WKU wins its fifth bowl game under Tyson Helton as the Hilltoppers finish 9-4.
The 25th edition of the New Orleans Bowl lived up to its history as Maverick McIvor and Matthew Henry led the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defeated Southern Miss 27-16.
Early in the contest, Western Kentucky got great field position from a botched snap on a Southern Miss punt. However, the Hilltoppers were only able to scratch across a 31-yard field goal from John Cannon to make it 3-0 WKU early. After a few traded possessions of punts and one USM touchdown called back for holding, the Golden Eagles finally got on the board with a 35-yard strike from Braylon Braxton to Tychaun Chapman to make 7-6 after the first 15 minutes in the Big Easy.
The second quarter was a field goal fest in the Superdome as Cannon connected on his second of the day to cut the USM lead to 7-6. Later in the quarter, JJ Hawkins made an outstanding defensive play for Southern Miss, picking off Tisdale with one hand from the edge rusher spot and setting up the Golden Eagles with a great opportunity to score once again. However, the Eagles were only able to connect on the 25 yard field goal from Creighton Wilbanks to make it 10-6.
In the final two minutes, Southern Miss drove down the field and set up a field goal from Wilbanks as time expired to give the Golden Eagles a 13-6 lead at the break. Tisdale was injured late in the half and wouldn’t return to the contest.
On WKU’s first possession of the second half, Maverick McIvor found a wide open Noah Meyers down the seam and he was off to the races. However, Corey Myrick was able to catch up with Meyers and forced a fumble inside the five yard line and it was recovered by Southern Miss. After failing to capitalize on the turnover, WKU’s offense made some big plays down the field including a 47-yard pass from McIvor to Matthew Henry to put the Hilltoppers in the red zone. Three plays later, McIvor found the endzone himself from nine yards out to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:57 left in the third quarter.
Southern Miss regained the lead right before the third quarter came to an end with Wilbanks’ third field goal of the night to make the score 16-13 headed to the final quarter.
Western Kentucky jumped back in front again with 7:51 left in the game as McIvor had a 25 yard scamper to the one yard line, setting up a one-yard touchdown run from George Hart III gave the Hilltoppers the 20-16 advantage late. On their next possession, Marvis Parrish took off down the sidelines for a 54-yard touchdown, ultimately putting the game away at 27-16.
With time running out and USM trying to make something happen, Braxton forces an interception by Jaylen Lewis to finish the contest for the Hilltoppers.
Category: General Sports
