Western Kentucky: 2025 New Orleans Bowl Champions

 

Western Kentucky University captured the 25th New Orleans Bowl with a 27-16 victory over Southern Miss on December 23, 2025, at the Caesars Superdome. Quarterback Maverick McIvor led the Hilltoppers comeback as WKU finished the 2025 season 9-4, earning their fifth bowl game victory under head coach Tyson Helton.

Western Kentucky: 2023-24 Conference USA Men's Basketball Champions

 

When being on top of the hill isn’t high enough, you sit on top of the conference. 

WKU mens basketball defeated the University of Texas El-Paso Miners Saturday, 78-71, advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.

Before the game, it was announced that WKU guard Dontaie Allen had been ruled out, having left the team’s win Friday with a knee injury.

However, even without Allen, the Hilltoppers started the first half the way they ended the second half in their previous game against MTSU: Hot.

Opening up the game with a 17-4 run, the Hilltoppers defense shined, grabbing seven turnovers in the first ten minutes. However, the game very quickly shifted gears. 

Although the Miners started the game 0-10 from the field, they converted on nine of their next 11 attempts, bringing the game within just a single point with under five minutes to go.

A once ferocious WKU offense had seemingly gone ice cold. In the span of nine minutes, they were on the receiving end of both a 14-5 and 12-3 run. During these runs, the Hilltoppers shot a lowly 5-14 from the field.

However, with their backs against the wall, facing a one-point deficit with just three minutes to play, a familiar offensive presence took over. WKU ended the first half on a 9-3 run, securing a four-point lead heading into the break.

The first half MVP for the Hilltoppers was junior guard Don McHenry. McHenry’s 10 points, two rebounds, and one assist on 3-5 shooting from the field led both the explosive start and end for the WKU offense.

Yet, the success of the Hilltopper scoring attempts can be attributed to more than just an individual player. WKU’s interior strength and size led to 75% of their first half production coming inside the paint.

UTEP found their production coming from senior guard Zid Powell. Powell tallied 10 points on 3-6 from the field, and 2-3 from beyond the arch. Eight of the guard’s 10 points came during an 80-second span, where Powell scored on three consecutive possessions for the Miners.

Heading into the half, the Hilltoppers squeaked out a 40-36 lead.

Team First Half Statistics: 

WKU: 17-31 FG, 2-9 3FG, 4-4 FT | 17 Rebounds: 14 Defensive, three Offensive.

UTEP: 11-28 FG, 5-12 3FG, 9-12 FT | 16 Rebounds: 11 Defensive, five Offensive.

WKU could not bring their normal high tempo at the start of the second half. Opening up 1-8 from the field, with most of the misses coming off of good looks, the Miners took comfort in the speed of play, capitalizing with a 15-4 run to start the half.

In what was a rollercoaster of a game, the ride did not stop. Following UTEP’s run, they’d go on a five-minute scoring drought, giving the Hilltoppers a seven-point lead, on a 16-2 run for themselves. 

The drive would not stop. With just under five minutes to play, WKU advanced their lead to 10, with help from a 20-4 run.

The Hilltopper offense was once again dominated by McHenry in the second half. The guard’s 15 points, two rebounds, and three steals sealed the WKU victory and conference championship. In total on the night, McHenry had 25 points on 9-16 from the field, 2-8 from three, with four rebounds, and four steals. 

UTEP’s offense was still being led by Powell in half number two. Powell tallied 11 points in the half, giving him 21 points on the night. 

Team Second Half Statistics: 

WKU: 10-27 FG, 1-7 3FG, 17-23 FT | 23 Rebounds: 15 Defensive, eight Offensive.

UTEP: 12-32 FG, 4-12 3FG, 7-10 FT | 20 Rebounds: 13 Defensive, six Offensive.

With the win, the Hilltoppers claim their first C-USA title on their fourth attempt, and Coach Steve Lutz’s third straight conference title win.

Western Kentucky: 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl Champions

When you pull off the fourth-largest comeback in bowl history, you have to find the perfect celebration to match it.

