Toppers shift focus to Week 0 opener
Published 1:33 pm Monday, August 18, 2025
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Head Coach Tyson Helton speaks about the upcoming football season during a Football Media Day press conference at Harbaugh Club in Houchens-Smith Stadium on Friday, July 25, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
The focus has firmly shifted to Saturday for Western Kentucky’s football team.
Less than a week away from Saturday’s season opener against Conference USA rival Sam Houston at Houchens-Smith Stadium, the Week 0 matchup offers an unusually high risk-reward scenario for the Hilltoppers – a chance to start out strong in CUSA, or not.
WKU coach Tyson Helton, who is 3-3 in season openers leading the Hilltoppers, is looking forward to the opportunity host the Bearkats in Saturday’s 6 p.m. game set to be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
“It’s going to be a big challenge right out of the gate, but we’re excited about it,” Helton said during Monday’s news conference. “It’s great to be home to play this conference game. It’s a Week 0 game. You know you’re one of the few college games on TV that day, so there’s a lot of pluses for this home opener for sure.”
Looking back just a year to last season’s opener against No. 5-ranked Alabama – a 63-0 loss in Tuscaloosa – the Tops return just one starter on offense and three on defense from that initial lineup.
In the age of the NCAA transfer portal, roster turnover is nothing new but the Tops are an extreme case with upwards of 50 newcomers on the team. Helton likes how this year’s group has bonded in practice, but has to see how well that carries over on game day.
“They’re hard workers, No. 1 – they have great camaraderie together,” Helton said. “They like to compete. They enjoy the process. Those are all good things, those are good signs going into your first game. Obviously there’s a lot of unknowns, there’s a lot of new faces. So we’ve got to see how they respond to the game atmosphere.”
It’s not just a load of new starters who will suit up for the Tops on Saturday – WKU’s coaching staff underwent a transformation after the 2024 season as well, with new leaders in top spots – offensive coordinator Rick Bowie was hired from FCS program Abilene Christian, while co-defensive coordinators D’Von Brown and Davis Merritt were elevated to those roles after former DC Tyson Summers departed for Colorado State.
The newness works both ways Saturday – Sam Houston has a new coaching staff starting right at the top with Phil Longo, although the Bearkats had a significantly higher retention rate off last season’s 10-3 squad. WKU did deal the Bearkats one of those losses, a 31-14 defeat in Huntsville, Texas, that snapped Sam Houston’s four-game win streak.
“It’s a great challenge, so I’m pretty excited to see how it matches up,” Bowie said. “In today’s college world, there’s always the unknowns across the country going into a Week 0 or any opener for that matter. With that said, you kind of try to focus on yourself and make sure you’re being the best version of yourself.”
Preparing for a Week 0 matchup with no specific game film to lean on is always a challenge, but Brown expects his defense to make the necessary adjustments and compete.
“We’ve got to do what we do best,” Brown said. “When you have a defensive scheme that has answers, ready to make our checks and make our calls – I think there’s going to be a bunch of unknowns play call-wise, what they do, what we do. But I think if we just go out there and read our keys, do what we do and what we’ve been practicing I think it will be a good challenge for us.”
With hopes of competing for a CUSA championship again this season after reaching the championship game in 2024, the Hilltoppers can ill afford a slip up even this early in the season to their body of work.
“I think it’s the beauty of college football, that you only get so many shots out there,” Bowie said. “So I think any conference game, any opener – they’re all important.”
About Jeff Nations
Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News
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