Untitled-1 1 7/17/18 11:02 AM AT THE TOP GENERAL HILLTOPPERS 2017 REVIEW 2017 AT THE TOP CONFERENCE LEADERS For the 2017-18 academic year, 100 WKU student- athletes earned the ultimate prize, their college Since joining Conference USA in 2014-15, the diploma, while boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.12 Hilltoppers have run away from the pack in terms of with degrees in exercise science, recreation and sport league championships and led C-USA each year in HISTORY administration, biology, marketing, finance, chemistry, championships won for the first three years WKU was and nursing among many others. a member school. WKU’s 24 league titles in that span are twice as many as the next school and represent Conference USA recognized 140 student-athletes 22 percent of the total championships award by the with Commissioner’s Honor Roll accolades for league (110) over the four-year span. posting 3.0 or higher cumulative GPAs and 41 of those student-athletes received academic medals for In 2017-18, WKU added three more C-USA posting GPAs of 3.75 or higher. championships with a third title in four seasons in women’s basketball and volleyball’s fourth WINNING CULTURE CONTINUES UNIVERSITY consecutive league and tournament championship. For the fourth consecutive season, WKU ranked WKU has also shown versatility by winning in the top five nationally in combined winning championships in seven different sport programs and percentage across football, men’s basketball, women’s in all three seasons - fall, winter, and spring. basketball and volleyball. And, since 2014-15, no one in the country has won as many matches across those RECORD HIGH IN ACADEMICS four sports (350) than the Hilltoppers or at a better clip than WKU’s 74.8 percent. Only Florida State has When it comes to getting a degree and a winning more than 335 wins or has won at a closer rate (74.0). culture on the playing field, there has never been a better time to be a Hilltopper. For the 2017-18 academic year, WKU’s student-athletes combined for a OPPONENTS 3.01 GPA while softball, men’s cross country, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for posting Academic Progress Rate scores in the top 10 percent nationally. @WKUFootball 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 At The Top HISTORY 2 Table of Contents 92 Team Records 3 Quick Facts 102 Individual Records - Passing 4 Media Information 104 Individual Records - Receiving 6 Hilltopper IMG Sports Network 107 Individual Records - Rushing 8 Houchens-Smith Stadium 110 Individual Records - Total Offense 10 Alphabetical Roster 112 Individual Records - Special Teams 12 Numerical Roster 116 Individual Records - Defense 14 Hilltopper Breakdown (Returning Letterwinners) 120 Miscellaneous Records 15 Hilltopper Breakdown (By Position Group) 120 WKU in the Polls 16 Hilltopper Breakdown (What Returns/By State) 121 Top Individual Games 125 Annual Statistics Leaders 2018 OUTLOOK 129 NCAA Statistics Leaders 18 Preseason Notebook 133 Hilltopper All-Americans 19 2018 Season Outlook 135 Hilltopper Honor Roll 20 2017 Returning Starts by Position 140 Hilltopper Legends 141 Pro Hilltoppers COACHING STAFF 143 All-Time Letterwinners 22 Head Coach Mike Sanford 153 All-Time Assistant Coaches 25 Clayton White 154 2002 National Champions 26 Junior Adams 155 2015 Conference USA Champions 27 Mike Sanford, Sr. 156 2016 Conference USA Champions 28 TJ Woods 157 Stadium Records 29 Jimmy Lindsey 158 Program Milestones 30 Jami DeBerry 159 WKU Postseason Games 31 Ryan Mahaffey 160 Year-by-Year Team Statistics 32 Maurice Crum 162 Year-By-Year Records 33 Matthew Mitchell 164 Series Records 34 Kenny Martin 165 All-Time Results 35 Support Staff 38 Hilltopper Strength UNIVERSITY 40 Coaching Staff by the Numbers 180 Western Kentucky University 181 Bowling Green, Kentucky HILLTOPPERS 182 University President 42 Player Directory 183 Director of Athletics 43 The Hilltoppers 184 Senior Athletic Staff 185 Student-Athlete Outreach 2017 REVIEW 186 Big Red 72 Final Statistics 82 Final Superlatives CONFERENCE USA 83 Participation 188 Conference USA 84 Box Scores/Recaps 190 C-USA Championship Game 191 2018 C-USA Bowl Partners 197 2017 C-USA Final Statistics OPPONENTS 200 2018 Opponent Profiles 204 2018 Series Breakdown 208 2018 Composite Schedule 2 2018 WKU Football Media Guide QUICK FACTS 2018 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE COACHING STAFF DATE OPPONENT TIME TV NAME POSITION ALMA MATER A 31 at Wisconsin 8 p.m. ESPN Mike Sanford Head Coach Boise State ‘05 S 8 Maine 6:30 p.m. ESPN+ Clayton White Asst. HC/DC NC State ‘01 GENERAL S 15 at