Western Kentucky trailed Old Dominion 28-0 in the second quarter of the Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte on Monday, but a 28-7 run sent the game to overtime, where the Hilltoppers ultimately won on a walk-off field goal.

With plenty of toast on hand thanks to the game’s sponsor, the players had a creative way to celebrate the unlikely, come-from-behind victory. While some threw bread in the air like graduation caps, others engaged in the new art of making toast angels.

That’s right — toast angels.

The Hilltoppers finished the season 8-5 with the comeback win, which was completed without star quarterback Austin Reed, who opted out of the game. Third-stringer Caden Veltkamp ultimately had to take the reigns, and his 383-yard, five-touchdown performance was enough to pull off one of the wildest wins we’re likely to see in bowl season.

Western Kentucky: 2022 New Orleans Bowl Champions

NEW ORLEANS – Led by its electric offense and dominant defense, WKU defeated South Alabama, 44-23, to win the 2022 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Championship Wednesday night at the iconic Caesars Supderdome. 

 

The Hilltoppers put up 677 yards of total offense on the night, including 522 yards passing. Those 522 yards set a New Orleans Bowl record, marking the best passing display the bowl game has ever seen.

 

Of those 522 passing yards, 497 belonged to quarterback Austin Reed. That mark set the individual record for passing yards in the New Orleans Bowl, and led to him being named the bowl game's Most Valuable Player. It was also the most passing yards a Hilltopper quarterback has ever thrown for in a bowl game, passing Brandon Daughty who threw for 486 in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl.

 

Reed's receivers were dynamic on the night, as Dalvin Smith, Jaylen Hall and Malachi Corley all surpassed 100 yards on the night. It marked the first time three WKU receivers have passed the century mark in a single game since 2017 against Middle Tennessee. Smith and Hall both caught a touchdown a piece while Corley hauled in two scores. Hall's touchdown reception came on a double pass, with fellow-receiver Smith recording the touchdown pass.

 

Defensively, the Tops took the Jaguars out of the game early by allowing only three points through the first half. The nation's leading defense in forced turnovers added two more off of interceptions by Kaleb Oliver and Upton Stout. Oliver's interception occurred in the end zone to keep the Jags off the scoreboard, and Stout picked off a pass with South Alabama in WKU territory, threatening to score.

 

Derrick Smith led WKU in tackles with nine in his final game in a Hilltopper uniform. Stout was close behind with eight, and Will Ignont recorded seven takedowns in his WKU finale. The Tops got after the quarterback all game long, recording four sacks between JaQues Evans, Tre Shaw, Dareon Goodrum and Mike Allen.

The bowl victory was WKU's second in a row and sixth all time. It was also the second year in a row the Hilltoppers defeated a 10-win team from the Sun Belt Conference in a bowl game. The win also gave WKU a 9-5 record overall for the second-consecutive season.

 

Western Kentucky: 2021 Boca Raton Bowl Champions

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- — Bailey Zappe capped his record-setting season in style, and Western Kentucky capped a difficult week with a bowl win.

Zappe broke a pair of single-season FBS records by passing for 422 yards and six touchdowns, and Western Kentucky handed Appalachian State its first-ever bowl loss by beating the Mountaineers 59-38 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Saturday.

Zappe finished the season with 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns for the Hilltoppers (9-5). He topped the previous FBS marks of 5,833 yards set by Texas Tech's B.J. Symons in 2003 and 60 touchdowns set by LSU's Joe Burrow in the Tigers' run to the national championship in the 2019 season.

"In my opinion Bailey Zappe is the best quarterback in college football, and now he gets to say he is one of the best," Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. "He'll go down in history as being one of the best, and holds two records. It's just special to be a part of that."

Jerreth Sterns caught 13 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns for Western Kentucky, finishing his season with 150 catches for 1,902 yards. Mitchell Tinsley had two TD catches for the Hilltoppers and Noah Whittington needed only seven carries to rush for 150 yards, 86 of those on a third-quarter scoring run.

It has been an emotional time for Western Kentucky, which played with those affected by the unspeakable damage caused by what state officials have called the most destructive tornado event in Kentucky's history. Tornadoes across the region last weekend — including in Bowling Green, where Western Kentucky's campus sits — have been blamed for 78 deaths in Kentucky alone.

