WKU pulls away from rival MTSU

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BOWLING GREEN — Rodney Tisdale Jr. fired a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Noah Meyers on 4th-and-goal with 5:35 remaining, and Le’Vell Wright scored on a 37-yard run inside the final two minutes as Western Kentucky defeated Middle Tennessee 42-26 before a Senior Day crowd of 16,547 on Saturday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

The victory lifts the Hilltoppers to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in Conference USA, keeping WKU in the chase for the regular-season league championship. MTSU slipped to 1-9 in all games and 0-6 in CUSA — losing to Western for the seventh consecutive season in the bitterly contested ‘100 Miles of Hate’ series.

“It’s always good to get this win,” Western head coach Tyson Helton said. “It’s a huge rivalry game and it took a total team effort and performance to get it done.

“In the end, we pulled together and played solid, complementary football, and we’ll still be able to control own own destiny (in CUSA) when we play our final regular-season game — we’re still hanging in there.”

Trailing by 11 at halftime, Middle Tennessee broke quickly from the second half — needing less than a minute to trim its deficit to 21-16 when Roman Gagliano fired a 52-yard touchdown pass to Myles Butler.

Western answered quickly when Tisdale scored on an 8-yard run to push the Hilltoppers in front 28-16 at 11:59 of the third period.

The Blue Raiders came right back, however, and a 34-yard touchdown dash by DJ Taylor pulled the visitors from Murfreesboro within 28-23 midway at the 6:50 mark.

WKU had a chance to extend its lead on the ensuing possession, but John Cannon’s 26-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright and was no good.

Early in the fourth quarter, WKU had another chance to extend its lead. Marvis Parrish broke free on a 66-yard run to advance the ball to the MTSU 5-yard line, but two plays later Blue Raider linebacker Parker Hughes out-fought K.D. Hutchinson for a Tisdale aerial and returned the interception deep into the Hilltoppers’ territory.

Middle Tennessee advanced as far as the WKU 4-yard line before the Hilltoppers’ defense stiffened — forcing a 23-yard field goal by Jacob Hathaway that pulled the Blue Raiders within two points with 10:46 remaining.

“That was big to keep them out of the end zone at that point,” WKU senior linebacker Anthony Brackenridge said. “Our guys take a lot of pride in not allowing touchdowns — that was a huge stand.”

WKU started the game fast, driving 87 yards in 16 plays and taking a 7-0 lead after a 3-yard touchdown run by Wright at 8:29 of the first period.

Late in the quarter, the Hilltoppers stopped the Blue Raiders on a 4-and-1 at midfield, and Western immediately went to work — marching 49 yards in four plays and shooting in front 14-0 when Tisdale threw a 22-yard scoring strike to Henry at 13:40.

MTSU, however, refused to fold.

A 69-yard pass completion from Gagliano to Cam Lacey set up a 3-yard scoring toss to AJ Jones that pulled the Blue Raiders within 14-7 at 11:04.

Midway through the second quarter, MTSU sliced its deficit to 14-10 when Hathaway booted a 25-yard field goal.

WKU responded with a nine-play, 79 yard drive that was capped by Tisdale’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Meyers — providing the Hilltoppers a 21-10 advantage at intermission.

Western finished with a whopping 643 yards of total offense, including a season-best 271 yards rushing. Tisdale was 29 of 41 through the air or 371 yards and three touchdowns, and Parrish rushed for 102 yards on only 12 carries.

“We did a great job running the ball and throwing the ball, and we take a lot of pride in blocking for those guys,” WKU senior offensive left tackle Marshall Jackson said. “We never want to lose to Middle Tennessee and we just weren’t going to do that today — we were going to do everything we needed to do to beat those guys.”

MTSU rolled up 531 total yards, with Gagliano completing 25 of 42 passes for 389 yards and three scores, while also leading the Blue Raiders with 82 yards on the ground.

Western is back in action on Saturday night for a “Death Valley under the lights” experience with a visit to LSU, before playing at Jacksonville State on Nov. 29 in a game that could decide the CUSA regular season title.

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