brandon doughty 2014 c-usa MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2014 sammy baugh trophy Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Offensive Player of the game popeyes bahamas bowl champions wku leads conference usa HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL GENERAL HILLTOPPERS 2014 REVIEW HISTORY When WKU announced it would be moving to POSTSEASON PLAY Conference USA beginning with the 2014-15 athletic With volleyball, women’s basketball and softball all year, the athletic department knew it would get every winning C-USA Tournament titles and participating league member’s best shot as the “new kid on the in the NCAA Tournament, WKU was one of just 12 UNIVERSITY block.” programs in the nation to have all three programs play in the NCAAs. The three programs combined for WKU Athletics delivered in historic and record-setting 94 wins in 2014-15, which was the second-highest fashion this year, putting together the best all-around victory total among the 12 programs. year of all 14 C-USA members in terms of conference OPPONENTS competition, postseason play and academics. The 12 programs with volleyball, women’s basketball and softball all playing in the NCAA Tournament, with CONFERENCE COMPETITION combined win totals, are Florida State (107), WKU (94), WKU won eight C-USA championships, a bowl Washington (94), BYU (92), North Carolina (91), Texas game and a men’s swimming and diving conference (88), Oklahoma (86), Arizona State (83), Texas A&M invitational title in 2014-15, and the eight total league (82), LSU (81), Kentucky (80) and Nebraska (78). championships tied the C-USA record for its 20-year history (Tulsa, 8; 2011-12). By becoming bowl eligible for the fourth-straight season in 2014, the WKU Football program holds WKU’s volleyball, women’s basketball and softball the longest bowl-eligible streak in C-USA. The win in programs all won both the conference regular-season the inaugural Popeyes Bahamas Bowl gave WKU its and tournament titles, and the Hilltopper Indoor Track second-straight eight-win season behind the strength and Field and Lady Topper Outdoor Track and Field of the nation’s fourth-best offense. programs also captured C-USA championships. ACADEMICS The overall success of the athletic department in WKU saw 56 student-athletes receive 2015 C-USA 2014-15 also earned WKU a league-high point total in Commissioner’s Academic Medals for having a grade all-sports rankings, marking the second-straight year point average of 3.75 or higher, the most of any WKU has won an all-sports title. Using a formula that school in the league. awards the most points for a first-place conference finish, the second-most points for a second-place WKU saw each of its teams achieve an Academic finish and so on, across all league-sponsored sports, Progress Rate score of 947 or higher in the NCAA’s WKU topped Rice for the most points in C-USA after latest APR release, all exceeding the NCAA-mandated winning the 2014 Bubas Cup all-sports title in its final 930 score by at least 17 points. year in the Sun Belt Conference. In addition, WKU student-athletes won 55 C-USA Player of the Week awards in 2014-15, the most in the conference and topping second-place Rice by 16 awards. Hilltopper - 1 - Football HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL table of contents 1 WKU Leads Conference USA HILLTOPPERS 2 Table of Contents 50 Player Directory 3 Quick Facts 51 Hilltoppers Bios 4 Media Information 8 Houchens-Smith Stadium 2014 REVIEW 10 Alphabetical Roster 84 2014 Final Statistics 12 Numerical Roster 94 2014 Final Superlative 14 Hilltopper Breakdown (Returning Letterwinners) 96 2014 Box Scores/Recaps 15 Hilltopper Breakdown (By Position Group) 16 Hilltopper Breakdown (What Returns/By State) HISTORY 17 Hilltopper IMG Sports Network 104 Team Records 113 Individual Records - Passing 2015 OUTLOOK 115 Individual Records - Receiving 20 Preseason Notebook 116 Individual Records - Rushing 21 2014 Season Outlook 118 Individual Records - Total Offense 24 2014 Depth Chart 120 Individual Records - Special Teams 124 Individual Records - Defense COACHING STAFF 128 Top Individual Games 26 Head Coach Jeff Brohm 132 Yearly Team Statistics 32 Nick Holt 134 Annual Statistics Leaders 33 Tyson Helton 138 NCAA Statistics Leaders 34 Ricky Brumfield 142 Hilltopper All-Americans 35 Neil Callaway 144 Hilltopper Honor Roll 36 Mike Cassity 147 Hilltopper Legends 37 Ken Delgado 148 Pro Hilltoppers 38 Don Dunn 150 All-Time Letterwinners 39 Bryan Ellis 160 All-Time Assistant Coaches 40 Jamarcus Shephard 161 Stadium Records 41 Support Staff 162 Program Milestones 46 Hilltopper Strength 163 WKU Postseason Games 48 Coaching Staff by the Numbers 164 2002 National Championship 165 Year-By-Year Records Defensive Back Wonderful Terry 167 Series Records 168 All-Time Results UNIVERSITY 182 Western Kentucky University 183 Bowling Green, Kentucky 184 