Kennesaw State Owls vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers - News - October 30, 2024 | FOX Sports

1-7

1-7

14

FINAL

31

6-2

Western Kentucky

6-2

RECAP

BOX SCORE

GAME STATS

PLAY-BY-PLAY

ODDS

NEWS

River Helms - DNP Wednesday Helms (undisclosed) did not play in Wednesday's game against Kennesaw State, per TheTowelRackWKU.substack.com.

Impact Helms was seen on the sideline in street clothes and ruled out of the game prior to kickoff. The reshirt junior tight end suffered an undisclosed injury in last week's game against Sam Houston State and has clearly been unable to shake it thus far. Helms has been a contributor for the Hilltoppers this season, catching 19 passes for 228 yards and a pair of touchdowns through seven games. He will hope to make a quick recovery in order to be available for next Saturday's matchup against New Mexico State.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

Kisean Johnson - Nets 64 yards Johnson caught four passes for 64 yards against KSU on Wednesday.

Impact This is better than last time around, when Johnson was held to three catches for 19 yards. Still, he now has been held without a touchdown for three games in a row, and his targets have dropped a bit as well.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

Easton Messer - Catches long TD Messer had two catches for 68 yards and a touchdown against KSU on Wednesday.

Impact It was concerning when Messer had only two catches for 16 yards in WKU's last game. Should we be any less worried this week just because one of his two catches became a 64-yard touchdown? The drop in catches, and targets, does not bode well.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

George Hart III - Rushes for TD Hart caught six passes for 36 yards and a score Wednesday versus KSU.

Impact While the Hilltoppers have embraced running the ball more in 2024, that has been mostly handled by Elijah Young and a fairly-mobile quarterback in Caden Veltkamp. To that end, Hart, an Arizona State transfer, has 23 carries all season, which this being his largest workload.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

Elijah Young - Rushes for over 100 yards Young ran 15 times for 114 yards and had two catches for 20 yards against KSU on Wednesday.

Impact Western Kentucky's embrace of actually running the ball has been one of the bigger surprises this season, but it has been to Young's benefit. 100-yard games on the ground have been truly rare for the Hilltoppers. Of course, this team does still love to pass the ball, and to that end Young has 26 catches for 247 yards and a touchdown.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

Caden Veltkamp - Throws three TDs Veltkamp went 17-for-22 for 276 yards and three touchdowns against KSU on Wednesday. He also ran 10 times for 26 yards.

Impact Veltkamp started the season behind TJ Finley on the depth chart before Finley injured his leg. Well he's now completed 70.4 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns against five picks, and added 124 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The Hilltoppers are 6-2, undefeated in conference play, and the favorites to win Conference USA. Even if and when Finley is healthy, this should be Veltkamp's job.

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • ROTOWIRE

Caden Veltkamp passes for 3 TDs and Western Kentucky becomes bowl eligible for 6th straight season

Caden Veltkamp passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns, Elijah Young rushed for 114 yards and Western Kentucky eased by Kennesaw State 31-14

OCTOBER 31, 2024 • Associated Press

Kennesaw State Owls

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

STANDINGS

CONFERENCE USA		W-L	CONF	STRK
1	Jacksonville State	9-5	7-1	L1
2	Sam Houston State	10-3	6-2	W2
3	Western Kentucky	8-6	6-2	L2
4	Liberty	8-4	5-3	L2
5	Louisiana Tech	5-8	4-4	L1
6	FIU	4-8	3-5	W1
7	UTEP	3-9	3-5	W1
8	New Mexico State	3-9	2-6	L1
9	Middle Tennessee	3-9	2-6	L3
10	Kennesaw State	2-10	2-6	L1

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Kennesaw State Owls

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

EVENT INFO

Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium

Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium

Bowling Green, KY

Oct 30, 2024

14,547

3 Hours 29 Minutes