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Teams / Conference USA / Western Kentucky
Index · this season
52
▼ Below its 5-year level -11▼ Down 3 this season
Career58since 1936
Peak752016
Last 563seasons
#122 nationally · 2-4 (1-1 conf)
Résumé #117
Schedule so far #63
Margin ±5 pts (tightens with games)
Why 52? →

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Conference USA · Bowling Green, KY · Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium · Head coach Tyson Helton
Rival
Building rivalry
12-6 all time (18 meetings since 2007)
Western Kentucky leads
Last: won 42-26 (2025) · Western Kentucky has won 7 straight
Holds it
program traits are earned from history
No recognized national titles since 1936. Counted: AP poll champion, a coaches-poll champion, or the BCS / playoff title-game winner; a split year counts for both.0national titles
Heisman Trophy winners0Heisman
Seasons finishing in the AP top 10 since 19360AP top-10
Consensus All-Americans since 19361All-Americans
NFL draft picks since 196715NFL picks
Winning percentage since 193650.3%win pct
History since 1936 · football since 2008. Every season →
Chemistry
Chem 49: warning zone49
Chem 59: typical
59Foundation
Chem 38: warning zone
38Gel
gel counts 45% so far
▼ Below its norm -5Trending up
early · #107 of 138
HC year8
Ret. starters41%
QB yrs w/ OC1
View chemistry →
Team chemistryearly · #107 of 138 FBS teams
Chem 59: typicalFoundation59+Chem 38: warning zoneGel38=Chem 49: warning zoneChem49Gel counts 45% so far (it grows as games are played, up to half)
Foundationwhat the program has built · moves over seasons
Foundation59Staff stability — Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnoverStaff stability71Roster continuity — Returning starters and the lineup's experienceRoster continuity58Unit cohesion — QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played togetherUnit cohesion38Administration — Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignmentAdministration99Investment — Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruitingInvestment51Fan base — How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matterFan base51
ContinuityClimate
Continuity · who has played and coached togetherlive

Who has played and coached together, and for how long, ranked against every FBS team at the same point of the season.

▸Staff stability
Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnover
71
Staff cohesion68
HC year 8 · OC year 1 · DC year 2
Assistant turnover74
23% of on-field staff new this season (FBS average about 45%)
▸Roster continuity
Returning starters and the lineup's experience
58
Returning core69
41% of last season's starters · FBS median 32%
Experience47
9 career starts per starter · FBS median 12
▸Unit cohesion
QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played together
38
QB & coordinator55
1st season together · same as 76% of FBS teams
QB & receivers33
1.8 games started together on average · FBS median 3.9
Line cohesion50
4.0 games per linemen pair · FBS median 5.2
Defensive cohesion6
2.3 games per defensive pair · FBS median 4.5
Climate · around the programlive

The administration, money and fans around the team: athletic director continuity, willingness to invest, and crowds.

▸Administration
Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignment
99
AD continuity99
Todd Stewart · year 11 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
▸Investment
Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruiting
51
Football's share75
35% of department spending goes to football
Investment trend35
+9% over three years
Football investment31
$11.0M on football (2024-25 federal report)
Recruiting spend50
$0.72M men's recruiting
Department resources12
$31M athletic department revenue
▸Fan base
How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matter
51
Sellouts49
sellout crowds (95%+ of capacity) at 1 of 39 home games (last 8 seasons)
Sells out anyway53
sellout crowds at 1 of 26 games that didn't matter: cupcakes, or a team expected to lose or having a losing season

Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures, as reported by each school. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Attendance: reported crowds vs stadium capacity.

Gelhow it is working right now · moves week to week
Gel38Playing above its parts — Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by gamePlaying above its parts28Settled & sharp — A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normalSettled & sharp47Alignment — Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one pageAlignmentsoonResilience — Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversityResiliencesoonFan & media mood — Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins laterFan & media mood37Coach security — The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new ADCoach security26
InternalOn-field fitExternal
Internal · how the program talkscoming

How the team talks in press conferences and interviews, each program against its own normal, so a naturally terse coach isn't read as upset. Being built program by program, Big Ten first.

