2014 WKU Hilltoppers football team

2014 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football

Bahamas Bowl Champions
Bahamas Bowl vs. Central Michigan, W 49–48
Conference	Conference USA East Division
2014 record	8–5 (4–4 C-USA)
Head coach	Jeff Brohm (1st as HC; 2nd Overall year)
Offensive coordinator	Tyson Helton (1st year)
Defensive coordinator	Nick Holt (2nd year)
Home stadium	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (Capacity: 22,113)

2014 Conference USA football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
East Division
#23 Marshall x$		7	–	1		13	–	1
Middle Tennessee		5	–	3		6	–	6
WKU		4	–	4		8	–	5
UAB		4	–	4		6	–	6
Old Dominion*		4	–	4		6	–	6
FIU		3	–	5		4	–	8
Florida Atlantic		2	–	6		3	–	9
West Division
Louisiana Tech x		7	–	1		9	–	5
Rice		5	–	3		8	–	5
UTEP		5	–	3		7	–	6
UTSA		3	–	5		4	–	8
North Texas		2	–	6		4	–	8
Southern Miss		1	–	7		3	–	9

Championship: Marshall 26, Louisiana Tech 23
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Ineligible for post season bowl due to transition from FCS. As of 22:24, 20 December 2014 (UTC); Rankings from AP Poll

The 2014 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first- year head coach Jeff Brohm and played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium. This was the team's first year as a Conference USA member and playing in the East Division. They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a three way tie for third place in the East Division. They were invited to the Bahamas Bowl where they defeated Central Michigan.

Previous season

The 2013 WKU Hilltoppers football team finished the 2013 season 8–4 overall and 4–3 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Hilltoppers biggest win was against season opener Kentucky by 35–26. WKU became bowl eligible after defeating Army but did not received a bowl invite due to the number of invites the Sun Belt Conference receives. After five years of competing in the Sun Belt, WKU moved to Conference USA on July 1, 2014.^[1]

Schedule

Western Kentucky announced their 2014 football schedule on February 3, 2014. The 2014 schedule consist of 6 home games and 6 away games in the regular season. The Hilltoppers will host CUSA foes Old Dominion, UAB, UTEP, and UTSA, and will travel to Florida Atlantic, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, and Louisiana Tech.^[2]

The Hilltoppers will play four opponents for the first time this season, Illinois, Old Dominion, UTEP, and UTSA. Western Kentucky will compete for the first time in the East division of Conference USA which has seven schools in total while the West division has six. Due to the two uneven divisions, WKU will only play five schools from the East division and will not play Florida International this season. Western Kentucky will play three teams from the West division, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, and UTSA, which will complete the eight conference games each member of the CUSA has to play.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:00 PM	Bowling Green*	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	CBSSN	W 59–31	17,215
September 6	11:00 AM	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL	BTN	L 34–42	38,561
September 13	6:00 PM	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN (100 Miles of Hate)	WKU PBS	L 47–50 ^3OT	24,911
September 27	2:30 PM	at Navy*	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	W 36–27	30,537
October 4	6:00 PM	UAB	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY		L 39–42	14,923
October 18	11:00 AM	at Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ASN	L 38–45	10,915
October 25	3:00 PM	Old Dominion	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY		W 66–51	17,886
November 1	2:00 PM	at Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, LA	FSN	L 10–59	20,011
November 8	3:00 PM	UTEP†	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY		W 35–27	18,472
November 15	11:00 AM	Army*	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	CBSSN	W 52–24	16,819
November 22	11:00 AM	UTSA	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	FSN	W 45–7	12,518
November 28	11:00 AM	at #19 Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV	FS1	W 67–66 ^OT	23,576
December 24	11:00 AM	vs. Central Michigan*	Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas (Bahamas Bowl)	ESPN	W 49–48	13,667
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Schedule Source:^[3]

Game notes

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	10	14	7	31
Hilltoppers	14	17	14	14	59

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2007	BGSU, 41–21

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	3	14	10	7	34
FIghting Illini	7	7	7	21	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
	First Meeting

Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Hilltoppers	3	21	0	10	7	3	3	47
Blue Raiders	14	10	0	10	7	3	6	50

Further information: Middle Tennessee–WKU football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–33–1	2012	MTSU, 34–29

Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	3	10	9	14	36
Midshipmen	7	6	0	7	20

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	2013	WKU, 19–7

UAB

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	14	0	21	7	42
Hilltoppers	20	7	12	0	39

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	1997	UAB, 20–16

Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	17	14	7	0	38
Owls	7	7	14	17	45

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–4	2012	FAU, 37–28

Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	3	27	21	0	51
Hilltoppers	21	21	14	10	66

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
	First Meeting

Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	7	3	0	0	10
Bulldogs	10	21	21	7	59

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	1973	La Tech, 34–0

UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	17	3	7	0	27
Hilltoppers	7	7	7	14	35

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
	First Meeting

Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Knights	7	3	14	0	24
Hilltoppers	14	10	14	14	52

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2013	WKU, 21–17

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	0	0	7	7
Hilltoppers	14	14	7	10	45

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
	First Meeting

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Hilltoppers	28	21	0	10	8	67
#19 Thundering Herd	21	21	7	10	7	66

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–4	1996	MARSH, 37–3

Central Michigan–Bahamas Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	7	0	34	48
Hilltoppers	21	21	7	0	49

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2012	CMU, 24–21

References

↑ Kelley, Kevin (April 1, 2013). "Western Kentucky to Join Conference USA in 2014". FB Schedules. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
↑ "Conference USA Announces 2014 Football Schedule" (Press release). Conference USA. February 3, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
↑ "2014 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 3, 2014.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football

Venues	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (1968–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass Middle Tennessee: 100 Miles of Hate Murray State: Battle for the Red Belt

Culture & lore	Big Red "Stand Up and Cheer" Big Red Marching Band One Second of Laterals

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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