Tops have ties to CFP semifinalists
Published 9:00 am Tuesday, January 6, 2026
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Mississippi kicker Lucas Carneiro (left) celebrates a field goal with offensive lineman Jayden Williams in the first half of the Sugar Bowl college football playoff quarterfinal game against Georgia on Thursday in New Orleans. (MATHEW HINTON/AP)
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Oregon running back Noah Whittington runs for a first down during the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against Texas Tech on Jan. 1 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (LYNNE SLADKY/AP)
Western Kentucky’s football season ended with a 27-16 victory last month against Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl, but for a trio of former Hilltoppers there are still games to be played this week.
Three ex-Tops have prominent roles on three of the four remaining teams in the College Football Playoff – Lucas Carneiro is the starting place-kicker for Ole Miss, running back Noah Whittington is the leading rusher for Oregon and defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler is in the regular rotation for Indiana.
Carneiro, a junior from Cornelius, North Carolina, kicked the game-winning field goal with six seconds left to lift No. 6 seed Ole Miss to a 39-34 win against No. 3 Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Carneiro opened the scoring in the first quarter with a Sugar Bowl-record 55-yard field goal. That record didn’t last long – Carneiro hit a 56-yard field goal later in the quarter to put the Rebels ahead 6-0 early.
Ole Miss trailed by nine points at halftime, but by late in the fourth quarter the Rebels needed Carneiro once again with a chance to win. Carneiro got the job done, knocking a 47-yard field goal through the uprights lift Ole Miss to the victory – a safety by the Rebels’ defense on the final play added two more points at the end.
Carneiro also converted his lone extra-point attempt to account for 10 points in the game.
“Yeah, Lucas, we have all of our trust in Lucas,” Rebels starting quarterback Trinidad Chambless said after the win. “Like PG (Ole Miss coach Pete Golding) just said, during our Fast Friday – we call it Fast Friday. But the day before the game, it’s like a walkthrough. And he went out there and missed two field goals, and that’s very uncharacteristic of him. So for him to hit the game-winning field goal, there’s no doubt in our minds that he won’t be able to make that. So we always have trust in Lucas. Yeah, we believe in him.”
In his first season at Ole Miss, Carneiro was 27-of-30 on field goal tries and perfect 55-of-55 on PATs.
Carneiro spent three seasons at WKU (2022-24), serving as the Hilltoppers’ starting place-kicker his final two seasons. In 2024, he had one of the best seasons for a kicker in WKU history on his way to Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year honors. Carneiro finished the season 18-for-19 on field goal attempts and 41-for-41 on PATs. He was 6-for-6 from 50-plus yards, with two 54-yard makes, which are tied for the second-longest made field goals in program history. Carneiro’s only miss came on his first attempt in the opener at Alabama, and his 18 consecutive made field goals are a program record.
Carneiro made a career-high four field goals in the 2024 regular-season finale against Jax State, including a game-winning 50-yard make with three seconds left that sent the Hilltoppers to the CUSA Championship Game.
Ole Miss will face No. 10 seed Miami in the CFP semifinals Thursday in Glendale, Arizona.
Wheeler and Whittington will square off in Friday’s Peach Bowl – the other CFP semfinal – in Atlanta. It will be a rematch between the two Big Ten programs, with Indiana winning 30-20 in a regular-season matchup Oct. 11 in Eugene, Oregon.
Wheeler, a redshirt senior from Sacramento, California, settled into regular playing time in his first season with the Hoosiers with 11 game appearances including five starts. Wheeler has totaled 30 tackles, including four tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and two quarterback hurries. Wheeler notched two tackles in Indiana’s 38-3 demolition of No. 9 seed Alabama in the CFP quarterfinals Jan. 1 in Pasadena, California.
At WKU, Wheeler spent three seasons with the program (2022-24) after transferring from Sacramento City College. His final campaign was his best, as Wheeler earned All-CUSA First-Team honors after starting all 14 games and finishing second on the team with 75 tackles. Wheeler posted five tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two blocked kicks in 2024.
Suiting up for No. 5 seed Oregon to face the Hoosiers is Whittington, a redshirt senior running back from Fort Valley, Georgia. Whittington is in his fourth season playing for the Ducks after beginning his college career at WKU. This season has been his best, as Whittington leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards along with six touchdowns. He also has 19 catches for 98 yards and a TD, plus six kick returns for 126 yards (21.0 yards per return). Whittington tallied 31 rushing yards and had two catches for 10 yards in the Ducks’ 23-0 win against No. 4 seed Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl – a CFP quarterfinal game – on Jan. 1 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Whittington was second on the team in rushing yards with 779 as a sophomore in 2022, missed most of the 2023 season and took a redshirt year, then tallied 540 yards and six rushing TDs last season.
As a true freshman at WKU in 2021, Whittington led the Hilltoppers with 617 rushing yards (6.1 yards per rush) and added a pair of touchdowns. Whittington also played for the Tops as a true freshman in 2020 (earning an extra year due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and appeared in all 12 games tallying 39 rushing yards and five kickoff returns for 84 yards.
About Jeff Nations
Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News
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