BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Kawaun Jakes threw for a career-high 296 yards and four touchdowns to lead Western Kentucky over Austin Peay 49-10 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.
The fourth-year starting quarterback completed 18-of-23 passes, including touchdown passes of 21 yards to Willie McNeal, 15 yards to Tim Gorski, 13 yards to Boe Brand and 18 yards to Kadeem Jones. He also ran for a 9-yard touchdown.
Western Kentucky's Antonio Andrews scored the game's first touchdown on a 70 yard punt return.
The Hilltoppers defense held Austin Peay, a Football Championship Subdivision team, to 154 total yards while the Western Kentucky offense amassed 596 yards overall.
The lone negative for the Hilltoppers was field-goal kicking. Western Kentucky, which hit 5 of 20 field goals last year, missed all three attempts against Austin Peay.
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| Scoring Summary |
| WKY | Antonio Andrews 70 yd punt return (Jesse Roy kick) |
| WKY | Willie McNeal 21 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Jesse Roy kick) |
| WKY | Tim Gorski 15 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| WKY | Kawaun Jakes 9 yd run (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| WKY | Boe Brand 13 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| AP | Wesley Kitts 68 yd run (Stephen Stansell kick) |
| WKY | Kadeem Jones 18 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| WKY | Leon Allen 4 yd run (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| AP | Stephen Stansell 44 yd FG |
| Team Stats | ||
| AP | WKY | |
| First Downs | 7 | 28 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 1-12 | 6-9 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 48-154 | 66-596 |
| Rushes-Yds | 37-143 | 39-244 |
| Passing Yds | 11 | 352 |
| Kick Return Yds | 132 | 74 |
| Punt Return Yds | 0 | 74 |
| Passes | 2-11-1 | 20-27-1 |
| Punts | 7-283 | 0-0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 5-55 | 8-89 |
| Time of Poss. | 27:7 | 32:53 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| AP: Wesley Kitts 10-104, Terrence Oliver 12-32, Ean Pemberton 8-11, Reco Williams 3-11, Johnathan Shuler 2-0, Jake Ryan 2--15 |
| WKY: Leon Allen 13-93, Keshawn Simpson 8-60, Antonio Andrews 6-39, Marquis Sumler 5-32, Kawaun Jakes 3-21, Kadeem Jones 2-7, James Mauro 2--8 |
| PASSING |
| AP: Jake Ryan 2-10-11-1, Jacob Sexton 0-1-0-0 |
| WKY: Kawaun Jakes 18-23-296-1, James Mauro 2-3-56-0, Brandon Doughty 0-1-0-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| AP: Devin Stark 2-11 |
| WKY: Jack Doyle 5-76, Antonio Andrews 4-59, Boe Brand 3-55, Austin Aikens 2-72, Willie McNeal 2-23, Marcus Vasquez 1-24, Kadeem Jones 1-18, Tim Gorski 1-15, Rico Brown 1-10 |
