2014–2026 performance history

Western Kentucky over time

Season-by-season offense and defense game grades, with head-coaching changes placed on the timeline.

Conference USAHead coach: Tyson HeltonView Western Kentucky games →
Offense · 2026 estimate42.2/100

17.2 average through 2 games

49.6 prior · 8 equivalent games
Defense · 2026 estimate36.6/100

3.4 average through 2 games

51.1 prior · 8 equivalent games

The trajectory

Game and Season Unit Ratings

Each small dot is one offensive or defensive game rating, arranged in the order played. For completed seasons, the short bar is that season’s average game rating. Both dot and bar values are labeled on a percentile scale. For 2026, the bar is the Bayesian estimate, while the outlined circle is the empirical games-only mean. Labeled background bands show each head coach’s era.

Western Kentucky individual offense and defense game grades by seasonEach small point is one game. Horizontal bars show completed-season means and the Bayesian estimate for 2026. The outlined 2026 circle is the empirical games-only mean. Alternating labeled bands identify head-coaching eras.Brohm · ’14–’16Jeff Brohm, 2014–2016Jr. · ’17–’18Mike Sanford Jr., 2017–2018Helton · ’19–’26Tyson Helton, 2019–2026offenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Bowling Green · W 59–31; offense 81.0 percentile2014 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Illinois · L 34–42; offense 33.3 percentile2014 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · L 47–50; offense 81.8 percentile2014 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Navy · W 36–27; offense 64.8 percentile2014 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · L 39–42; offense 66.3 percentile2014 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 38–45; offense 45.4 percentile2014 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 66–51; offense 93.3 percentile2014 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · L 10–59; offense 36.1 percentile2014 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 35–27; offense 56.3 percentile2014 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Army · W 52–24; offense 96.4 percentile2014 Week 13: Western Kentucky vs. UTSA · W 45–7; offense 90.1 percentile2014 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Marshall · W 67–66; offense 99.7 percentile2014 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan · W 49–48; offense 89.1 percentile2015 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt · W 14–12; offense 13.7 percentile2015 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · W 41–38; offense 68.1 percentile2015 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Indiana · L 35–38; offense 68.4 percentile2015 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Miami (OH) · W 56–14; offense 96.6 percentile2015 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Rice · W 49–10; offense 55.9 percentile2015 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 58–28; offense 96.1 percentile2015 Week 7: Western Kentucky at North Texas · W 55–28; offense 98.4 percentile2015 Week 8: Western Kentucky at LSU · L 20–48; offense 51.1 percentile2015 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 55–30; offense 95.9 percentile2015 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · W 35–19; offense 99.6 percentile2015 Week 13: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · W 49–28; offense 90.6 percentile2015 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 45–28; offense 70.7 percentile2015 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Florida · W 45–35; offense 87.9 percentile2016 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Rice · W 46–14; offense 58.9 percentile2016 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Alabama · L 10–38; offense 53.3 percentile2016 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Miami (OH) · W 31–24; offense 31.3 percentile2016 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt · L 30–31; offense 72.3 percentile2016 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Houston Christian · W 50–3; offense 90.4 percentile2016 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · L 52–55; offense 66.7 percentile2016 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 59–24; offense 99.1 percentile2016 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · W 52–3; offense 85.6 percentile2016 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 49–21; offense 84.6 percentile2016 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. North Texas · W 45–7; offense 73.3 percentile2016 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Marshall · W 60–6; offense 91.5 percentile2016 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · W 58–44; offense 97.5 percentile2016 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Memphis · W 51–31; offense 90.2 percentile2017 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 31–17; offense 37.2 percentile2017 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Illinois · L 7–20; offense 1.2 percentile2017 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · L 22–23; offense 23.9 percentile2017 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Ball State · W 33–21; offense 20.8 percentile2017 Week 6: Western Kentucky at UTEP · W 15–14; offense 3.5 percentile2017 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 45–14; offense 80.9 percentile2017 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 35–31; offense 63.2 percentile2017 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · L 28–42; offense 50.0 percentile2017 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt · L 17–31; offense 6.9 percentile2017 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Marshall · L 23–30; offense 58.3 percentile2017 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida International · L 17–41; offense 31.2 percentile2017 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State · L 17–27; offense 45.4 percentile2018 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Wisconsin · L 3–34; offense 41.2 percentile2018 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Maine · L 28–31; offense 8.7 percentile2018 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Louisville · L 17–20; offense 16.9 percentile2018 Week 4: Western Kentucky at Ball State · W 28–20; offense 75.0 percentile2018 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · L 17–20; offense 15.0 percentile2018 Week 7: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · L 14–40; offense 11.3 percentile2018 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · L 34–37; offense 60.4 percentile2018 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · L 17–38; offense 24.9 percentile2018 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · L 10–29; offense 23.8 percentile2018 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 15–34; offense 10.1 percentile2018 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 40–16; offense 65.0 percentile2018 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 30–15; offense 51.7 percentile2019 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Central Arkansas · L 28–35; offense 19.2 percentile2019 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Florida International · W 20–14; offense 29.8 percentile2019 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Louisville · L 21–38; offense 3.6 percentile2019 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · W 20–13; offense 35.8 percentile2019 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 20–3; offense 34.4 percentile2019 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. Army · W 17–8; offense 37.9 percentile2019 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 30–14; offense 39.2 percentile2019 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Marshall · L 23–26; offense 70.7 percentile2019 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · L 24–35; offense 62.5 percentile2019 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Arkansas · W 45–19; offense 81.5 percentile2019 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Southern Miss · W 28–10; offense 35.6 percentile2019 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 31–26; offense 78.4 percentile2019 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Western Michigan · W 23–20; offense 56.8 percentile2020 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Louisville · L 21–35; offense 10.7 percentile2020 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Liberty · L 24–30; offense 32.8 percentile2020 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · W 20–17; offense 15.0 percentile2020 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · L 14–38; offense 35.2 percentile2020 Week 7: Western Kentucky at UAB · L 14–37; offense 41.7 percentile2020 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Chattanooga · W 13–10; offense 0.7 percentile2020 Week 9: Western Kentucky at BYU · L 10–41; offense 66.4 percentile2020 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 6–10; offense 16.0 percentile2020 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 10–7; offense 3.9 percentile2020 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 38–21; offense 22.7 percentile2020 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · W 37–19; offense 57.8 percentile2020 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State · L 21–39; offense 50.7 percentile2021 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. UT Martin · W 59–21; offense 88.0 percentile2021 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Army · L 35–38; offense 88.9 percentile2021 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Indiana · L 31–33; offense 75.6 percentile2021 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Michigan State · L 31–48; offense 60.1 percentile2021 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. UTSA · L 46–52; offense 96.5 percentile2021 Week 7: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 43–20; offense 67.3 percentile2021 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 45–13; offense 35.9 percentile2021 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 48–21; offense 45.1 percentile2021 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Rice · W 42–21; offense 88.1 percentile2021 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · W 52–17; offense 88.3 percentile2021 Week 14: Western Kentucky at UTSA · L 41–49; offense 80.8 percentile2021 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. App State · W 59–38; offense 99.9 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Austin Peay · W 38–27; offense 13.7 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Hawai'i · W 49–17; offense 60.8 percentile2022 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 73–0; offense 86.7 percentile2022 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Troy · L 27–34; offense 60.6 percentile2022 Week 6: Western Kentucky at UTSA · L 28–31; offense 84.0 percentile2022 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · W 20–17; offense 40.5 percentile2022 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · W 59–7; offense 97.9 percentile2022 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. Rice · W 45–10; offense 70.6 percentile2022 Week 12: Western Kentucky at Auburn · L 17–41; offense 33.3 percentile2022 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · W 32–31; offense 53.8 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama · W 44–23; offense 95.3 percentile2023 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Florida · W 41–24; offense 76.1 percentile2023 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Houston Christian · W 52–22; offense 55.8 percentile2023 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Ohio State · L 10–63; offense 50.1 percentile2023 Week 4: Western Kentucky at Troy · L 24–27; offense 40.1 percentile2023 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 31–10; offense 67.3 percentile2023 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 35–28; offense 45.5 percentile2023 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 17–20; offense 53.9 percentile2023 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Liberty · L 29–42; offense 92.8 