▸Alignment
Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one page
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.
▸Resilience
Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversity
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.

Readings are team-level; we don't publish psychological readings of individual players.

On-field fit · how it is playing togetherlive

How the team is playing together this season: beating or missing its preseason expectation, a settled lineup, clean execution.

▸Playing above its parts
Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by game
28
This season28
-7.8 points a game vs its preseason projection (5 games)
▸Settled & sharp
A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normal
47
This season47
75% of starters kept game to game
External · pressure from outsidelive

Pressure from outside the building: the hard-facts hot seat now; this season's fan and media mood as it is measured.

▸Fan & media mood
Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins later
37
This season37
outside the AP poll: projected #109 preseason -> #122 in our Index now · results 2-4 (-1, recent games count more) · projected for a bowl (6.7 wins preseason), now projects 4.5 (-10)
▸Coach security
The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new AD
26
This season26
Tyson Helton, year 8 · 33% wins so far · -7.8 pts a game vs preseason expectation · last two seasons +2% vs the program's norm

Dashed gold ring = typical (62). 20-50 is the warning zone; under 10 is a collapse. Spokes with no data yet are dashed and left out until they fill in. Chem blends the two halves, then places the blend among this season's teams.

Trend · Foundationeach program year runs Feb 1 to the title game
'1665'1740'1859'1949'2078'2150'2252'2349'2452'2546'262016 wk 1 vs Rice: 59 · W2016 wk 2 vs Alabama: 73 · L2016 wk 3 vs Miami (OH): 73 · W2016 wk 4 vs Vanderbilt: 66 · L2016 wk 5 vs Houston Christian: 66 · W2016 wk 6 vs Louisiana Tech: 68 · L2016 wk 7 vs Middle Tennessee: 71 · W2016 wk 8 vs Old Dominion: 68 · W2016 wk 9 vs Florida Atlantic: 71 · W2016 wk 10 vs Florida International: 66 · W2016 wk 11 vs North Texas: 74 · W2016 wk 13 vs Marshall: 72 · W2016 wk 14 vs Louisiana Tech: 63 · W2016 wk 1 vs Memphis: 65 · W2017 wk 2 vs Illinois: 42 · L2017 wk 3 vs Louisiana Tech: 43 · L2017 wk 4 vs Ball State: 44 · W2017 wk 6 vs UTEP: 43 · W2017 wk 7 vs Charlotte: 45 · W2017 wk 8 vs Old Dominion: 41 · W2017 wk 9 vs Florida Atlantic: 41 · L2017 wk 10 vs Vanderbilt: 40 · L2017 wk 11 vs Marshall: 43 · L2017 wk 12 vs Middle Tennessee: 41 · W2017 wk 13 vs Florida International: 43 · L2017 wk 1 vs Georgia State: 40 · L2018 wk 2 vs Maine: 55 · L2018 wk 3 vs Louisville: 57 · L2018 wk 4 vs Ball State: 57 · W2018 wk 5 vs Marshall: 54 · L2018 wk 7 vs Charlotte: 56 · L2018 wk 8 vs Old Dominion: 56 · L2018 wk 9 vs Florida International: 57 · L2018 wk 10 vs Middle Tennessee: 58 · L2018 wk 11 vs Florida Atlantic: 58 · L2018 wk 12 vs UTEP: 59 · W2018 wk 13 vs Louisiana Tech: 59 · W2019 wk 2 vs Florida International: 39 · W2019 wk 3 vs Louisville: 44 · L2019 wk 5 vs UAB: 42 · W2019 wk 6 vs Old Dominion: 46 · W2019 wk 7 vs Army: 49 · W2019 wk 8 vs Charlotte: 49 · W2019 wk 9 vs Marshall: 49 · L2019 wk 10 vs Florida Atlantic: 49 · L2019 wk 11 vs Arkansas: 49 · W2019 wk 13 vs Southern Miss: 51 · W2019 wk 14 vs Middle Tennessee: 50 · W2019 wk 1 vs Western Michigan: 49 · W2020 wk 3 vs Liberty: 77 · L2020 wk 5 vs Middle Tennessee: 77 · W2020 wk 6 vs Marshall: 77 · L2020 wk 7 vs UAB: 77 · L2020 wk 8 vs Chattanooga: 70 · W2020 wk 9 vs BYU: 71 · L2020 wk 10 vs Florida Atlantic: 69 · L2020 wk 11 vs Southern Miss: 78 · W2020 wk 12 vs Florida International: 77 · W2020 wk 14 vs Charlotte: 78 · W2020 wk 1 vs Georgia State: 78 · L2021 wk 2 vs Army: 50 · L2021 wk 4 vs Indiana: 49 · L2021 wk 5 vs Michigan State: 47 · L2021 wk 6 vs UTSA: 50 · L2021 wk 7 vs Old Dominion: 50 · W2021 wk 8 vs Florida International: 51 · W2021 wk 9 vs Charlotte: 52 · W2021 wk 10 vs Middle Tennessee: 52 · W2021 wk 11 vs Rice: 52 · W2021 wk 12 vs Florida Atlantic: 53 · W2021 wk 13 vs Marshall: 52 · W2021 wk 14 vs UTSA: 50 · L2021 wk 1 vs App State: 50 · W2022 wk 1 vs Hawai'i: 48 · W2022 wk 3 vs Indiana: 49 · L2022 wk 4 vs Florida International: 54 · W2022 wk 5 vs Troy: 55 · L2022 wk 6 vs UTSA: 55 · L2022 wk 7 vs Middle Tennessee: 54 · W2022 wk 8 vs UAB: 55 · W2022 wk 9 vs North Texas: 55 · L2022 wk 10 vs Charlotte: 55 · W2022 wk 11 vs Rice: 54 · W2022 wk 12 vs Auburn: 55 · L2022 wk 13 vs Florida Atlantic: 54 · W2022 wk 1 vs South Alabama: 52 · W2023 wk 2 vs Houston Christian: 56 · W2023 wk 3 vs Ohio State: 55 · L2023 wk 4 vs Troy: 55 · L2023 wk 5 vs Middle Tennessee: 55 · W2023 wk 6 vs Louisiana Tech: 54 · W2023 wk 8 vs Jacksonville State: 53 · L2023 wk 9 vs Liberty: 50 · L2023 wk 10 vs UTEP: 51 · W2023 wk 11 vs New Mexico State: 50 · L2023 wk 12 vs Sam Houston: 51 · W2023 wk 13 vs Florida International: 52 · W2023 wk 1 vs Old Dominion: 49 · W2024 wk 2 vs Eastern Kentucky: 59 · W2024 wk 3 vs Middle Tennessee: 60 · W2024 wk 4 vs Toledo: 59 · W2024 wk 5 vs Boston College: 57 · L2024 wk 7 vs UTEP: 59 · W2024 wk 8 vs Sam Houston: 59 · W2024 wk 10 vs Kennesaw State: 60 · W2024 wk 11 vs New Mexico State: 60 · W2024 wk 12 vs Louisiana Tech: 58 · L2024 wk 13 vs Liberty: 60 · L2024 wk 14 vs Jacksonville State: 61 · W2024 wk 15 vs Jacksonville State: 59 · L2024 wk 1 vs James Madison: 52 · L2025 wk 1 vs North Alabama: 50 · W2025 wk 2 vs Toledo: 51 · L2025 wk 4 vs Nevada: 51 · W2025 wk 5 vs Missouri State: 47 · W2025 wk 6 vs Delaware: 51 · W2025 wk 8 vs Florida International: 48 · L2025 wk 9 vs Louisiana Tech: 49 · W2025 wk 10 vs New Mexico State: 37 · W2025 wk 12 vs Middle Tennessee: 39 · W2025 wk 13 vs LSU: 49 · L2025 wk 14 vs Jacksonville State: 50 · L2025 wk 1 vs Southern Miss: 46 · W2026 wk 2 vs Georgia: 61 · L2026 wk 3 vs Indiana: 63 · L2026 wk 4 vs Mercyhurst: 61 · W2026 wk 5 vs New Mexico State: 61 · L2026 wk 6 vs Missouri State: 63 · W2026 wk 7 vs Sam Houston: 58 · next gametypical 62

Every game since 2016, one continuous line; thin rules separate seasons and the chip is where each season finished. Navy dot = win, red = loss. Big drops usually mean a new staff, a new quarterback or a rebuilt line.

