Tops out to end tough stretch on high note

A break is coming soon for Western Kentucky’s football team.

Wednesday night’s road matchup at Conference USA foe Sam Houston in Huntsville, Texas, will wrap up a stretch of seven straight games to open the season – five on the road, two against top-five nationally ranked programs, two on short weeks and two across multiple time zones out West.

After facing the Bearkats in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. game that will be televised by ESPN, WKU (2-4 overall, 1-1 CUSA) will finally roll into a bye week – or almost two, with the next schedule game at home against Delaware on Oct. 27.

It has been a difficult challenge, to put it mildly, but the Hilltoppers have the opportunity to move to 2-1 in conference play with a win to finish off segment of the schedule. Helton said a solid week of practice following last Thursday’s 34-13 home win against Missouri State showed his team “starting to put the pieces together” on the field.

“I don’t ever really focus on the past piece,” Helton said. “You learn from your past. You learn from your wins and your losses. And everything from that, you try to learn and move forward. I’d like to think that everything that has happened to us so far this season, we’ll benefit from as the season progresses. Now, we’ll find out.”

“ … A season is its own thing. You’re expected to play the hand you’re dealt and you’re expected to win the hand you’re dealt. I really don’t focus on how many road games, home games, who we play, all those things because everything’s an opportunity. I said that at the beginning of the season, what a great opportunity. Maybe the opportunity for us right now is to take everything we’ve learned and use it to our benefit for the rest of the season. So hopefully we can do that.”

Sam Houston (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) dropped a 35-3 road decision at Liberty on Thursday, the second straight loss for the Bearkats after notching a 59-0 home win against FCS program Nicholls on Sept. 19.

Like the Tops, Sam Houston has used two quarterbacks this season and is averaging a CUSA-best 274 passing yards per game.

“They want to throw it, but football’s football – you’ve got to stop the run first,” Helton said. “If you can stop the run, make a team one-dimensional then you have the advantage. We can’t just be focused on the passing game because they have two quality running backs so we’ve got to run and tackle, get those guys down and get them in passing situations.”

WKU gave Brock Glenn his second start of the season at quarterback in last week’s win against Missouri State. Helton said Rodney Tisdale Jr., the season-opening starter, was available but held out as a precaution as he continues to heal from a pair of ankle injuries that have been nagging the redshirt sophomore. Helton said both are available for Wednesday’s game.

Less certain is the status of three Hilltopper defensive players – linebacker Jaylen Wester, and defensive linemen Mackavelli Malotumau and Rylen Su’a-Filo, who were all ineligible to play in last week’s game after the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in the NCAA’s favor and dissolved a temporary injunction allowing the trio to play an additional season.

“What I understand is there’s a couple court cases this week,” Helton said. “There’s one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday – kind of cutting it close. They will travel, they are available. We’ll see if they’re eligible or not eligible. They’re preparing to play but we’ll wait and see what the court says. Hopefully a decision can be made before the game, but I don’t know that for certain.”

Helton said Wednesday’s matchup will feature “two evenly-matched teams,” with the Bearkats holding the advantage of home turf at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.

“Winning’s hard in general and winning on the road is extra hard,” Helton said. “That’s why they’re so special when you win on the road. We were talking about that as a staff and as a team this week. There’s nothing better than a big road win because you’ve got to go earn it because everything’s against you. You’ve got to play clean football, you’ve got to do everything right. You’ve got the fans against you. You’re traveling and you’re doing all those things, so those road wins are huge. If you want to be a good football team you’ve got to go win on the road, so we’ve got to be able to check that box.”

STAFFORD NAMED CUSA FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

WKU wide receiver Jonathan Stafford Jr. was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week for the third straight week, CUSA announced Monday.

It is the third CUSA weekly award of Stafford’s career and the third for WKU this season. Stafford is now the first player to win CUSA’s Freshman of the Week award in three consecutive weeks, and WKU is the only school to have players win consecutive Freshman of the Week honors. Rodney Tisdale Jr. was named CUSA Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks during the 2025 season.

The true freshman has started his college career strong. He currently leads the team with 332 yards on 36 receptions this season. The 36 receptions put Stafford in a tie for fourth on WKU’s freshman receiving list with Jake Gaebler and Marvis Parrish. Only Malachi Corley (73 receptions, 2021), Easton Messer (42 receptions, 2023) and Jack Doyle (37 receptions, 2009) are above Stafford on WKU’s freshman receiving records list.

He ranks third among FBS freshmen this season in receptions, and his 36 receptions are third-most by a CUSA freshman through a team’s first six games of a season since 2010, according to Stats Perform.

Stafford led WKU with 72 yards and one touchdown on six receptions in the 34-13 win over Missouri State, after posting 10 receptions for 108 yards at New Mexico State the week prior. Both marks against the Aggies were career highs, and the score against the Bears was the first of his career.

Stafford’s game at New Mexico State marked the first time a Hilltopper player had 10 receptions in a game since Malachi Corley caught 10 passes in a 28-23 win over Sam Houston on Nov. 18, 2023. It was the only 100-yard receiving game for a WKU player this season and the first since Matthew Henry recorded 126 yards receiving in the win over Southern Miss in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl.