OPENING KICKOFF
SERIES HISTORY
The 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl game will mark the eighth meeting between WKU and Old Dominion and the first since the two met regularly as foes in Conference USA – the Monarchs have since joined the Sun Belt Conference. The Hilltoppers hold a 6-1 advantage in the series with wins in the last two meetings, including a 43-20 victory in Norfolk, Virginia, the last time the two programs met during the 2021 season. Old Dominion’s only win in the series came during the 2018 season when the Monarchs beat the Hilltoppers 37-34 at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
WESTERN KENTUCKY HILLTOPPERS NOTES:
BOWL SUCCESS
WKU became bowl eligible for the fifth time in five seasons under Head Coach Tyson Helton with its 28-23 win over Sam Houston on Nov. 18. The Hilltoppers went to bowl games in each of Helton’s first four years as head coach, with wins in three of those, including last year’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. WKU went to nine bowl games in the 11 seasons leading up to the 2023 campaign, with a 6-3 record in those games, and the bowl game this year will be the 10th for the program in 12 seasons. WKU is one of 16 programs that has played in a bowl game each season since 2019 and is also bowling again in 2023, including just one of four Group of Five teams. The Hilltoppers are one of nine programs that have won a postseason game in both 2021 and 2022 and are bowl eligible again this season, and one of just three Group of Five teams in that category.
BOWL GAMES UNDER TYSON HELTON
2022 R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL
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 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. 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 passed the century mark in a single game since 2017 against Middle Tennessee. Smith and Hall both caught a touchdown each, while Corley hauled in two scores. Hall’s touchdown reception came on a trick play with Smith recording the touchdown pass.
2021 ROOFCLAIM.COM BOCA RATON BOWL
WKU Football quarterback Bailey Zappe completed 33-of-47 passes for 422 yards and six touchdowns, leading the Hilltoppers to a 59-38 victory over App State in the 2021 RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. With 5,967 passing yards and 62 passing touchdowns in 14 contests, Zappe set new all-time single-season FBS records. The previous record holders were Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons, who had 5,833 passing yards in 13 games in 2003 and LSU’s Joe Burrow, who had 60 passing touchdowns in 15 games in 2019. 2020
LENDINGTREE BOWL
WKU Football dropped its final game of the season, 39-21, to Georgia State in the LendingTree Bowl. The Hilltoppers finished the season with a 5-7 overall record, including a 4-3 mark in conference play. Offensively, Tyrrell Pigrome completed 17-of-33 passes for 180 yards while adding a touchdown on the ground, but threw two interceptions. Tight end Joshua Simon racked up a team-high 84 receiving yards and Jones ran for a team-best 57 yards. Both Jones and Walker also recorded touchdowns in the contest. On the other side of the ball, Nick Days led the squad with a career-high 12 total tackles, followed by defensive tackle Ricky Barber, who collected 10 total tackles and one tackle for loss. The Hilltoppers recorded a combined 10 tackles for loss in the game, with eight different players contributing to that total.
2019 SERVPRO FIRST RESPONDER BOWL
Then-Freshman Cory Munson kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal with no time left after a rules review to give Western Kentucky a 23-20 victory over Western Michigan in the First Responder Bowl. The Hilltoppers (9-4) drove 36 yards in 27 seconds before Munson kicked his third field goal in four tries. The clock had expired and Munson was given the final play after a five-yard defensive substitution penalty against the Broncos for having 12 players on the field. Munson had tied the score at 20 on a 31-yarder with 1:36 to play. He also kicked a 26-yarder and missed from 29. Thiago Kapps’ 20-yard field goal with 4:58 to play gave Western Michigan (7-6) a 20-17 lead. Kapps’ field goal, his second of the game, capped a 62-yard drive that took 5:35 after WKU had tied the score on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ty Storey to Lucky Jackson with 10:40 to go. Jackson had 17 catches for 148 yards. 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 threw a 17-yard pass to Jahcour Pearson in the second quarter for the Hilltoppers’ other touchdown.