percentile2023 Week 10: Western Kentucky at UTEP · W 21–13; offense 47.8 percentile2023 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. New Mexico State · L 29–38; offense 82.5 percentile2023 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston · W 28–23; offense 70.2 percentile2023 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida International · W 41–28; offense 69.2 percentile2023 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 38–35; offense 81.5 percentile2024 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Alabama · L 0–63; offense 1.2 percentile2024 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 31–0; offense 29.8 percentile2024 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · W 49–21; offense 93.9 percentile2024 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Toledo · W 26–21; offense 39.9 percentile2024 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Boston College · L 20–21; offense 28.0 percentile2024 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 44–17; offense 96.9 percentile2024 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Sam Houston · W 31–14; offense 90.4 percentile2024 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Kennesaw State · W 31–14; offense 92.5 percentile2024 Week 11: Western Kentucky at New Mexico State · W 41–28; offense 60.5 percentile2024 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · L 7–12; offense 20.4 percentile2024 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Liberty · L 21–38; offense 66.0 percentile2024 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Jacksonville State · W 19–17; offense 17.2 percentile2024 Week 15: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 12–52; offense 6.1 percentile2024 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison · L 17–27; offense 31.2 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston · W 41–24; offense 38.5 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. North Alabama · W 55–6; offense 56.3 percentile2025 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Toledo · L 21–45; offense 45.7 percentile2025 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Nevada · W 31–16; offense 51.0 percentile2025 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Missouri State · W 27–22; offense 53.3 percentile2025 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Delaware · W 27–24; offense 48.5 percentile2025 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · L 6–25; offense 34.1 percentile2025 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 28–27; offense 66.0 percentile2025 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. New Mexico State · W 35–16; offense 72.7 percentile2025 Week 13: Western Kentucky at LSU · L 10–13; offense 4.3 percentile2025 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 34–37; offense 88.1 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 27–16; offense 49.7 percentile2026 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Nevada · L 14–49; offense 21.4 percentile2026 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Georgia · L 20–70; offense 13.6 percentile2014 offense season mean: 78.8 percentile2015 offense season mean: 84.5 percentile2016 offense season mean: 81.9 percentile2017 offense season mean: 29.1 percentile2018 offense season mean: 30.6 percentile2019 offense season mean: 43.3 percentile2020 offense season mean: 23.6 percentile2021 offense season mean: 82.8 percentile2022 offense season mean: 68.3 percentile2023 offense season mean: 65.9 percentile2024 offense season mean: 48.3 percentile2025 offense season mean: 49.6 percentile2026 offense Bayesian estimate: 42.2 percentile2026 offense empirical mean: 17.2 percentiledefenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Bowling Green · W 59–31; defense 21.6 percentile2014 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Illinois · L 34–42; defense 37.9 percentile2014 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · L 47–50; defense 24.7 percentile2014 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Navy · W 36–27; defense 45.7 percentile2014 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · L 39–42; defense 3.6 percentile2014 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 38–45; defense 6.1 percentile2014 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 66–51; defense 4.9 percentile2014 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · L 10–59; defense 44.3 percentile2014 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 35–27; defense 21.9 percentile2014 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Army · W 52–24; defense 47.9 percentile2014 Week 13: Western Kentucky vs. UTSA · W 45–7; defense 93.2 percentile2014 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Marshall · W 67–66; defense 4.3 percentile2014 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan · W 49–48; defense 16.6 percentile2015 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt · W 14–12; defense 42.4 percentile2015 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · W 41–38; defense 49.8 percentile2015 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Indiana · L 35–38; defense 11.1 percentile2015 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Miami (OH) · W 56–14; defense 69.7 percentile2015 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Rice · W 49–10; defense 89.5 percentile2015 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 58–28; defense 60.0 percentile2015 Week 7: Western Kentucky at North Texas · W 55–28; defense 49.9 percentile2015 Week 8: Western Kentucky at LSU · L 20–48; defense 25.0 percentile2015 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 55–30; defense 36.5 percentile2015 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · W 35–19; defense 29.5 percentile2015 Week 13: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · W 49–28; defense 95.6 percentile2015 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 45–28; defense 70.5 percentile2015 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Florida · W 45–35; defense 37.7 percentile2016 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Rice · W 46–14; defense 60.6 percentile2016 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Alabama · L 10–38; defense 65.9 percentile2016 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Miami (OH) · W 31–24; defense 63.6 percentile2016 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt · L 30–31; defense 42.5 percentile2016 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Houston Christian · W 50–3; defense 55.7 percentile2016 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · L 52–55; defense 29.0 percentile2016 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 59–24; defense 85.1 percentile2016 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · W 52–3; defense 93.6 percentile2016 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 49–21; defense 74.8 percentile2016 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. North Texas · W 45–7; defense 71.0 percentile2016 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Marshall · W 60–6; defense 91.1 percentile2016 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · W 58–44; defense 82.8 percentile2016 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Memphis · W 51–31; defense 68.6 percentile2017 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 31–17; defense 38.7 percentile2017 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Illinois · L 7–20; defense 48.2 percentile2017 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · L 22–23; defense 45.2 percentile2017 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Ball State · W 33–21; defense 33.7 percentile2017 Week 6: Western Kentucky at UTEP · W 15–14; defense 25.8 percentile2017 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 45–14; defense 47.1 percentile2017 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 35–31; defense 21.0 percentile2017 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · L 28–42; defense 59.1 percentile2017 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt · L 17–31; defense 12.0 percentile2017 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Marshall · L 23–30; defense 61.4 percentile2017 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida International · L 17–41; defense 24.6 percentile2017 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State · L 17–27; defense 39.8 percentile2018 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Wisconsin · L 3–34; defense 39.1 percentile2018 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Maine · L 28–31; defense 18.0 percentile2018 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Louisville · L 17–20; defense 43.8 percentile2018 Week 4: Western Kentucky at Ball State · W 28–20; defense 43.8 percentile2018 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · L 17–20; defense 66.0 percentile2018 Week 7: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · L 14–40; defense 7.5 percentile2018 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · L 34–37; defense 11.7 percentile2018 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · L 17–38; defense 15.6 percentile2018 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · L 10–29; defense 62.3 percentile2018 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 15–34; defense 10.8 percentile2018 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 40–16; defense 31.0 percentile2018 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 30–15; defense 74.6 percentile2019 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Central Arkansas · L 28–35; defense 22.6 percentile2019 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Florida International · W 20–14; defense 97.3 percentile2019 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Louisville · L 21–38; defense 36.7 percentile2019 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · W 20–13; defense 72.7 percentile2019 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 20–3; defense 92.6 percentile2019 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. Army · W 17–8; defense 84.0 percentile2019 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 30–14; defense 76.1 percentile2019 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Marshall · L 23–26; defense 50.5 percentile2019 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · L 24–35; defense 38.7 percentile2019 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Arkansas · W 45–19; defense 35.7 percentile2019 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Southern Miss · W 28–10; defense 84.6 percentile2019 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 31–26; defense 50.8 percentile2019 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Western Michigan · W 23–20; defense 83.7 percentile2020 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Louisville · L 21–35; defense 42.5 percentile2020 Week 3: Western Kentucky vs. Liberty · L 24–30; defense 28.3 percentile2020 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · W 20–17; defense 62.1 percentile2020 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. Marshall · L 14–38; defense 38.5 percentile2020 Week 7: Western Kentucky at UAB · L 14–37; defense 51.8 percentile2020 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Chattanooga · W 13–10; defense 57.5 percentile2020 Week 9: Western Kentucky at BYU · L 10–41; defense 45.8 percentile2020 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · L 6–10; defense 48.6 percentile2020 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 10–7; defense 82.0 percentile2020 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 38–21; defense 95.7 percentile2020 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · W 37–19; defense 89.7 percentile2020 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State · L 21–39; defense 17.1 percentile2021 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. UT Martin · W 59–21; defense 10.1 percentile2021 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Army · L 35–38; defense 14.0 percentile2021 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Indiana · L 31–33; defense 10.4 percentile2021 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Michigan State · L 