University President 185 Director of Athletics 186 Senior Athletic Staff 187 Student-Athlete Outreach 188 Big Red CONFERENCE USA 190 Conference USA 192 C-USA Championship Game 194 2015 C-USA Bowl Partners 198 2014 C-USA Final Statistics OPPONENTS 202 2015 Opponent Profiles 206 2015 Series Breakdown 208 2015 Composite Schedule @WKUFootball - 2 - WKUSports.com quick facts HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL 2015 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE SUPPORT STAFF GENERAL DATE OPPONENT TIME TV NAME POSITION S 3 at Vanderbilt 7 p.m. SEC Network Greg Brohm Director of Football Operations S 10 LA Tech* 7 p.m. CBS SN Dave Consiglio Asst. Dir. Strength & Conditioning S 19 at Indiana 3 p.m. ESPNews Nate Dennison Director of Player Personnel S 26 Miami (Ohio) 2:30 p.m. CBS SN Bennett Dettlinger Offensive Graduate Assistant HILLTOPPERS O 3 at Rice* 1:30 p.m. FCS Brian Ditmer Head Equipment Manager O 10 Middle Tennessee* TBA Fox Zach Lankford Offensive Quality Control O 15 at North Texas* 6:30 p.m. CBS SN Justin Lovett Strength & Conditioning Director O 24 at LSU TBA TBA Chad McField Strength & Conditioning Assistant O 31 at Old Domnion* TBA Fox Sean Pugh Character Coach N 7 Florida Atlantic (HC)* TBA Fox Domenic Reno Asst. Dir. Strength & Conditioning 2014 REVIEW N 21 at FIU* TBA Fox John Riley Football Video Coordinator N 27 Marshall* 11 a.m. FS1 Dan Rowe Defensive Graduate Assistant Bryan Schneider Head Football Trainer Home games in Bold * - Denotes C-USA Game All times Central Chris Springer Defensive Graduate Assistant Travis Taylor Asst. Director of Football Operations 2014 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Ryan Wallace Offensive GA/Tight Ends HISTORY OVERALL RECORD - 8-5 | C-USA RECORD - 4-4 DATE OPPONENT SCORE ATTEND A 29 Bowling Green W, 59-31 17,217 FOOTBALL INFORMATION S 6 at Illinois L, 34-42 38,561 Starters Returning (O/D/S) 19 (7/9/3) S 13 at Middle Tennessee* L, 47-50 (3OT) 24,911 Starters Lost (O/D/S) 7 (4/2/1) UNIVERSITY S 27 at Navy W, 36-27 30,537 Lettermen Returning (O/D/S) 53 (23/27/3) O 4 UAB* L, 39-42 14,923 Lettermen Lost (O/D/S) 19 (10/8/1) O 18 at Florida Atlantic* L, 38-45 10,915 All-Time Record: 542-380-31 (.585) O 25 Old Dominion* W, 66-51 17,886 All-Time Conference Record: 183-130-9 (.582) N 1 at LA Tech* L, 10-59 20,011 Home Facility Houchens-Smith Stadium OPPONENTS N 8 UTEP* (HC) W, 35-27 18,472 Capacity 22,113 N 15 Army W, 52-24 16,819 Surface FieldTurf N 22 UTSA* W, 45-7 12,518 Stadium Opening 1968 N 28 at Marshall* W, 67-66 (OT) 23,576 Addition Completed 2008 D 24 vs. Central Michigan W, 49-48 13,667 First Year in FBS 2009 COACHING STAFF UNIVERSITY INFORMATION NAME POSITION ALMA MATER Location Bowling Green, Ky. Jeff Brohm Head Coach Louisville, ‘89 Founded 1906 Nick Holt Associate HC/DC U. of Pacific, ‘86 Enrollment 20,178 Tyson Helton OC/Quarterbacks Houston, ‘99 Nickname Hilltoppers Ricky Brumfield S. Teams/Corners Utah State, ‘99 Colors Red and White Neil Callaway Offensive Line Alabama, ‘78 Conference Conference USA Mike Cassity Secondary Kentucky, ‘76 President Dr. Gary Ransdell Ken Delgado Defensive Ends San Jose St., ‘84 Provost Dr. Gordon Emslie Don Dunn Defensive Tackles E. Tenn. St., ‘76 Director of Athletics Todd Stewart Bryan Ellis Running Backs UAB, ‘10 Faculty Representative Craig Martin JaMarcus Shephard Wide Receivers/S. Teams DePauw, ‘05 CREDITS Editor: Kyle Neaves The 2015 WKU Football Media Guide is a publication of the WKU Athletic Media Relations Office. All text and photo content is property of WKU Asst. Editors: Jeremy Brown, Robert Sampson Athletics and Western Kentucky University and may not be reproduced Design/Layout: Kyle Neaves, Gerald Printing without permission. This document was printed with state funds. Contributors: Adam Klupp, Damarius Gibson, Victoria Hoagland, Michael Schroeder WKUSports.com is the official online home for all 16 sports on The Hill. Rosters, schedules, statistics, game notes, game recaps and media Photography: Bryan Lemon, Clinton Lewis, Joe Imel, guides are constantly updated online. Megan Stearman, Dr. James Robinson, Tim Porco, Trinity High School, University of Louisville, WKU Archives, Direct credential requests to: IMG Kyle Neaves, Director of Media Relations Printing: Gerald Printing Hilltopper - 3 - Football HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL media information WORKING CREDENTIALS: To request credentials, contact the FIELD AND LOCKER ROOM ACCESS: Photographers Athletics Media Relations (AMR) office. All requests should be are allowed access to the playing field at only two points made as early as possible and should be limited to working throughout the course of the event: when the Hilltoppers press only. Requests made on gameday will not be approved. enter the field immediately prior to kickoff and immediately Working space in the Houchens-Smith Stadium press box is following the game.