HawgBeat continues its summer preview series on Arkansas’ 2019 football opponents with a closer look at Western Kentucky. The Razorbacks host the Hilltoppers on Nov. 9. The kickoff time and television information for this game have yet to be announced.

2018 record: 3-9 (2-6 C-USA)

Picked to finish fifth in Conference USA’s east division, last season went even worse than expected for the Hilltoppers. They tied Old Dominion for last in the division, but lost that game, so could be considered the last-place team. However, a closer look at the season reveals that Western Kentucky was actually closer to making a bowl than you might expect. Four of its losses were by exactly three points. It’s worth noting, though, that those losses included one to FCS Maine and one on the road at Louisville exactly one week later. Despite ended the year with wins over UTEP and a decent Louisiana Tech team, the three-win season led to the firing of Mike Sanford Jr. The Hilltoppers are picked fifth in their division once again this year.

Head coach: Tyson Helton (1st season)

A former quarterback at Houston in the late-1990s, Helton is entering his first season as a head coach at any level. He’s returning to the school at which he landed his first offensive coordinator job, as he guided back-to-back top-10 offenses at Western Kentucky in 2014 and 2015. That helped him land coordinator jobs at USC (2016-17) and Tennessee (2018). Over the last few years, Helton has tutored three quarterbacks - Brandon Doughty, Mike White and Sam Darnold - who were taken in the NFL Draft.

Key Returners

~QB Steven Duncan: Started five games in 2018, including the last three games of the season… Completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,071 yards, 9 TD and 7 INT… Also ran for 192 yards and 2 TD… Part of a three-man battle for the starting job