Hilltoppers Take Down Mercyhurst 52-7 In Home Opener

WKU Athletics Media Release

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. threw four touchdown passes, seven different Hilltoppers found the end zone and WKU took down Mercyhurst 52-7 on Saturday in the 2026 home opener at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

The win was the 58th for WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton, putting him in sole possession of third place on WKU’s all-time career coaching wins list.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• WKU scored their first touchdown at home this season at the 11:41 mark in the first quarter. Nigel Johnson scored the first touchdown of his WKU career off a 72-yard reception from Rodney Tisdale Jr.
• Karl Campbell made a 35-yard field goal with 1:01 left in the first quarter to extend the lead 10-0.
• WKU scored its second touchdown of the game off a four-play, 69-yard drive at the 12:52 mark in the second quarter. Cameron Flowers caught a 23-yard pass from Tisdale – the second touchdown of his career and his first this season.
• Brock Glenn rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to make the score 24-0 for the Hilltoppers at the 4:41 mark in the second quarter.
• Ajay Allen scored off a 41-yard pass from Tisdale to cap off a four-play, 46-yard drive to make the score 31-0 with 1:07 left in the half.
• WKU scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half to make it 38-0 at the 11:16 mark in the third quarter. Quincy Burroughs ran in the end zone off a 20-yard reception from Tisdale to score his first touchdown of the season.
• The Hilltoppers scored another touchdown to make the score 45-0 with 7:34 left in the third quarter. Lofton Howard scored the first touchdown of his career off a 3-yard reception from Glenn.
• Mercyhurst scored its first touchdown of the game off a 10-yard reception to make it 45-7 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.
• WKU scored off a two-play, 89-yard drive to make the game 52-7 at the 11:01 mark in the fourth quarter. Zion Taylor hurdled a defender during a 72-yard reception to score his first touchdown as a Hilltopper.

NOTABLES

• WKU improved to 1-3 overall this season with the win over Mercyhurst.
• WKU is now 1-0 all-time against Mercyhurst.
• WKU has now won 12 of its last 14 games at Houchens-Smith Stadium to improve to 211-102-4 all-time at the stadium, and WKU is now 30-12 in home games under Head Coach Tyson Helton.
• Saturday’s game at Houchens-Smith marked WKU’s latest home opener since 1983, when the Hilltoppers played their first home game on Oct. 1.
• WKU is now 42-15-2 all-time in home openers in Houchens-Smith Stadium. WKU has now won six consecutive home openers.
• WKU improved to 58-39 under Helton. The 58 wins are third-most in program history and puts Helton ahead of Nick Denes, who claimed 57 wins in 11 seasons from 1957-67. Helton trails only Jimmy Feix, who had 106 wins in 16 years from 1968-83, and Jack Harbaugh, who had 91 wins in 14 seasons from 1989-02, on WKU’s all-time career wins list.
• WKU’s team captains for the game were offensive lineman Rhett Larson, defensive tackle Mackavelli Malotumau and punter Jackson Smith.
• Announced attendance for the game was 17,247.
• WKU’s 52 points against Mercyhurst are the most WKU has scored in a game this season and the most the Hilltoppers have scored in a game since defeating North Alabama 55-6 on Aug. 30, 2025. The Hilltoppers scored 31 points in the first half, which is the highest point total for the team in a half since scoring 42 points in the first half against North Alabama in 2025. WKU’s 21 second-quarter points are the most points the program has scored in a quarter since scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter of a 31-16 win against Nevada on Sept. 20, 2025.
• WKU finished with 596 yards of offense in the game – a high for the Hilltoppers this season. WKU threw for 413 yards and rushed for 183. The Hilltoppers had 348 yards in the first half, which is the team’s highest total yardage in a half this season.
• Quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns on 19-23-0 passing. He also rushed for 18 yards.
• Quarterback Brock Glenn threw for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 4-6-0 passing. He also rushed for a team-best 50 yards and one touchdown on five attempts.
• Twelve different WKU players caught passes in the game, led by six from true freshman Jonathan Stafford Jr. He had 66 yards receiving.
• Zion Taylor, Cameron Flowers, Lofton Howard, Nigel Johnson, Ajay Allen and Quincy Burroughs all recorded touchdown receptions in the win. It was the first time WKU had six different players record touchdown receptions in a single game since defeating Charlotte 59-7 on Nov. 5, 2022, when the Hilltoppers had seven different players record touchdown receptions.
• Taylor, Howard, Johnson and Allen each recorded their first touchdown reception as Hilltoppers. For Taylor, Howard and Johnson, it was their first overall touchdown with WKU. It was the first touchdown of the season for both Burroughs and Flowers, and it was also the second career touchdown for both of those receivers.
• Le’Kamren Meadows and Allen each had over 40 yards rushing. Meadows posted 45 yards on four rushing attempts and Allen had 42 yards on eight attempts.
• Karl Campbell’s 35-yard field goal was the first of his football career. He was also 7-for-7 on PATs in the win.
• Fifteen different WKU players recorded multiple tackles in the win, led by eight from linebacker Jaylen Wester. Wester also posted a team-best 2.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup.
• Defensive end Elin Jones recorded WKU’s lone sack in the game. He finished with four tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
• The Hilltoppers finished with 10 pass breakups from nine different players, led by two from linebacker Westen Ard.
• WKU did not record a penalty in the game. It was the first time WKU was not penalized in a game since Oct. 30, 2024, in a 31-14 victory over Kennesaw State. Prior to that game, WKU had gone 57 games without a penalty-free game, dating back to Oct. 10, 2020, against Marshall.
• WKU did not punt in the win. It was the first game the Hilltoppers have not punted since defeating Middle Tennessee 49-21 on Sept. 14, 2024, in Murfreesboro.

QUOTABLES

“Good win tonight. It was great to get back home and get that home feeling. Our guys were excited (they) got a good team win. There was a lot of momentum that we were able to build off of tonight. Now we get to start conference play on the road with another big game coming up, so this really helps a lot. A lot of big plays tonight, a lot of good things out there, a lot of things we got to get better at. But overall – very pleased with our team.” – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the home opener win over Mercyhurst.

“I definitely think we got our swagger back, and I think it’s always been there, we just had to tap back into that next level. We had to look ourselves in the mirror. We pointed everybody out, we told them what they had to get better at, and instead of shying away from it – we came together as a whole defense, and it showed today out there on the field.” – WKU Football linebacker Jaylen Wester, on the home opener win over Mercyhurst.

“It felt good finally being home, finally relaxing how we want to relax, finally getting to pregaming how we want to pregame. We were on nobody else’s time, we were on our type of time. There ain’t nothing like being on this hill. It’s just one of one.” – WKU Football defensive back Jaylen Lewis, on the home opener win over Mercyhurst.

“I felt really comfortable just getting back to my roots and just being the leader I know I can be. Once I got back out there, I knew the guys were going to follow under me and Brock – Brock did a good job, too, out there. It was pretty good team camaraderie football out there.” – WKU Football quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr., on the home opener win over Mercyhurst.

“We all just bought in and accepted what coach gave us and it all falls together. Look what happened with the outcome.” – WKU Football running back Ajay Allen, on the home opener win over Mercyhurst.

NEXT UP

The Hilltoppers will hit the road once again to face New Mexico State in their Conference USA opener on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.