SERIES NOTES
• The 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl game will mark the eighth meeting between WKU and Old Dominion.
• The Hilltoppers hold a 6-1 advantage in the series with wins in the last two meetings
• Old Dominion’s only win in the series came during the 2018 season when the Monarchs beat the Hilltoppers 37-34 at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
OLD DOMINION MONARCHS NOTES:
• Old Dominion will play former Conference USA foe Western Kentucky in the Famous Toastery Bowl at Jerry Richardson Stadium in Charlotte on Monday, Dec. 18 at 2:30 p.m.
• This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams with WKU winning six of the first seven.
• ODU linebackers Jason Henderson and Wayne Matthews earned All-Sun belt honors. Henderson earned first-team, while Matthews was named to the third-team. Safety Shawn Asbury, defensive tackle Denzel Lowry and Cornerback LaMareon James were named honorable mention. Henderson earned first-team all-conference for the second-straight season.
• At 6-6 overall and 5-3 in the Sun Belt, ODU has a three-win improvement over last year’s 3-9 overall record and also a threewin improvement in league play. All eight of ODU’s conference games this year were decided by one score and 10-of-12 have been one-score games.
• Since 2000, Old Dominion is the first FBS team to play 10 one-score games in a 12 game season. Texas had 10 one-score games in 2018 and Northern Illinois had 10 in 2021, but they played 14 total games.
• To reach six wins, Old Dominion defeated Georgia Southern and Georgia State, also bowl teams, in consecutive weeks on the final play of each game.
• Linebacker Jason Henderson leads the country with 170 tackles and 14.2 tackles per game. He ranks third in the country with 19.5 tackles for loss. The 19.5 tackles for loss is a single-season ODU record.
• Old Dominion’s 58 newcomers are the seventh most of any FBS team in the country this season and 41 scholarship newcomers is also the seventh most in the country
The Outcome
An ODU win would mean:
• Make ODU 7-6 on the year • Give ODU its first bowl victory since 2016 • Give ODU its first winning season since 2016 • Give ODU its second win ever against WKU
The Meeting
One of the more familiar foes in ODU’s football history, the two schools have met seven times on the football field with WKU holding a 6-1 edge. ODU’s only win in the series, a 37-34 win at WKU in 2 018, was one of the more bizarre endings to a football game. Down 34-27, Blake LaRussa hit Travis Fulgham for a touchdown pass to tie the score at 27 with eight seconds left. With two seconds left, WKU ran a pass play that fell incomplete, but ODU was called for roughing the passer that set up a 57-yard field goal attempt by Alex Rinella. The kick fell short but the Monarchs were called for too many players on the field, setting up a 52-yard field goal for Rinella. Rinella’s 52-yarder was caught at the goal line by Isaiah Harper and returned all the way to the WKU 17, where a facemask penalty was called, adding one more untimed down to set up a Nick Rice game-winning 26-yard field goal
2014 – WKU 66 ODU 51
2015 – WKU 55 ODU 30
2016 – WKU 59 ODU 24
2017 – WKU 35 ODU 31
2018 – ODU 37 WKU 34
2019 – WKU 20 ODU 3
2021 – WKU 43 ODU 20
ODU Bowling
This is the third bowl game in program history for the Monarchs and second under head coach Ricky Rahne. ODU’s first season of football was in 2009 and ODU became fully bowl eligible in 2015. The Monarchs are 1-1 in their two previous bowls, defeating Eastern Michigan in the 2016 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl and falling to Tulsa in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Bowl.
One Score Games
Old Dominion has played in a nation’s high 10 one-score games. The Monarchs are 6-4 in one-score games. Boston College and North Texas played eight. For the second-straight game to finish the regular season ODU won on the final play of the game. This time it was a Grant Wilson two-yard run to defeat Georgia State