"I hope today that everyone back home was watching and they felt just positive about everything and they kind of just forgot about the tornadoes for a temporary moment," Sterns said. "I'm glad we got to do that for them today."

Chase Brice passed for 317 yards and four touchdowns for Appalachian State (10-4) before leaving in the fourth quarter with a right leg injury. It was the first loss in seven all-time bowl games for the Mountaineers.

"I'm very proud of our team to win 10 games," Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark said. "That's hard."

It was 24-24 late in the opening half, when Zappe — who completed 33 of 47 passes — put his name in the record book and put the Hilltoppers ahead for good. Appalachian State was outgained only slightly, 637-609, but turned the ball over four times.

"I think it all came down to us having those turnovers," Appalachian State safety Jalen Virgil said.

Zappe broke the yardage mark on a 43-yard pass to Sterns — who finished the season with the fifth-most receiving yards in FBS history — late in the half, then tied the touchdown mark on the same drive when he connected with Sterns for a 10-yard score. That started what became a 35-7 run by the Hilltoppers.

"He's a hell of a football player," Clark said of Zappe. "Had a chance to be around him this week. He's an outstanding young man."

Zappe threw his record-setting touchdown pass on a 2-yard slant to Tinsley on the Hilltoppers' second drive of the third quarter, pushing WKU's lead to three touchdowns.

"It's been the best year of my life," Zappe said.

THE TAKEAWAY

The 97 combined points were a record for the Boca Raton Bowl, topping the 82 that Western Kentucky and Memphis combined for in the Hilltoppers' 51-31 win in 2016. The 59 points by Western Kentucky were also a record, surpassing the previous mark of 52 set by Marshall in 2014 and matched by Florida Atlantic — on its home field — in 2019.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Appalachian State was receiving votes in the most recent AP Top 25 poll, though whatever slim chance the Mountaineers had of making the season-ending poll next month is now nonexistent.

UP NEXT

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers are scheduled to open their 2022 schedule on Sept. 3 at North Carolina.

Western Kentucky: The 2022 season is set to begin on Aug. 27 at home against Austin Peay.

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Western Kentucky: 2019 First Responder Bowl Champions

Western Kentucky freshman kicker Cory Munson ran onto the field, then off and then back on. All of that before kicking a career-long 52-yard field goal with no time left after a rules review moved him five yards closer to the goal posts.

And Munson, who’d sliced a 29-yarder wide right on the final play of the first half, closed the game with the kick that gave the Hilltoppers a 23-20 victory over Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl on Monday.

“I was just breathing and saying to myself: ‘You got this. Don’t worry about the last kick. You got this one. Just stay calm,’ and I just swung through it,” Munson said. “Next thing I knew, it was up there.”

The Hilltoppers (9-4) drove 36 yards in 27 seconds before Munson kicked his third field goal in four tries. The game appeared headed to overtime when Ty Storey's desperation heave was knocked down by the Broncos. But the Broncos were hit with a five-yard defensive substitution penalty and Munson was awarded an untimed down after a video review determined that Western Michigan had 12 players on the field as it switched between its field-goal unit and regular defense.

“We knew we could make the kick when we saw they had 12 men on the field and might get penalized,” first-year Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. “I wanted our true freshman Cory Munson to get a chance to kick it, and he did. It was a great kick.”

Munson had tied the score at 20 on a 31-yarder with 1:36 to play. He also kicked a 26-yarder.

Thiago Kapps’ 20-yard field goal with 4:58 to play gave Western Michigan (7-6) a 20-17 lead.

“When they have their Hail Mary team and then the kickoff team and then the Hail Mary team out there, you have to stand over the ball and give us time to change,” Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said, “and it didn’t happen.”

Kapps’ field goal, his second of the game, capped a 62-yard drive that took 5:35 after Western Kentucky had tied the score on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Storey to Lucky Jackson with 10:40 to go. Jackson had 17 catches for 148 yards and was named the game’s most valuable player.

