Veltkamp named to Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football quarterback Caden Veltkamp has been named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Great 8 for Week 3, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced Monday.

Veltkamp came off the bench in WKU’s 49-21 victory over “100 Miles of Hate” rival Middle Tennessee on Saturday at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to replace injured starter TJ Finley. Veltkamp threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns on 27-of-30 passing in the win, and added a 1-yard rushing touchdown as well.

Veltkamp’s five touchdown passes were the most in a single game by a Hilltopper since he came off the bench in the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl and threw five touchdowns in WKU’s 38-35 overtime victory over Old Dominion, in which he led a 28-0 comeback – the fourth-largest ever in a bowl game. Saturday the 24th time in program history a WKU player had thrown at least five touchdown passes in a game.

Veltkamp’s 256.4 rating was the third-best ever in single game by a WKU quarterback, and his 17 consecutive completions to end the game was the second-longest stretch in a game by a WKU quarterback. His 90% completion percentage was the best mark ever in a game by a Hilltopper quarterback with at least 10 completions.

The Hilltoppers put up over 600 yards of offense and 49 points – the most WKU has scored against the Blue Raiders in a game in Murfreesboro and third-most in a game against the rivals overall – in the win. WKU has now won six straight games against Middle Tennessee and have claimed victories in nine of the last 10 meetings to take a 38-35-1 lead in the series. The 49-21 win on Saturday marked the sixth time in the last 11 meetings WKU has scored 40-plus points against Middle Tennessee. In the 63 meetings prior to 2014, WKU had only scored 40-plus points in a game in the rivalry four times.

Due to the high number of strong performances last week, the award committee elected to use its “Davey Double” this week, doubling the number of honorees on the Great 8 list from 8 to 16. All quarterbacks named to the Great 8 list are now on the official Davey O’Brien Award Watch List. Veltkamp is the second WKU quarterback on the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List this season. Finley earned the honor prior to the start of the season.

The Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week will be announced Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT.

WKU will be back in action at home against Toledo on Saturday, Sept. 21, at Houchens Smith Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.