Hilltoppers Take Down Missouri State 34-13

WKU Athletics Media Release

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football used an all-around team performance to defeat Missouri State 34-13 on Thursday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

The Hilltoppers scored first and led for the remainder of the game to improve to 1-1 in Conference USA play and 2-4 overall with the win over the Bears (1-4 overall, 0-1 CUSA).

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hilltoppers struck first, capping off an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Brock Glenn to take a 7-0 lead with 6:38 left in the first quarter.
• Missouri State made a 25-yard field goal to make it 7-3 at the 2:16 mark in the first quarter.
• The Bears added a second field goal from 31 yards to make it 7-6 with 6:26 left in the second quarter.
• The Hilltoppers added to their lead with a 42-yard touchdown from Glenn to Jonathan Stafford Jr. to make it 14-6 at the 4:57 mark in the second quarter. The play capped off a 4-play, 75-yard drive.
• Ajay Allen scored the last touchdown of the first half with a 3-yard rush to make the score 21-6 at the break.
• Missouri State scored the first touchdown of the second half off a 36-yard pass to make it 21-13 at the 7:23 mark in the third quarter.
• The Hilltoppers added three points to their lead off a 34-yard field goal by Karl Campbell to make it 24-13.
• Campbell made his second field goal of the game – a 43-yarder – with 11:17 to play to extend WKU’s lead to 27-13 over Missouri State.
• Ajay Allen scored his second touchdown of the game with 5:46 remaining off a 39-yard rush to cap off a 4-play, 78-yard drive and close out the 34-13 win.

NOTABLES

• WKU improved to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA play with the win over Missouri State.
• WKU is now 10-2 all-time against Missouri State, with this victory marking the 10th straight win in the series.
• WKU is now 2-0 at home this season and has won 13 of its last 15 games at Houchens-Smith Stadium to improve to 212-102-4 all-time at the stadium, and WKU is now 31-12 in home games under Head Coach Tyson Helton.
• WKU improved to 59-40 under Helton. The 59 wins are third-most in program history. 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.
  The Hilltoppers are now 41-16 under Helton in regular-season CUSA games.
• WKU’s team captains for the game were wide receiver Jonathan Stafford Jr., defensive end Zsacari Minnis and kicker Karl Campbell.
  Announced attendance for the game was 11,102.
• WKU recorded 464 yards of offense in the win, which was the second-most yards the Hilltoppers have recorded in a single game this season behind the 596 in the win over Mercyhurst.
• WKU recorded 233 yards rushing and 231 yards passing. It marked WKU’s first win in which it had more rushing yards than passing yards since the 21-13 victory at UTEP on Nov. 4, 2023. It is WKU’s first 200-yard rushing game since defeating Middle Tennessee 42-26 on Nov. 15, 2025.
• Quarterback Brock Glenn accounted for 326 yards in the win. He threw for 231 yards and one touchdown on 20-35-0 passing, and rushed for an additional 95 yards and one touchdown on 15 attempts. Glenn now has scored five touchdowns this season, which is tied for a team high. He has a team-best five rushing touchdowns. His four touchdown passes this season are tied for a team high.
  Eight Hilltoppers recorded receptions in the win, with five recording multiple receptions.
• Jonathan Stafford Jr. had a team-high six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown was the first of his college career. He leads the team with 332 yards on 36 receptions this season. The 36 receptions move Stafford into a tie for fourth on WKU’s freshman receiving list with Jake Gaebler and Marvis Parrish. Only Malachi Corley (73 receptions, 2021), Easton Messer (42 receptions, 2023) and Jack Doyle (37 receptions, 2009) are above Stafford on WKU’s freshman receiving records list.
• Ajay Allen led WKU on the ground with 105 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Allen now leads WKU in rushing with 321 yards on 72 attempts this season. His five total touchdowns are tied for a team-high and his four rushing touchdowns rank second on the team. It was the second 100-yard rushing performance for both WKU and Allen this season. The other came in the opener at Nevada, when he rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries.
• It was WKU’s second game this season without a turnover allowed.
• WKU had 10 players record multiple tackles in the win, led by 14 from safety Jaylen Lewis, with 11 solo tackles.
• The Hilltoppers recorded seven tackles for loss, led by two from Lewis and 1.5 from linebacker Jordan Donald.
• Tony Newsome Jr.’s first-quarter interception was his first as Hilltopper and the third of his college career, with the other two coming when he was at West Florida.
• Campbell improved to 5-for-5 on field goal attempts this season with his two makes against Missouri State. Campbell is now 14-for-14 with his four made PATs against the Bears.
• Jackson Smith averaged 49.3 yards on four punts in the win. Smith had three punts travel 50-plus yards, with a long of 54 yards, and had two downed inside the 20-yard line.

QUOTABLES

• “Really good team win tonight, it was good to see us put it all together at home. It was great to be back home, just a great feeling when we get to play here. I thought our guys came out fast. We made a lot of explosive plays tonight. The defense did a great job – just a good team win. Gives us a lot of momentum, got a good conference win, now we gotta take that momentum on the road and go get another big win.” – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton, on the win over Missouri State.
• “I was prepared to be the starter. We had a great week of prep, so I was extremely confident in what we could come out here and do, and we did that. I’m proud of the guys. I think we battled hard.” – WKU Quarterback Brock Glenn, on the win over Missouri State.
• “This whole week we’ve been preaching about believing. [There’s] a lot of people doubting us coming off of that previous loss, but the whole week we were making sure our guys were locked in and ready to go – because it doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish.” – WKU Wide Receiver Jonathan Stafford Jr., on the win over Missouri State.
• “How we play with our defense – it’s always next guy up. We got a lot of young bodies and a lot of older bodies, so it’s next guy up anytime. So when any guy goes down in any position, we got depth, and we feel like we can play anybody at any moment.” – WKU Linebacker Jordan Donald, on the win over Missouri State.
• “We approached practice like we were undefeated. It doesn’t matter what the record was, what we had going on, what the depth chart was or anything like that – we approach the practice and approach the week like it was another big week.” — WKU Defensive Back Jaylen Lewis, on the win over Missouri State.

NEXT UP

The Hilltoppers will hit the road to face Sam Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.