WKU routs visiting Rice in season opener

Western Kentucky picked up right where it left off last year with a 46-14 season-opening win over visiting Rice Thursday behind a historic debut performance by redshirt junior quarterback Mike White.

White, a transfer from South Florida, completed 25 of 31 attempts for 517 yards and three touchdowns in his first game as a Hilltopper – just the third time in program history a signal-caller has eclipsed the 500-yard mark. He hit nine different receivers.

White guided WKU to 649 yards of total offense, 552 through the air, on 10 yards per play. WKU’s defense held the Owls to 4.1 yards per play and a total of 288.

Louisville natives Taywan Taylor and Anthony “Ace” Wales, both seniors, turned in impressive performances in the Hilltoppers’ opener. Taylor, who moved into fourth on the program’s all-time receptions list with his five catches Thursday night, totaled a team-high 165 yards on an average of 33 yards per catch while Wales carried the ball 15 times for 58 yards and two touchdowns, his fifth career multi-touchdown game. Senior receiver Nicholas Norris hauled in a team-high seven passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor's 100-yard effort was his ninth in the past 13 games dating back to last season.

On the defensive end, redshirt junior T.J. McCollum had 12 total tackles – five solo – and a forced fumble for the Hilltoppers. Junior Louisville product Joe Brown added seven tackles – six solo – one for loss, while Louisville graduate transfer Keith Brown tallied five in his debut. Redshirt junior De'Andre Simmons and redshirt freshman AJ Jackson both intercepted passes for WKU.

WKU totaled 394 yards of first-half offense, including 355 yards from White on 15-of-19 passing for two touchdowns. White completed 11 of his first 12 pass attempts. The defense, meanwhile, held Rice to 109 yards – 2.9 per play – in the first half and came up with a tipped interception. McCollum, one of four returning starters on that side of the ball, had 10 total tackles and the forced fumble through the first two periods.

The Hilltoppers were the beneficiary of some early Rice miscues, as a first-down throw on its first possession was negated by a penalty. The Owls’ snap on the ensuing play sailed through the punter’s hands and into the endzone for a safety – the first safety of the Jeff Brohm era for WKU.

Penalties again stalled Rice’s next two possessions before WKU capitalized with a four-play, 86-yard drive capped by a five-yard touchdown run by Wales, giving the Hilltoppers a 9-0 lead with four minutes left in the first quarter. A 45-yard reception from Taylor set up the five-yard scamper.

It was much of the same for WKU on its following drive. Norris, who had 110 yards on four catches in the first half, hauled in an 87-yard touchdown from a rolling White to extend the hosts’ lead to 16-0 with less than two minutes left in the first. Rice gained just 31 yards on 21 plays in the opening period – an average of 1.5 per play.

Two questionable pass interference calls led to the Owls’ first score, a two-yard run from senior Jowan Davis that capped an impressive 12-play, 80-yard drive to make it 16-7 early in the second. The Hilltoppers, though, responded in the form of a six-play, 65-yard drive and the score read 23-7 with 9:37 left in the first half. Wales’ second touchdown of the game sealed the halftime score at 30-7.

WKU opened the second half with a nine-play, 76-yard drive spanning 4:36 that ended with a 29-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Skyler Simcox. The Hilltoppers added another with 4:30 left in the third – a 26-yarder from redshirt sophomore Ryan Nuss.

Rice redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Stehling caught the WKU defense sleeping on a 22-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to make it 36-14 in favor of the Hilltoppers. The Owls had 40 total rushing yards prior to the score.

There was little to play for in the second half, but White ended up making a little history in his debut with the Hilltoppers. His 19-yard touchdown strike to Norris early in the fourth pushed the redshirt junior over 500 yards passing for the game – just the third time in school history, as previously mentioned, after Brandon Doughty recorded games of 569 and 593 yards, respectively, in 2014. A 31-yard field goal from Russ with 5:12 left then sealed the final.

Next up, WKU travels to No. 1 Alabama on Sept. 10.