Football WKUHerald: Hilltoppers look to cap historic season in Miami

[Brad]

Hilltoppers look to cap historic season in Miami

• By: Billy Rutledge
• Updated 1 hr ago

The No. 25 ranked WKU football team will play one final time this season, marking the end of one of the greatest Hilltopper football seasons of all-time.

Monday at 1:30 (CST) WKU will face the University of South Florida in the Miami Beach Bowl. The game, broadcasted on ESPN, will be the third FBS bowl game in program history.

The Hilltoppers (11-2, 8-0) are coming off their first championship since 2002, their first at the FBS level, as they obtained the C-USA championship title after defeating Southern Miss 45-28 at L.T. Smith Stadium.

With their primary goal complete, the bowl game offers Hilltopper fans one final time to watch this WKU team cap off a historic season.

“I think our guys are starting to get locked in,” Head Coach Jeff Brohm said. “They understand the importance of this football game. Really when it comes down to a bowl game like this, the teams are going to be equally matched, so it's going to be down to who wants it the most, who's going to come out and compete to the end." 

The Hilltoppers are seeking to win consecutive postseason games for the first time in the school’s FBS history. WKU won its first last season in the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl defeating Central Michigan 49-48.

This year, the opponent will be the South Florida Bulls (8-4, 6-2) who hail from the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Bulls also have been victorious in seven of their last eight games.

It will be the seventh meeting all-time between WKU and USF but only the third since the two programs became FBS schools, with WKU making the jump in 2009. WKU and South Florida share a distinction with five others to reach their third bowl game within seven years of making the move to the FBS.

The game will also mark a reunion with former WKU player, assistant coach and head coach Willie Taggart, who is the head coach for South Florida.

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[Skingraft]

USF has an opportunity here.....  this is a good opponent to make this a statement game

[Brad]

Hard to even believe they are favored...I've been off the grid for a couple weeks, didn't expect to see that.