Malachi Corley had a career game, Anthony Johnson Jr. had a game-clinching interception and WKU Football moved to 2-0 in Conference USA play by holding on for a 35-28 win over Louisiana Tech on Thursday at Joe Aillet Stadium.
"Very proud of our football team," WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton said. "If you want to make a conference run, you've got to go on the road and get tough wins, and definitely that's what we did tonight. We started off hot first half, we're rolling. I talked to the team and I knew that LA Tech would come back in the second half, I knew they wouldn't lay down.
" … We stuck together, we fought through it, our defense was fantastic again tonight coming up with stops series after series, and then when we needed it the most we got the pick there at the end. Very proud of our team – 2-0 in conference, get a couple days off and then get ready for Jacksonville State."
Corley finished the game with 207 yards and three touchdowns on eight receptions. It was the third 200-plus yard receiving game in program history and marked a career high in yards receiving for the junior. Corley also tied his career high with the three touchdown receptions.
He moved into sole possession of second place on WKU's career receptions list and now has 217. His three touchdown receptions Thursday evening moved him into third place all-time in WKU history with 23 in his career. Taywan Taylor is WKU's career leader in receptions and touchdown receptions with 253 and 41, respectively, and Nicholas Norris is second in career touchdown receptions in program history with 26.
"When I got the first touch of the game and I went for 70, I knew it was going to be a big game for myself," Corley said. "Before the game, I had a lot of preparation. I feel like I was overly prepared for the game, so I knew good things were going to happen for me. The ball just kept finding me during that first half and I just kept making plays."
WKU (4-2 overall, 2-0 CUSA) finished with 426 yards of offense in the victory. Austin Reed threw for 297 yards and three scores on 19-of-34 passing with an interception, and Jimmy Holiday, Easton Messer and Dalvin Smith each added multi-reception games, in addition to Corley. The Hilltoppers rushed for 129 yards, led by 76 yards and a score on nine carries from Markese Stepp.
WKU's defense added two more turnovers gained after entering the game leading the country with 14.
The Hilltoppers turned the ball over on their first possession and LA Tech (3-4, 2-1) capitalized with a 25-yard touchdown run to take an early 7-0 lead.
From there, WKU reeled off 35 unanswered points and took a 35-7 lead into halftime.
Corley started the scoring with a 70-yard touchdown reception from Reed – WKU's longest play of the season – to tie the game with 12:03 left in the first quarter and Stepp put the Hilltoppers ahead with a 56-yard rushing touchdown. WKU added a 1-yard touchdown run from Davion Ervin-Poindexter with 2:23 to play in the frame.
Corley had two touchdown receptions – one 48 yards and the other 29 yards – in the second quarter to make it 35-7.
"We were just running our offense, moving fast, taking vertical shots down the field," Reed said. "I feel like that's what we're really good at. We were just rolling really well, playing our offense, going super fast and it was working out for us."
LA Tech held the Hilltoppers off the board in the second half and reeled off three consecutive touchdowns – on a 19-yard pass and two 1-yard runs – to make it 35-28 with 3:09 to play. WKU did come up with stops on two of LA Tech's last three possessions with a fourth-down stop after reaching the WKU 7-yard line and with Johnson's interception with 1:40 left, which allowed the Hilltoppers to run out the clock in the 35-28 win.
"I feel like it was just a great call in that moment," Johnson said. "We was ready for them on an out breaking route, so coach just put us in a great scheme so we could make a play."
WKU will now have a longer layoff between games before taking on Jacksonville State on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Jacksonville, Alabama.