Western Michigan’s other touchdowns came on a 6-yard pass from Jon Wassink to DaShon Bussell midway through the third quarter and an 88-yard interception return by Kareem Ali in the first half’s closing minutes.

Storey, a graduate transfer from Arkansas, threw a 17-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson in the second quarter for the Hilltoppers’ other touchdown.

THE TAKEAWAY

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers will lose only two defensive starters from a unit that went into the bowl season ranked 21st in FBS scoring defense. With Storey leaving, Steven Duncan figures to return to No. 1 after starting this season’s first three games as a junior before injuring his left foot and missing the rest of the year.

Western Michigan: The Broncos will lose five starters each on offense and defense, including their three-year starter at quarterback (Wassink) and the Mid-American Conference players of the year on offense (RB LeVante Bellamy) and defense (LB Treshaun Hayward).

PASSED ON FIELD GOAL

Western Michigan could have attempted a go-ahead field goal of about 47 yards with 31 seconds left but instead went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Western Kentucky 30. Wassink’s pass into the end zone intended for Giovanni Ricci was broken up by Ta’Corian Darden.

Lester said he passed on a field goal try because the kick would have been into the wind. Kapps’ long this season was 45 yards.

VIVA HILLTOPPER

Lucky Jackson shares the name of Elvis Presley’s lead character in “Viva Las Vegas.” The senior now also owns the school record for catches in a game, became the fourth Western Kentucky player to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season and moved into second place in career catches with 209, behind Taywan Taylor’s 253.

UP NEXT

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers, who will open at home against Chattanooga on Sept. 5, will again play two Power Five programs (Louisville again and Indiana) next season. They play both defending Conference USA division winners on the road: Florida Atlantic and UAB.

Western Michigan: Next season the Broncos will return to Notre Dame, where they most recently played in 2010. Western Michigan will also welcome a Power Five team to Kalamazoo, Syracuse, a week after visiting South Bend.

Western Kentucky: 2016 Boca Raton Bowl Champions

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers threw to their tackle, ran a trick play from their victory formation and kept scoring touchdowns for Nick Holt, their one-and-done interim coach.

Senior Anthony Wales gained 329 yards from scrimmage and Western Kentucky earned a bowl victory for the third year in a row by beating Memphis 51-31 Tuesday night in the Boca Raton Bowl.

"Coach Holt gave us great energy," Wales said. "We all love him, and we were able to show everybody how great we are."

Oddsmakers had projected the game to be the highest-scoring of the bowl season, and even Western Kentucky left tackle Forrest Lamp got into the act, scoring on a 9-yard razzle-dazzle catch-and-run. The Hilltoppers (11-3) totaled 598 yards for Holt, who was filling in after coach Jeff Brohm left this month to become coach at Purdue.

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Sanford was chosen over Holt as Brohm's replacement next season, and attended the game.

"I told the kids it has been two weeks of some of the happiest football of my life," Holt said. "They don't care really right now who's the head coach. They believe in each other."

Wales ran for a career-high 245 yards on 35 carries, added 84 yards on four catches and scored three times. Teammate Mike White threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Taywan Taylor had nine catches for 144 yards and his 17th touchdown of the season.

It was another successful finale for the Hilltoppers, who won the Miami Beach Bowl last year and the Bahamas Bowl in 2014.

Memphis (8-5) lost in a bowl game for the second consecutive year. The Tigers' Riley Ferguson threw for 372 yards and four scores, but they couldn't keep up with the Hilltoppers.

"They're good," Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. "A missed assignment, a bust in communication, and they can expose you."

TRICKERY

Holt, the defensive coordinator during the regular season, oversaw some creative play calling.

The Hilltoppers scored their second touchdown when Lamp, their 300-pound senior tackle, retreated from an unbalanced line, caught a lateral and scored for the first touchdown of his career.

"The last time I scored a touchdown was probably in my backyard against my little brother," Lamp said.

With 45 seconds left in the first half, the Hilltoppers lined up in the victory formation as if running out the clock. Instead Wales swept around left end for a 53-yard gain, but Western Kentucky failed to capitalize, throwing an interception on the next play.