Louisville 6:30 p.m. ACC RSN Junior Adams OC/Wide Receivers Montana St. ‘04 S 22 at Ball State TBD TBD Mike Sanford, Sr. Running Backs USC ‘77 S 29 Marshall* 6:30 p.m. Stadium TJ Woods Offensive Line Azusa Pacific ‘02 O 13 at Charlotte* 2:30 p.m. ESPN+ Jimmy Lindsey D. Ends/Rec. Coord. Chattanooga ‘01 O 20 Old Dominion* 6:30 p.m. ESPN+ Jami DeBerry Safeties/Co-Special Teams WKU ‘05 O 27 FIU* 6:30 p.m. beIN Ryan Mahaffey Tight Ends Northern Iowa ‘11 N 3 at Middle Tennessee* 7 p.m. CBS SN Maurice Crum Linebackers/Co-ST Notre Dame ‘09 N 10 at Florida Atlantic* TBD Stadium Matthew Mitchell Quarterbacks Wheaton ‘14 N 17 UTEP* 6:30 p.m. beIN Kenny Martin Defensive Tackles WKU ‘12 HILLTOPPERS N 24 at LA Tech* 11 a.m. CBS SN SUPPORT STAFF Home games in Bold * - Denotes C-USA Game All times Central NAME POSITION Nick Uhlenhopp Assistant AD/Football Operations 2017 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE 6-7 OVERALL; 4-4 C-USA; CURE BOWL Jason Veltkamp Assistant AD/Football Strength Bobby Thomas Associate Director Str & Con. DATE OPPONENT SCORE ATTEND Alex Curtis Assistant Strength & Conditioning S 2 Eastern Kentucky W, 31-17 18,614 Andrew Williams Assistant Strength & Conditioning S 9 at Illinois L, 7-20 41,923 Madison Atwell Offensive Graduate Assistant S 16 LA Tech* L, 22-23 16,223 Anthony Davis II Defensive GA/Nickelbacks REVIEW 2017 S 23 Ball State W, 33-21 17,590 Garrett Schwettman Special Teams Graduate Assistant O 7 at UTEP* W, 15-14 20,418 Ahmad Smith Offensive Graduate Assistant O 14 Charlotte* W, 45-14 16,754 Nate Dennison Director of Recruiting O 20 at Old Dominion* W, 35-31 20,188 Brian Ditmer Head Equipment Manager O 28 Florida Atlantic* L, 28-42 12,441 Zach Grant Director of Player Personnel N 4 at Vanderbilt L, 17-31 26,350 Ben Hayden Assistant Equipment Manager N 11 at Marshall* L, 23-30 19,516 Janel Lee Director of Football Video N 17 Middle Tennessee* W, 41-38 (3ot) 12,612 Laura Thomas Director of Player Development N 24 at FIU* L, 17-41 16,199 D 16 vs. Georgia State % L, 17-27 19,585 FOOTBALL INFORMATION Starters Returning (O/D/S) 12 (4/6/2) HISTORY Home games in Bold | * - Denotes C-USA Game % - Cure Bowl Starters Lost (O/D/S) 12 (7/5/2) Lettermen Returning (O/D/S) 49 (20/26/3) UNIVERSITY INFORMATION Lettermen Lost (O/D/S) 24 (13/9/1) Location Bowling Green, Ky. All-Time Record 570-392-31 (.589) Founded 1906 All-Time Conference Record 202-130-9 (.607) Enrollment 20,267 First Year in FBS 2009 Nickname Hilltoppers Home Facility Houchens-Smith Stadium Colors Red and White Capacity 22,113 Conference Conference USA Surface FieldTurf UNIVERSITY President Dr. Timothy C. Caboni Stadium Opening 1968 Provost Dr. Terry Ballman Addition Completed 2008 Director of Athletics Todd Stewart Faculty Representative Dr. Craig Martin CREDITS The 2018 WKU Football Media Guide is a publication of the Editor: Kyle Neaves WKU Athletic Media Relations Office. All text and photo Asst. Editor: Bryan Fyalkowski OPPONENTS content is property of WKU Athletics and Western Kentucky Design/Layout: Kyle Collins, Kyle Neaves University and may not be reproduced without permission. Contributors: Noah Hughes This document was printed with state funds. Photography: Steve Roberts, Katie Stratman, Matt Lunsford, Clinton Lewis, Bryan Lemon, WKUSports.com is the official online home for all 16 sports Joe Imel, Dr. James Robinson, Megan on The Hill. Rosters, schedules, statistics, game notes, game Stearman, Brandon Carter recaps and media guides are constantly updated online. Printing: Gerald Printing @WKUFootball 3 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. limited and a photo work room is available on the ground WKU’s locker room is closed at all times. level for credentialed photographers. RECRUITS: Per NCAA rule, media are not permitted to have Credentials will be screened and issued on a priority basis, contact with a prospect or family members of a prospect with national publications, daily newspapers, wire services, during their visit (official or unofficial) to campus, including originating radio and television networks, television prospects in attendance at practice or games. Contact tape crews and student newspapers from WKU and the includes in-person conversations, phone calls, text messages, visiting school receiving top priority. Requests from weekly e-mails, etc. Media are also asked to make every effort to keep newspaper, internet publications, and radio stations that distance from prospects on campus, including at practice, cover WKU and the visiting team will be honored on a space- during pre-game activities on the sidelines and in the stands.