HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL GENERAL HILLTOPPERS AT THE TOP 2016 REVIEW CONFERENCE LEADERS RECORD HIGH IN ACADEMICS Since 2014-15, the Hilltoppers have led C-USA in When it comes to getting a degree and a winning total championships for three consecutive years and culture on the playing field, there has never been have as many total championships (21) as seven other a better time to be a Hilltopper. For the 2016-17 HISTORY teams in the league combined. Rice is the only other academic year, WKU’s student-athletes combined for league school with even double-digit championships the highest cumulative GPA (3.06) in history, including as the Owls have secured 10 championships over that a record-high percentage of student-athletes with span. a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher at 65 percent. All of this was aided by a record semester this past spring In 2016-17, WKU won seven C-USA titles including when WKU student-athletes posted a 3.10 cumulative two in football, two in volleyball, two in women’s semester GPA. basketball and one in track and field. And the manner in which the Hilltoppers secured those titles was For the 2016-17 academic year, 88 WKU student- even more impressive. On the gridiron, WKU defeated athletes earned the ultimate prize, their college UNIVERSITY C-USA opponents by a margin of 29.1 points, passing diploma, and posted a cumulative GPA of 3.08. the 2015 team as the second-most dominant Conference USA recognized 157 student-athletes with championship team in league history. On the Commissioner’s Honor Roll accolades for posting 3.0 hardwood, the Lady Toppers tied the record for most or higher cumulative GPAs and 53 of those student- league wins in a season, becoming just the fifth team athletes received academic medals for posting GPAs in C-USA’s 20-year history to finish with 16 conference of 3.75 or higher. victories. In volleyball, the Lady Toppers have not lost a home match to a league opponent since joining WINNING CULTURE CONTINUES C-USA and became the first team since Tulsa’s 2011 For the third consecutive season, WKU ranked in the squad to sweep more than 62 percent of matches OPPONENTS top five nationally in combined winning percentage played last season. across football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball. And, since 2014-15, no one in the country has won as many matches across those four sports (262) than the Hilltoppers while the program’s 75.1 winning percentage is second nationally behind only Florida State (76.2). At The Top \\ 1 HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL 1 At The Top HISTORY 2 Table of Contents 100 Team Records 3 Quick Facts 109 Individual Records - Passing 4 Media Information 111 Individual Records - Receiving 6 Hilltopper IMG Sports Network 112 Individual Records - Rushing 8 Houchens-Smith Stadium 114 Individual Records - Total Offense 10 Alphabetical Roster 116 Individual Records - Special Teams 12 Numerical Roster 120 Individual Records - Defense 14 Hilltopper Breakdown (Returning Letterwinners) 123 Miscellaneous Records 15 Hilltopper Breakdown (By Position Group) 123 WKU in the Polls 16 Hilltopper Breakdown (What Returns/By State) 124 Top Individual Games 128 Yearly Team Statistics 2017 OUTLOOK 130 Annual Statistics Leaders 18 Preseason Notebook 134 NCAA Statistics Leaders 19 2017 Season Outlook 137 Hilltopper All-Americans 22 2017 Returning Starts by Position 139 Hilltopper Honor Roll 143 Hilltopper Legends COACHING STAFF 144 Pro Hilltoppers 24 Head Coach Mike Sanford 146 All-Time Letterwinners 28 Clayton White 156 All-Time Assistant Coaches 29 Junior Adams 157 2002 National Champions 30 Steve Spurrier, Sr. 158 2015 Conference USA Champions 31 Mike Sanford, Sr. 159 2016 Conference USA Champions 32 Geoff Dartt 160 Stadium Records 33 Jimmy Lindsey 161 Program Milestones 34 Jami DeBerry 162 WKU Postseason Games 35 Ryan Mahaffey 163 Series Records 36 Maurice Crum 164 Year-By-Year Records 37 Support Staff 166 All-Time Results 40 Hilltopper Strength 42 Coaching Staff by the Numbers UNIVERSITY 180 Western Kentucky University HILLTOPPERS 181 Bowling Green, Kentucky 44 Player Directory 182 University President 45 The Hilltoppers 183 Director of Athletics 184 