31–48; defense 14.3 percentile2021 Week 6: Western Kentucky vs. UTSA · L 46–52; defense 5.5 percentile2021 Week 7: Western Kentucky at Old Dominion · W 43–20; defense 51.3 percentile2021 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Charlotte · W 45–13; defense 78.1 percentile2021 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 48–21; defense 67.4 percentile2021 Week 11: Western Kentucky at Rice · W 42–21; defense 50.5 percentile2021 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Florida Atlantic · W 52–17; defense 93.9 percentile2021 Week 14: Western Kentucky at UTSA · L 41–49; defense 25.4 percentile2021 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. App State · W 59–38; defense 27.3 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Austin Peay · W 38–27; defense 18.1 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Hawai'i · W 49–17; defense 67.3 percentile2022 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · W 73–0; defense 99.2 percentile2022 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Troy · L 27–34; defense 13.6 percentile2022 Week 6: Western Kentucky at UTSA · L 28–31; defense 29.5 percentile2022 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. UAB · W 20–17; defense 74.1 percentile2022 Week 10: Western Kentucky at Charlotte · W 59–7; defense 80.3 percentile2022 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. Rice · W 45–10; defense 47.2 percentile2022 Week 12: Western Kentucky at Auburn · L 17–41; defense 22.5 percentile2022 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic · W 32–31; defense 5.9 percentile2022 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama · W 44–23; defense 78.5 percentile2023 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. South Florida · W 41–24; defense 26.8 percentile2023 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Houston Christian · W 52–22; defense 1.4 percentile2023 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Ohio State · L 10–63; defense 1.0 percentile2023 Week 4: Western Kentucky at Troy · L 24–27; defense 27.0 percentile2023 Week 5: Western Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee · W 31–10; defense 61.3 percentile2023 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 35–28; defense 75.9 percentile2023 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 17–20; defense 58.5 percentile2023 Week 9: Western Kentucky vs. Liberty · L 29–42; defense 19.2 percentile2023 Week 10: Western Kentucky at UTEP · W 21–13; defense 61.0 percentile2023 Week 11: Western Kentucky vs. New Mexico State · L 29–38; defense 8.3 percentile2023 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston · W 28–23; defense 42.8 percentile2023 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Florida International · W 41–28; defense 34.4 percentile2023 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion · W 38–35; defense 35.9 percentile2024 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Alabama · L 0–63; defense 10.4 percentile2024 Week 2: Western Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky · W 31–0; defense 23.0 percentile2024 Week 3: Western Kentucky at Middle Tennessee · W 49–21; defense 43.1 percentile2024 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Toledo · W 26–21; defense 53.4 percentile2024 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Boston College · L 20–21; defense 58.6 percentile2024 Week 7: Western Kentucky vs. UTEP · W 44–17; defense 20.5 percentile2024 Week 8: Western Kentucky at Sam Houston · W 31–14; defense 38.1 percentile2024 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. Kennesaw State · W 31–14; defense 32.8 percentile2024 Week 11: Western Kentucky at New Mexico State · W 41–28; defense 33.8 percentile2024 Week 12: Western Kentucky vs. Louisiana Tech · L 7–12; defense 61.4 percentile2024 Week 13: Western Kentucky at Liberty · L 21–38; defense 5.3 percentile2024 Week 14: Western Kentucky vs. Jacksonville State · W 19–17; defense 86.6 percentile2024 Week 15: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 12–52; defense 5.2 percentile2024 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison · L 17–27; defense 60.1 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Sam Houston · W 41–24; defense 59.9 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. North Alabama · W 55–6; defense 50.8 percentile2025 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Toledo · L 21–45; defense 9.0 percentile2025 Week 4: Western Kentucky vs. Nevada · W 31–16; defense 45.6 percentile2025 Week 5: Western Kentucky at Missouri State · W 27–22; defense 84.2 percentile2025 Week 6: Western Kentucky at Delaware · W 27–24; defense 51.9 percentile2025 Week 8: Western Kentucky vs. Florida International · L 6–25; defense 14.2 percentile2025 Week 9: Western Kentucky at Louisiana Tech · W 28–27; defense 69.3 percentile2025 Week 10: Western Kentucky vs. New Mexico State · W 35–16; defense 80.0 percentile2025 Week 13: Western Kentucky at LSU · L 10–13; defense 60.8 percentile2025 Week 14: Western Kentucky at Jacksonville State · L 34–37; defense 26.0 percentile2025 Week 1: Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss · W 27–16; defense 71.0 percentile2026 Week 1: Western Kentucky at Nevada · L 14–49; defense 1.8 percentile2026 Week 2: Western Kentucky at Georgia · L 20–70; defense 5.9 percentile2014 defense season mean: 24.3 percentile2015 defense season mean: 53.0 percentile2016 defense season mean: 70.5 percentile2017 defense season mean: 36.9 percentile2018 defense season mean: 32.4 percentile2019 defense season mean: 67.7 percentile2020 defense season mean: 57.6 percentile2021 defense season mean: 34.7 percentile2022 defense season mean: 50.8 percentile2023 defense season mean: 28.3 percentile2024 defense season mean: 34.9 percentile2025 defense season mean: 51.1 percentile2026 defense Bayesian estimate: 36.6 percentile2026 defense empirical mean: 3.4 percentile2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Individual gameSeason bar · 2026 is the estimate2026 empirical meanCoaching-era band
2014Jeff Brohm
2017Mike Sanford Jr.
2018Mike Sanford Jr. / Bobby Petrino
2019Tyson Helton

