchdown reception.

So we do use some trickeration. But we’re not scoring in 53 seconds like we did under Brohm. We have had some quickies. That flea flicker was 69 yards. Came on a 1:11 drive for 80 yards total. That is the exception. We’ve had really good drives starting the 4th quarter in several of these game that ate up over 6 minutes and ended up with scores.

Controlling the clock has helped the defense. We lost 2 of our best defensive tackles against Army’s cheap shot artists. Fortunately we’re fairly deep at tackle. Our defensive ends are really good. DeAngelo Malone is a speed rusher that is as good as anyone in this conference. His motor never stops. He’s not just a sack specialist. He gets a ton of tackles and probably leads the conferences in tackles for loss. Our dee line is the best we’ve had in many, many years. This really helps out our defensive backs in our 4–2-5 defense.

Charlotte’s quarterback was a quick shifty kid with moxie. When he got us on those two first half drives I thought well we’re back to the old dee. They surprised me. They flat out shut him and LeMay down the entire second half.

I thought Marshall’s offense was explosive against FAU. I hope Clayton White has something dialed up to slow it down. Another area of worry is Marshall has been sacking like they work at Publix lately. I expect them to load up on our running game and pressure Storey to beat them. He’s been getting better every game. His biggest problem is eating sacks at the worst time. When we’re in field goal range and the defense sends a blitz. He doesn’t throw it away quick enough. But his throws are usually to where only our guy can get it. So far he hasn’t just thrown them up for whoever wants it.

Really good article about the 2014 game and what it meant to Western and the start of this rivalry https://www.bgdailynews.com/sports/wku/a...d6da5.html

Below is about the pregame fight but the article is a lot more than that.

Quote:Dangerfield: “I turn around and hear commotion and everybody was fighting. (WKU kicker Mike Mugler) did start it. Mugler ain’t no punk and they were trying to punk him. They thought he was a pushover and he ain’t no pushover, he’s a tough guy. In the weight room, he can put 225 up about 20 times. They thought he was a punk and they saw the reaction they had.”

McNeal: “I’ll be honest, I like that. I like being the one that starts things. I get a lot of energy and drive off that too, pissing people off. It gives me something to go back to the locker room and hype the guys up with. Even if they didn’t say it, I’m still going to tell them they said it. With the fight, we knew that was going to be the flame we needed in the cold weather. Pretty much that was it. The guys said something to Mike and I said what I had to say to them. They got a little push in or whatever, but I knew it was going to be enough to have my team fully ready to play. I enjoyed that part of it.”

Helton: “Willie probably was (the one who started it). Willie wouldn’t back down. If anybody said anything to Willie McNeal, he’s going to confront you on it. I thought it was Nick was catching balls and they passed … Willie was involved in all that too. It was the normal pregame and you had some guys start to talk and get close and guys and coaches start to back them out and refs back them out. I was right in the middle of it. The official and I had a couple of words about handling things the right way. That’s what got everybody’s mind back. We don’t care how cold it is, if it’s raining snowing, playing in the parking lot. To Marshall’s credit, they were just like us. They weren’t scared and a bunch of grown men ready for battle, too.

“That locker room was full of guys that had grown men mentalities. It’s like in the NFL, when it’s game day, people show up to the park mad and ready to fight. They’ve got to knock out and they’re ready to go. That’s the mentality that locker room had in a really good way.”

Ellis: “The worst thing (Marshall) could’ve done was the ones they pissed off were the wrong ones to piss off. I can personally remember getting in the middle of it trying to break it up and actually took one right in the mouth. I was like, ‘Alright, y’all got it.’ I was trying to get our guys off of him to keep from getting penalties and our guys getting thrown out. They had him pinned down and I’m trying to get our guys and he’s trying to protect himself. I walked away. To be honest with you, players get in fights at practice and for the rest of my life I’ll never get in the middle of it. As a coach, the kids can respond, but if I respond I’ll get fired. I let them go after that. That fight was, for them, the worst thing that could’ve happened.

(10-25-2019 04:15 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  Really good article about the 2014 game and what it meant to Western and the start of this rivalry https://www.bgdailynews.com/sports/wku/a...d6da5.html

Below is about the pregame fight but the article is a lot more than that.

Quote:Dangerfield: “I turn around and hear commotion and everybody was fighting. (WKU kicker Mike Mugler) did start it. Mugler ain’t no punk and they were trying to punk him. They thought he was a pushover and he ain’t no pushover, he’s a tough guy. In the weight room, he can put 225 up about 20 times. They thought he was a punk and they saw the reaction they had.”

McNeal: “I’ll be honest, I like that. I like being the one that starts things. I get a lot of energy and drive off that too, pissing people off. It gives me something to go back to the locker room and hype the guys up with. Even if they didn’t say it, I’m still going to tell them they said it. With the fight, we knew that was going to be the flame we needed in the cold weather. Pretty much that was it. The guys said something to Mike and I said what I had to say to them. They got a little push in or whatever, but I knew it was going to be enough to have my team fully ready to play. I enjoyed that part of it.”

Helton: “Willie probably was (the one who started it). Willie wouldn’t back down. If anybody said anything to Willie McNeal, he’s going to confront you on it. I thought it was Nick was catching balls and they passed … Willie was involved in all that too. It was the normal pregame and you had some guys start to talk and get close and guys and coaches start to back them out and refs back them out. I was right in the middle of it. The official and I had a couple of words about handling things the right way. That’s what got everybody’s mind back. We don’t care how cold it is, if it’s raining snowing, playing in the parking lot. To Marshall’s credit, they were just like us. They weren’t scared and a bunch of grown men ready for battle, too.

“That locker room was full of guys that had grown men mentalities. It’s like in the NFL, when it’s game day, people show up to the park mad and ready to fight. They’ve got to knock out and they’re ready to go. That’s the mentality that locker room had in a really good way.”

Ellis: “The worst thing (Marshall) could’ve done was the ones they pissed off were the wrong ones to piss off. I can personally remember getting in the middle of it trying to break it up and actually took one right in the mouth. I was like, ‘Alright, y’all got it.’ I was trying to get our guys off of him to keep from getting penalties and our guys getting thrown out. They had him pinned down and I’m trying to get our guys and he’s trying to protect himself. I walked away. To be honest with you, players get in fights at practice and for the rest of my life I’ll never get in the middle of it. As a coach, the kids can respond, but if I respond I’ll get fired. I let them go after that. That fight was, for them, the worst thing that could’ve happened.

.
One of the best college football games I have ever seen. 91 points and 841 yards of offense by halftime. Doughty and Cato were throwing TD passes at an astonishing rate.

The throat slash was unnecessary.

Thank you for helping me remember why I hate you all now.

(10-25-2019 08:37 PM)rileylives Wrote:  The throat slash was unnecessary.

Thank you for helping me remember why I hate you all now.

If we are being 100% truthful another mark is probably the reason for that hate....

L and the only one that season along with another 21 point beatdown..L in 2015 knocking Marshall out of the championship game. Along with a 54 point beating on Sr night in 2016