Opening Drive: WKU vs. ULL

Ladies and gents, as this is getting typed, the Tops and Cajuns are less than 60 minutes away from kickoff. My apologies for never getting that position by position comparison out today – weekday games (especially for college students), while exciting, make for a very busy day. But, here is what I can tell you. As noted in my preview earlier this morning, both of these teams come in on a 3 game winning streak, and both streaks consist of two decisive contests, and a close one. Both QB’s have been playing very well as of late; WKU QB Brandon Doughty has completed 76% of his passes for 623 yards, and 2 TD’s (the flip side of that, however, is 2 INT’s). Terrance Broadway of ULL, highly regarded as the class of the Sun Belt at the QB position, has completed 73% of his passes for 789 yards and 8 TD’s through the air during a similar 3 game span. However, the problem for the WKU defense is that Broadway can run the ball too, and has done so well, taking the ball 25 times and carried it for 113 yards and found the endzone thrice.
Both squads boast strong running attacks, but WKU runs a one-man show with the nation’s leading rusher in Antonio Andrews while ULL throws two backs out there, the team’s leading rusher Alonzo Harris and second leading team rusher Elijah McGuire. Andrews has 550 yards on 76 carries and 8 TD’s over the past 3 games, while Harris has 32 carries for 199 yards and Harris has been more efficient, taking 22 carries for 215 yards and combining for 6 TD’s in the same time span.
While I personally believe this game will be won on the ground, both receiving cores aren’t to be taken lightly. Topper Willie McNeal, 6 receptions for 140 yards and a TD in the last 3 games, will play a key role in the passing attack for WKU, while leading Cajun receiver Jamal Robinson could make some noise if gone unnoticed (and boy, what a great game this would be for the WKU ‘Air-Force’ secondary to make their name known), as Robinson has snagged 13 catches for over 260 yards and 5 TD’s.
The long and short of it – it will go one of two ways tonight; either an offensive explosion on both ends, or a defensive battle won by the best running attack. If the former is the case, I’m going to take ULL. If it goes to a RB battle, the Tops have the advantage. Either way, this will be Sun Belt football at its finest, and might be the best SBC game we will see this year (although, it will be tough to top that Troy/South Alabama game from a couple of weekends ago).
For all the action tonight, follow @wavetheredtowel over on twitter for opinion and analysis, and @extrapointwku for play by play of the game.
Also, for those who either can’t make it to L.T. Smith Stadium or aren’t in Bowling Green, tonight will be a nationally televised event on ESPN2, and can be seen there or accessed through ESPN3.com or the watchESPN app.
Stand up and cheers.