Both Western Kentucky and Sam Houston are 2-0 in Conference USA action when they meet on Wednesday from Texas, and the winner will pull into a temporary first-place tie with defending league champion Liberty.

Sam Houston is a short favorite on the NCAAF odds.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers +117

Western Kentucky (4-2) trounced UTEP 44-17 last Thursday. The Hilltoppers put up nearly 300 yards of offense in the first half as they built a 27-7 lead over the visiting Miners before eventually finishing off the 27-point victory to move to 5-0 all-time against UTEP. The 44 points WKU scored were the second-most the team has scored in a game this season, behind only the 49 points the Hilltoppers put up at Middle Tennessee in Week 3. WKU’s 218 yards rushing are the most the team has accumulated in a game this season.

Mike Mathison

Mathison finished with three total touchdowns on four touches. The receiver had two carries for 16 yards and one touchdown, and also had 17 yards and two touchdowns on two catches. It was Mathison’s first time finding the end zone since Nov. 5, 2022. The three touchdowns are a career high for Mathison, as are the two touchdown receptions. Mathison’s three touchdowns marked the first time a Hilltopper has scored three touchdowns in a single game this season. The last player to do it was Dalvin Smith, who had three touchdown receptions in the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl.

Caden Veltkamp

QB Veltkamp finished with 264 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-27 passing with one interception, and added 29 yards and one score on 13 rushing attempts. Four WKU players caught multiple passes in the game, led by Easton Messer’s 106 yards on six receptions. Kisean Johnson added 82 yards on five receptions, and Dalvin Smith had 39 yards and a touchdown on two catches. Smith now has 19 touchdown receptions in his career, which ranks tied for seventh all time in program history.

WKU has been tough to score on since the season-opening loss at Alabama. The Hilltoppers are allowing only 16 points per game over their last five games, and have not allowed more than 21 points in a game during that stretch. WKU has been especially good in the red zone all season, allowing scores just 61% of the time. The Hilltoppers rank first in CUSA and fifth nationally in red zone defense. WKU is tied for 15th nationally in turnovers gained this season with 10.

🏈 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK 🏈

Lucas Carneiro, @WKUFootball #NoHayLimites | https://t.co/3edkf8QHDx pic.twitter.com/HGn5H0VvsJ

— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 14, 2024

Cole Maynard & Lucas Carneiro

Punter Maynard and kicker Carneiro have been terrific. Maynard ranks first in CUSA in average yards per punt with 47.1 per attempt on 20 attempts. He’s had eight punts travel 50-plus yards, with a long of 60 yards, and has landed four inside the 20-yard line. WKU’s single-season record for average yards per punt is 45.9 yards. Carneiro is 7-for-8 on field goals with a long of 54 last week – tied for the second longest in program history – and is 21-for-21 on PATs.

The Hilltoppers have started 2-0 in Conference USA play for the second straight year. WKU’s last 3-0 start in CUSA play came in 2019 during Tyson Helton’s first season as head coach. WKU started 4-0 in CUSA that season.

Sam Houston Bearkats -144

Sam Houston (5-1) also easily beat UTEP in its last game, 41-21 on Oct. 3. It was Bearkats’ fourth straight win, while the high-powered offense gained 519 yards of total offense and the ground game amassed 295 yards on 51 carries (5.7 avg.) and three touchdowns. It was the first time Sam Houston surpassed 500 yards of offense since going for 556 yards vs UIW in the 2021 FCS Playoffs. The Kats also became the first CUSA program with 250+ rushing yards in 4 straight games since FAU in 2018.

They scored on their opening possession of the game vs. UTEP before coming up empty on five consecutive possessions; however, they responded with scores on five of their next six possessions to bury the Miners by the middle of the third period.

Hunter Watson

Watson completed 19 of 29 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns, spreading the ball around to eight different receivers before leaving the game in the third quarter. On the ground, DJ McKinney had 138 yards on 14 carries, including his first two career touchdowns on runs of 23 and 59 yards. Jay Ducker also added 65 yards and a score while Watson had 32 on the ground as well.

The Kats have outrushed their opponents in each of their 5 wins, holding their opponent under 100 yards in 4 of those games. In the 5 victories, the Kats are averaging 261.2 yards on the ground to just 78.2 for their opponents.

Ife Adeyi

Adeyi has now caught a pass in 30 consecutive games, and Noah Smith 25 straight games; the Bearkats and Utah are the only two schools in the country to boast a pair of receivers with catch streaks of 25 games or more.

Highlights in the 1st Half

Defensively, the Bearkats were stellar, forcing four UTEP turnovers and holding the Miner offense off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. UTEP finished with 323 total yards, but only 70 in the first half. Kavian Gaither led the way with a season-high 11 stops, one shy of his career high, while Caleb Weaver and Jaylon Jimmerson each had interceptions.

The Bearkats have won 8 of their last 10 games overall after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023. Sam Houston is the first FBS program to start a season 0-6 and win at least 5 of its first 6 games the following year since Georgia Southern in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles went 0-9 to start the 2017 season and started 7-1 in 2018 on their way to a 10-3 year and a win in the Camelia Bowl.

Sam Houston needs one more victory for bowl eligibility in their first season following the two-year transition to the FBS. Should the Kats become bowl eligible, they would become the fourth consecutive program to make the transition up and become bowl eligible within the first 2 seasons of being at the FBS (Jax State 2023, James Madison 2023, Liberty 2018).

Game notes for the big Nationally Televised ESPN2 game tomorrow!https://t.co/tjcxh7F9Dx

— Sam Houston Football (@BearkatsFB) October 15, 2024

Western Kentucky at Sam Houston NCAA Football Info

When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET
Where: Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, Huntsville, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+

Western Kentucky vs Sam Houston Series History

This will be the third all-time meeting with the schools tie 1-1. The Hilltoppers claimed a 28-23 victory over the Bearkats last season in Bowling Green after turning the ball over five times. WKU’s defense forced three turnovers on Sam Houston’s final three possessions in the game, and the win secured bowl eligibility for the Hilltoppers. The only other meeting was a 54-24 Sam Houston win in Huntsville, Texas, in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs on Nov. 27, 2004.

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