Hilltoppers upend LA Tech
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Anthony Wales rushed for 209 yards and four touchdowns, Mike White threw for 421 and three more scores and Western Kentucky defeated Louisiana Tech 58-44 on Saturday in the Conference USA championship game.
The Hilltoppers (10-3) and Bulldogs (8-5), who won the regular-season matchup 55-52 on Oct. 6, combined for 1,163 yards of total offense in the highest scoring championship game in C-USA history. It is the second straight title for Western Kentucky, which is headed to its third bowl in a row and fourth in five years.
Following a 1-yard run by Kam McKnight that gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the second half at 38-34, Western Kentucky would take control in outscoring the Bulldogs 24-6 over the final 24 minutes.
Wales would score twice on runs of 15 and 13 yards, with the last proving to be the backbreaker and provided the final margin.
Wales also had a receiving touchdown with five catches for 53 yards.
Ryan Higgins threw for 502 yards and three touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
THE TAKEAWAY
Western Kentucky: Wales was named the Most Outstanding Player after his 36-carry effort, and drew praise from his head coach Jeff Brohm.
"He's (Wales) an outstanding player and every game that we have him, we're going to be a very good football team," said Brohm. "He carries the load for us and even one time today he wanted to come out and I tried to talk him into going back in. Luckily I think we took a timeout and he stayed in. But he carried the load.
"He's a guy that has I proved every year. He's got a lot of confidence and he knows he's a good football player and he's got to produce for us to win and every time he takes the field he normally does. His performance today was outstanding to do that against a very good team with the numbers he did in carrying the load for us. It was just a great display by him."
Louisiana Tech: After coming from behind to take a 38-34 lead with 13:15 remaining in the third quarter, the Bulldogs were outscored 24-6 the remainder of the second half.
"Losing stinks," coach Skip Holtz said. "Give them credit, they made the plays they needed to make, but I though we missed several plays in the second half that we should have made."
HERE TO HELP
Western Kentucky became the first team in
conference history to host back-to-back C-USA title games and win both on their home field, and in the process set several league and national records.
In today's game, the two teams combined for a conference record 1,163 yards and102 points, both conference record. The combined 102 points set an NCAA record for combined points in a conference championship game.
UP NEXT
Western Kentucky: A bowl game, with location and opponent to be announced Sunday.
Louisiana Tech: A likely bowl game, with location and opponent to be announced Sunday.