Trend · Gelthis season, after each game
typical 62wk 1 · on-field 39 · fan mood 12291wk 2 vs Georgia · L · on-field 15 · fan mood 16152wk 3 vs Indiana · L · on-field 26 · fan mood 13213wk 4 vs Mercyhurst · W · on-field 35 · fan mood 25314wk 5 vs New Mexico State · L · on-field 41 · fan mood 20335wk 6 vs Missouri State · W · on-field 43 · fan mood 25366

How the team is working right now, rebuilt after each game from only the games so far: on-field fit (results vs preseason expectation, lineup settling, execution) and that week's fan & media mood. Coach security is part of today's Gel number but isn't rebuilt week by week yet. Navy frame = win, red = loss.

Continuity facts
Head coach
Year 8
at this school
Offensive coordinator
Year 1
new this season
Defensive coordinator
Year 2
at this school
HC & OC together
1 seasons
working together
QB with his OC
1 seasons
same play-caller
QB & receivers
1.8 games
started together, average
Offensive line pairs
4.0 games
started together, average
Returning starters
41%
from last season
Starter experience
9 starts
career average
Internal facts
Pressers read
soon
this season, coaches and players
Coach tone
soon
vs his own normal
"We" vs "I"
soon
share of team language
Owning mistakes
soon
vs pointing outward
Same story
soon
coaches and players agree
After losses
soon
how fast tone recovers
Leaders named
soon
players teammates point to
Newcomers
soon
transfers talked about as part of it
Openness
soon
forthcoming vs guarded
Measured from press conferences and interviews, program by program.
Climate facts
Athletic director
Todd Stewart
year 11
Football spending
$11.0M
2024-25 federal report
Spending trend
+9%
over three years
Department revenue
$31M
all sports
Recruiting spend
$0.72M
men's teams
Home crowds
—
of capacity
Staff turnover
23%
on-field staff new this season
Fan mood
soon
fans and local media
Coach & AD
soon
on the same page
Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Offense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Glenn
Allen
Burroughs
Humphreys
Stafford
Arends
Johnson
Larson
Ray
Omezi
Lopez
QBBrock Glenn22222122122
RBAjay Allen26456146564
WRQuincy Burroughs24444124344
WRQua'Vez Humphreys25455135454
WRJonathan Stafford Jr.26456146564
TEColeson Arends11111111111
OLAlec Johnson24234144342
OLRhett Larson26456146564
OLTai Ray15345135553
OLNonso Omezi26456146564
OLAlex Lopez24444124344

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Defense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Fletcher
Griffin
Minnis
Jones
Donald
Ard
Herard
Lewis
Myers
Brown
Newsome
DLJakeem Fletcher21112112111
DLJavin Griffin11111111111
DLZsacari Minnis11111111111
DLElin Jones11161366333
LBJordan Donald21112112111
LBWesten Ard11131444334
DBDave Herard1116141616334
DBJaylen Lewis2116241619345
DBBraxton Myers11131333333
DBJustin Brown11131334344
DBTony Newsome Jr.11131445345

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Chemistry is Scorebook's own rating of how well a program fits together, on the same all-time 0-99 scale as our other ratings (compared with every FBS team since 2016; 62 is typical, 20-50 signals something is wrong, and single digits are reserved for true collapses; each season is compared with its own era). This early version blends continuity (who has played and coached together, and for how long; it counts most) with the climate around the program; how the program talks joins as it is measured. Within continuity, quarterback-centered pairings count most because they held up when we tested them against results. How our ratings work →