Senior Athletic Staff 2016 REVIEW 185 Student-Athlete Outreach 80 2016 Final Statistics 186 Big Red 90 2016 Final Superlative 92 2016 Box Scores/Recaps CONFERENCE USA 188 Conference USA 190 C-USA Championship Game 192 2017 C-USA Bowl Partners 196 2016 C-USA Final Statistics OPPONENTS 200 2017 Opponent Profiles 204 2017 Series Breakdown 208 2017 Composite Schedule 2 // Table of Contents HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL 2017 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE COACHING STAFF DATE OPPONENT TIME TV NAME POSITION ALMA MATER S 2 Eastern Kentucky 6 p.m. - Mike Sanford Head Coach Boise State ‘05 S 9 at Illinois 7 p.m. BTN Clayton White Defensive Coordinator NC State ‘01 GENERAL S 16 LA Tech* 6 p.m. Stadium Junior Adams Off. Coordinator/WR Montana St. ‘04 S 23 Ball State 6 p.m. Stadium Steve Spurrier, Jr. Asst. Head Coach/QB Duke ‘94 O 7 at UTEP* 7 p.m. - Mike Sanford, Sr. Special Teams/RB USC ‘77 O 14 Charlotte* 3:30 p.m. - Geoff Dartt Offensive Line Mount Union ‘08 O 20 at Old Dominion* - CBSSN Jimmy Lindsey Defensive Line Chattanooga ‘01 O 28 Florida Atlantic* 3:30 p.m. Stadium Jami DeBerry Safeties/Recruiting Coord. WKU ‘05 N 4 at Vanderbilt - - Ryan Mahaffey Tight Ends Northern Iowa ‘11 N 11 at Marshall* 5:30 p.m. beIN Maurice Crum Linebackers Notre Dame ‘09 N 17 Middle Tennessee* 7 p.m. CBSSN HILLTOPPERS N 24 at FIU* 6 p.m. beIN SUPPORT STAFF NAME POSITION Home games in Bold * - Denotes C-USA Game All times Central Nick Uhlenhopp Assistant AD/Football Operations Thomas Stallworth Strength & Conditioning Director 2016 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE 11-3 OVERALL; 7-1 C-USA; CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONS; Brock Willis Special Teams Quality Control BOCA RATON BOWL CHAMPIONS Harris Bivin Offensive Graduate Assistant DATE OPPONENT SCORE ATTEND Anthony Davis II Defensive Graduate Assistant S 1 Rice* W, 46-14 19,286 Kenny Martin Defensive Graduate Assistant S 10 at Alabama L, 10-38 101,821 Matthew Mitchell Offensive Graduate Assistant S 17 at Miami (Ohio) W, 31-24 19,822 Dave Consiglio Asso. Dir. Strength & Conditioning 2016 REVIEW S 24 Vanderbilt L, 30-31 (OT) 23,674 Nate Dennison Director of Recruiting O 1 Houston Baptist W, 50-3 17,331 Brian Ditmer Head Equipment Manager O 6 at Louisiana Tech* L, 52-55 17,978 Zach Grant Director of Player Personnel O 15 at Middle Tennessee* W, 44-43 (2OT) 22,411 Quinn Hollan Asst. Dir. Strength & Conditioning O 22 Old Dominion* W, 59-24 18,676 Antonio Leonard Strength & Conditioning Asst. O 29 at Florida Atlantic* W, 52-3 9,338 Laura Thomas Director of Player Development N 5 FIU* W, 49-21 15,516 N 12 North Texas* W, 45-7 16,239 FOOTBALL INFORMATION N 26 at Marshall* W, 60-6 17,397 Starters Returning (O/D/S) 12 (4/6/2) D 3 Louisiana Tech^ W, 58-44 13,213 Starters Lost (O/D/S) 12 (7/5/2) D 20 vs. Memphis% W, 51-31 24,726 Lettermen Returning (O/D/S) 51 (21/26/4) HISTORY Lettermen Lost (O/D/S) 24 (13/9/1) Home games in Bold | * - Denotes C-USA Game All-Time Record 564-385-31 (.591) ^ - C-USA Championship Game | % -Boca Raton Bowl All-Time Conference Record 198-126-9 (.608) First Year in FBS 2009 UNIVERSITY INFORMATION Home Facility Houchens-Smith Stadium Location Bowling Green, Ky. Capacity 22,113 Founded 1906 Surface FieldTurf Enrollment 20,178 Stadium Opening 1968 Nickname Hilltoppers Addition Completed 2008 UNIVERSITY Colors Red and White Conference Conference USA President Dr. Timothy C. Caboni Provost Dr. David Lee Director of Athletics Todd Stewart Faculty Representative Dr. Craig Martin CREDITS The 2017 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 Neaves, Kevin Kirn University and may not be reproduced without permission. Contributors: Lance Dozier, Dana Brown This document was printed with state funds. Photography: Steve Roberts, Matt Lunsford, Clinton Lewis, Bryan Lemon, Joe Imel, Dr. James WKUSports.com is the official online home for all 16 sports Robinson, Megan Stearman, Brandon on The Hill. Rosters, schedules, statistics, game notes, game Carter recaps and media guides are constantly updated online. Printing: Gerald Printing Quick Facts \\ 3 HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL 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.