INJURY REPORT

Ferguson missed one series with a leg injury when a defender was blocked into him as he threw an interception.

"He'll be fine," Norvell said.

MEMPHIS MILESTONES

Ferguson set a school season record with 32 touchdown passes. Anthony Miller had a career-high three touchdown catches and increased his season total to 14, a school record.


Jake Elliott kicked four extra points to finish 202 for 202 in his career, extending a streak of successful kicks that's the nation's longest. He did miss a 43-yard field goal try when it hit the left upright.

UP NEXT

This year Norvell became the third coach in Memphis history to achieve a winning record in his first season, and has built a strong foundation. The Tigers open the 2017 season at home Sept. 2 against Louisiana-Monroe.

"We've got a lot of hope and a lot of confidence in where we're going," Norvell said.

Sanford makes his debut with the Hilltoppers when they open next season at home Sept. 2 against Eastern Kentucky.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers: 2015 Miami Beach Bowl Champions

MIAMI -- A feel-good Western Kentucky football season ended in heartbreak, but for the Hilltoppers, the good kind.

South Florida led by two touchdowns early in Monday's Miami Beach Bowl, weathered a run of 24 straight WKU points and pulled to within one possession during the fourth quarter.

WKU hit back each time in a 45-35, season-ending victory at Marlins Park. Just when the Bulls had hope, it often vanished.

Heartbreaking, really. It's what the great teams do, and after finishing 12-2, matching the program record for victories first set during the 2002 I-AA national title season, this bunch will go down as one of WKU's best.

Second-year coach Jeff Brohm's squad likely secured spots in the final Associated Press and coaches polls, adding to a Conference USA championship won earlier this month. The Louisville native Brohm's also due for a raise, and perhaps one more spin through the coaching carousel should it start again.

Credit goes to an up-and-down day by Brohm's offense, which received few favors from its defensive counterparts.

Brandon Doughty completed 32 of 44 passes for 461 yards in his final college game, and that was after a 10 of 19 start that included an early interception. The performance made the sixth-year senior the first WKU quarterback to top 5,000 yards passing in a season and third in C-USA history.

Top Miami Beach Bowl target Nicholas Norris pushed him over the mark.

Doughty in the third quarter hit the junior Norris for back-to-back touchdowns, one for 69 yards and another for 55. His catches moved the Hilltoppers ahead for good, with a 9-yard Nacarius Fant rush, acrobatic Jared Dangerfield catch and 42-yard Anthony "Ace" Wales rush enough to hold on late.

But there was plenty of doubt as USF quarterback Quinton Flowers danced in open field for most of the afternoon, rallying the Bulls from a 38-21 deficit at the end of the third quarter. On the opening play of the fourth, Flowers threw 53 yards to Rodney Adams for a score. And on USF's next drive, his 8-yard keeper made it a 38-35 game.

From there, however, the Bulls were stopped twice on fourth down and missed a 54-yard field that would have, at the time, tied the score.

One last quick-strike scoring drive put WKU over the top. A play before the Louisville native Wales raced up the right sideline for a touchdown, Doughty set it up with a flea-flicker completion to Antwane Grant.

Playing in his home state, Doughty was near perfect after the Hilltoppers' opening five drives ended with two punts, a turnover on downs and his interception. From there, he completed 22 of 25 passes, going out on a high note and against the coach who signed him, WKU graduate Willie Taggart.

Central Michigan: 2014 Bahamas Bowl Champions

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Western Kentucky knows its defensive blunders on what became the final touchdown of the Bahamas Bowl will stay on highlight reels for a long, long time.

That's fine with the Hilltoppers -- because they found a way to hang on for an unforgettable win.

Wasting nearly every bit of a 35-point lead and giving up the most improbable of touchdowns on the final play from scrimmage, Western Kentucky overcame a record-setting seven touchdown passes from Cooper Rush and beat Central Michigan 49-48 on Wednesday in the first bowl game played outside the U.S. or Canada since 1937.

"There's been a lot of twists and turns to all of our games," Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm said.

Not like this.

