BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Reggie Whatley's 96-yard kick return touchdown in the fourth quarter lifted Middle Tennessee to a 34-29 win over Western Kentucky on Thursday night.
With the win, the Blue Raiders (6-3, 4-1 Sun Belt) are now in sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt, trailing first-place Louisiana-Monroe (6-2, 4-0).
Whatley's kick return came with 6:03 left in the game just after Western Kentucky had tied the game at 27 with a field goal.
The Hilltoppers (6-3, 3-2) drove toward the end zone in the closing stages, but the Blue Raiders' Kenneth Gilstrap picked off a Kawaun Jakes pass deep in MTSU territory with two minutes left to seal the win.
Western Kentucky got a safety as time expired.
Freshman Jordan Parker rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Raiders, who became bowl eligible for the first time since 2010.
College Football Schedule T-Shirts
Get the gear Shop now
| Scoring Summary |
| MTSU | Carlos Lopez 19 yd FG |
| MTSU | Jordan Parker 58 yd run (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| WKY | Austin Aikens 35 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| MTSU | Anthony Amos 8 yd pass from Logan Kilgore (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| WKY | Antonio Andrews 24 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| WKY | Garrett Schwettman 29 yd FG |
| MTSU | Anthony Amos 5 yd pass from Logan Kilgore (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| WKY | Willie McNeal 32 yd pass from Kawaun Jakes (Garrett Schwettman kick) |
| MTSU | Carlos Lopez 19 yd FG |
| WKY | Garrett Schwettman 28 yd FG |
| MTSU | Reggie Whatley 96 yd kick return (Carlos Lopez kick) |
| WKY | Team safety |
| Team Stats | ||
| MTSU | WKY | |
| First Downs | 19 | 24 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 9-15 | 4-11 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-2 | 3-3 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 67-342 | 63-438 |
| Rushes-Yds | 50-224 | 32-155 |
| Passing Yds | 118 | 283 |
| Kick Return Yds | 222 | 182 |
| Punt Return Yds | 0 | 20 |
| Passes | 11-17-0 | 19-31-1 |
| Punts | 2-70 | 2-88 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 2-15 | 4-30 |
| Time of Poss. | 30:3 | 29:57 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| MTSU: Jordan Parker 32-149, Drayton Calhoun 6-41, Jeremiah Bryson 6-26, Reggie Whatley 3-8, Kyle Griswould 2-7, Logan Kilgore 1--7 |
| WKY: Antonio Andrews 25-136, Kawaun Jakes 5-14, Keshawn Simpson 2-5 |
| PASSING |
| MTSU: Logan Kilgore 11-17-118-0 |
| WKY: Kawaun Jakes 19-30-283-1, Team 0-1-0-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| MTSU: Anthony Amos 5-66, Kyle Griswould 3-34, Jeremiah Bryson 1-11, Christian Collis 1-7, Jordan Parker 1-0 |
| WKY: Willie McNeal 7-119, Antonio Andrews 5-54, Jack Doyle 3-32, Kadeem Jones 2-32, Austin Aikens 1-35, Mitchell Henry 1-11 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Middle Tennessee | 2nd Sun Belt | 6-2 | 8-4 |
| Western Kentucky | 5th Sun Belt | 4-4 | 7-6 |
