Who will be Western Kentucky's starting QB for Famous Toastery Bowl? Exploring Hilltoppers' QB depth chart ahead of Old Dominion matchup

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are set to face the Old Dominion Monarchs in this year's Famous Toastery Bowl. The Hilltoppers finished their regular season with a 7-5 overall campaign (5-3 in the C-USA) and will be looking forward to ending the season with a bowl win. They won their last game of the regular season against the FIU Panthers with a 41-28 final score and a two-game winning streak.

On the other hand, the Old Dominion Monarchs finished the regular season schedule with a 6-6 overall campaign (5-3 in the Sun Belt). They will be aiming to win their first bowl game since 2016, when they won the Bahamas Bowl with former coach Bobby Wilder. It will be interesting to see if current coach Ricky Rahne can lead the team to a debut bowl win under his reign.

Despite initial hopes of having Austin Reed as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers starting QB for the bowl game, college football insider Brett McMurphy stated that Reed might not be a part of the bowl game. He shared a post on social media where he stated that sources told Action Network that Reed allegedly will not be playing against Old Dominion.

Reed transferred from Divison-II team Western Florida back in 2022 and has been the starting QB ever since. Despite his team's average performance this season, Austin Reed has gone on to post some incredible numbers.

In this campaign, the signal-caller compiled 3,340 passing yards and 31 TD passes. He also made valuable contributions to the team's rushing game and recorded 224 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. With the uncertainty surrounding the situation, head coach Tyson Helton has still not confirmed if Reed will be the starting QB in the bowl game.

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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers' QB depth chart

If Austin Reed does not play in the Famous Toastery Bowl, then the responsibility may lie on the shoulders of backup QB Turner Helton. He went on to redshirt his freshman season in 2022 and so far has seen limited action on the playing field.

This season, Turner Helton played two games for Western Kentucky. In those two games, he recorded 82 passing yards and 1 TD pass, which came against the Houston Christians. If he does play in place of Austin Reed, it will be interesting to see if he can live up to the expectations of the Hilltoppers fanbase.