Central Michigan (7-6) scored the final five touchdowns of the game, including a three-lateral, 75-yard dazzler on the final play where six Chippewas -- one center, one quarterback and four receivers -- touched the ball. Officially, it went down as a touchdown pass to Titus Davis by Rush, his seventh scoring toss of the day, one more than anyone had ever thrown in any bowl game.

Central Michigan went for a 2-point conversion and the win, only to have it broken up by Western Kentucky's Wonderful Terry.

A wonderful finish, indeed.

"I want to tell Central Michigan that's one heck of a job by them," Brohm said. "They showed the heart and spirit that this game is all about."

Here's how the miracle happened:

The Chippewas got the ball on their own 25 with a second remaining after a punt, trailing 49-42. Rush threw deep to Jesse Kroll, who caught the ball between three defenders at the 29. Kroll advanced the ball slightly before lateraling to Deon Butler, who got the ball to Courtney Williams just before getting tackled.

Williams then tossed the ball to Davis, who caught it at the 15 and outran three Western Kentucky players to the end zone, reaching to knock over the pylon as he fell out of bounds to complete the bizarre play.

Central Michigan coach Dan Enos said he originally planned to kick the extra point. He then changed his mind, a decision that's surely going to be debated.

"Cooper had thrown seven touchdown passes already in the game, so we figured he was pretty hot," Enos said. "We didn't want to go to overtime because we had trouble stopping them all day. We thought we had momentum so we'd try to win the game."

When the conversion pass hit the ground, only then could the Hilltoppers exhale.

"It was a roller-coaster ride," said Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty, who threw five touchdowns pass to increase his nation-leading total to 49 on the season. "We were just lucky and blessed that we got the win."

Very lucky.

The ending largely overshadowed a huge day by Doughty, who threw for 486 yards.

Doughty completed 31 of 42 passes for the Hilltoppers (8-5) and capped the sixth-highest single-season touchdown total in major college football history. Anthony Wales and Leon Allen added touchdown runs for the Hilltoppers.

Rush threw for 485 yards. He never had more than three touchdowns in a college game, and wound up being credited with five in the final 12 minutes for the Chippewas.

"We just kept grinding away, taking it one play at a time," Rush said. "From the huddle we just kept saying, `One play at a time.' And next thing you know we look up and the score's getting closer and closer and that's when you know you've got a chance to win it."

The teams finished with 1,254 yards of offense, 647 by Western Kentucky. McNeal caught five passes for 155 yards for the Hilltoppers, who got 95 yards rushing from Wales.

Davis had 147 receiving yards and four touchdown grabs, including the one on the final play, for Central Michigan. The finish was one that Brohm understandably likened to the infamous Stanford-Cal, multi-lateral finish with the Cardinal band already on the field -- known simply as "The Play" that gave the Golden Bears a 25-20 win in 1982.

"This one may have been even better," Brohm said, "other than there wasn't a band on the field."

This game was the first of a planned run of at least six years of bowl matchups in the Bahamas.

They'll be hard-pressed to see another one like this.

Western Kentucky: 2012-13 Sun Belt Champions

 

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, seeded sixth in the Sun Belt Tournament, got 17 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore George Fant to complete an improbable run to an NCAA tournament berth, beating the No. 4-seeded Florida International Golden Panthers, 65-63, in Monday's conference tournament final.

The Hilltoppers (20-15) won four games in four days, including a three-point win in the quarterfinals and a two-point win in the semifinals, to secure its second-straight trip to the big dance. Western Kentucky made a similar run in last year's Sun Belt Tournament under interim head coach Ray Harper (head coach Ken McDonald was fired in January 2012 after a 5-11 start to the season).
Harper, now in his first year as Western Kentucky's full-time head coach, has two NCAA tournament berths to his name.

The Golden Panthers, who beat the No. 1 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in the semifinals, closed to within two points at 62-60 with 27 seconds to play. Jamal Crook answered with two made free throws on Western Kentucky's next trip down for the Hilltoppers.

Florida International's Tymell Murphy hit a three-pointer with two seconds left to set the final score at 65-63.