How to read 2026

The current-season estimate intelligently blends last season with new data.

The 2026 estimate is a Bayesian weighted average of normal-score Z-values. The 2025 season mean counts like 8 games of prior evidence; each completed 2026 game counts once. The result is then translated back to the 0–100 percentile scale.

2026 Z = (8 × 2025 mean Z + games played × 2026 mean Z) ÷ (8 + games played)

Season record

Every annual grade and coach

Retrospective rows average the available single-game grades in normal-score space. The result is shown as a percentile. Roughly speaking, a 95th-percentile season corresponds to about the eighth-best team in a 160-team field.

SeasonHead coachGamesOffenseDefense
2026Live estimateTyson Helton2
42.2 estimate17.2 games-only average
36.6 estimate3.4 games-only average
2025Tyson Helton1249.651.1
2024Tyson Helton1448.334.9
2023Tyson Helton1365.928.3
2022Tyson Helton1168.350.8
2021Tyson Helton1282.834.7
2020Tyson Helton1223.657.6
2019Tyson HeltonCoaching change1343.367.7
2018Mike Sanford Jr. / Bobby PetrinoCoaching change1230.632.4
2017Mike Sanford Jr.Coaching change1229.136.9
2016Jeff Brohm1381.970.5
2015Jeff Brohm1384.553.0
2014Jeff BrohmCoaching change1378.824.3