hilltopper football 2014 media guide wkusports.com @wkufootball welcome to conference usa GENERAL HILLTOPPERS 2013 REVIEW HISTORY UNIVERSITY OPPONENTS WKU JOINS CONFERENCE USA WKU joins 13 other institutions - Charlotte, FIU, Florida Success is not limited to athletic achievement, how- Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, ever, as 186 Conference USA student-athletes have North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB, garnered Academic All-America honors, 651 have UTEP and UTSA - to make up the 2014-15 member- achieved academic all-district laurels and thousands ship of Conference USA, which is celebrating its of student-athletes have earned their college degrees. 20th year of existence this year. The Conference USA footprint reaches over 10 states with a combined C-USA annually awards $4,000 postgraduate schol- population of approximately 30 million. arships, along with the Sport Academic Awards, Scholar-Athletes of the Year and the Institutional Conference USA sponsors competition in 19 sports Academic Excellence Award. Additionally, Conference - nine for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, USA presents a Spirit of Service Award three times football, golf, soccer, tennis, and indoor and outdoor each year, recognizing student-athletes who excel track and field) and 10 for women (basketball, cross on the field, in the classroom and give back to the country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, community through significant service efforts and tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volley- participation. ball). WKU will compete in 17 C-USA Championships, with the exception of only men’s soccer and men’s tennis. Since beginning competition in 1995, Conference USA teams have combined for 83 bowl appearances in football, 100 NCAA Tournament appearances in basketball including three Final Fours, 60 NCAA baseball appearances including six College World Series berths, 71 NCAA soccer tournament appear- ances including four trips to the College Cup, and 35 individual national champions in track and field and cross country. @WKUFootball | @WKUSports 1 table of contents 1 Welcome to Conference USA 143 WKU in the Draft 2 Table of Contents 144 Pro Hilltoppers 3 Quick Facts 146 All-Time Letterwinners 4 Media Information 160 Stadium Records 5 Contact Information 161 Program Milestones 8 Houchens-Smith Stadium 162 WKU Postseason Games 10 Lettermen Returning/Lost 163 2002 National Championship 11 Positional Breakdown 164 Year-By-Year Records 12 Alphabetical Roster 166 Series Records 14 Numerical Roster 167 All-Time Results 15 Hilltopper IMG Sports Network 18 Travel Information UNIVERSITY 182 Western Kentucky University 2014 OUTLOOK 183 Bowling Green, Kentucky 20 Preseason Notebook 184 University President 21 2014 Season Outlook 185 Director of Athletics 26 2014 Depth Chart 186 Senior Athletic Staff 187 Athletic Staff COACHING STAFF 188 Hilltopper Head Coaches 28 Head Coach Jeff Brohm 189 Student-Athlete Outreach 34 Nick Holt 190 Big Red 35 Tyson Helton 36 Ricky Brumfield CONFERENCE USA 37 Neil Callaway 192 Conference USA 38 Mike Cassity 194 C-USA Championship Game 39 Ken Delgado 195 2014 C-USA Bowl Partners 40 Don Dunn 198 2013 C-USA Final Statistics 41 Greg Nord 42 Jamarcus Shephard OPPONENTS 43 Hilltopper Strength 202 2014 Opponent Profiles 44 Support Staff 206 2014 Series Breakdown 208 2014 Opponent Schedules HILLTOPPERS 50 Player Profiles Wide Receiver Taywan Taylor 80 Hilltoppers by State 2013 REVIEW 82 2013 Final Statistics 91 2013 Final Superlative 92 2013 Notes and Honors 95 2013 Box Scores/Recaps HISTORY 102 Team Records 110 Individual Records - Passing 112 Individual Records - Receiving 113 Individual Records - Rushing 115 Individual Records - Total Offense 117 Individual Records - Special Teams 120 Individual Records - Defense 123 Top Individual Games 127 Yearly Team Statistics 129 Annual Statistics Leaders 133 NCAA Statistics Leaders 137 Hilltopper All-Americans 139 Hilltopper Honor Roll 142 Hilltopper Legends 2 2014 HILLTOPPER FOOTBALL quick facts 2014 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE SUPPORT STAFF GENERAL DaTe oPPonenT TiMe TV naMe PosiTion Aug. 29 Bowling Green 7 p.m. CBSS Greg Brohm Director of Football Operations Sept. 6 at Illinois 11:00 a.m. BTN Dave Consiglio Asst. Dir. Strength & Conditioning Sept. 13 at Middle Tennessee* TBA TBA Nate Dennison Director of Player Personnel HILLTOPPERS Sept. 27 at Navy 2:30 p.m. CBSS Brian Ditmer Assistant Equipment Manager Oct. 4 UAB* TBA TBA Bryan Ellis Offensive Quality Control Oct. 18 at Florida Atlantic* 11:00 a.m. ASN Drew Hampton Head Equipment Manager Oct. 25 Old Dominion* TBA TBA Zach Lankford Offensive Graduate Assistant Nov. 1 at LA Tech* TBA Fox Justin Lovett Strength & Conditioning Director 2013 REVIEW Nov. 8 UTEP* (HC) TBA TBA Chad McField Strength & Conditioning Assistant Nov. 15 Army 11 a.m. CBSS Sean Pugh Character Coach Nov. 22 UTSA* TBA Fox John Riley Football Video Coordinator Nov. 28 at Marshall* 11 a.m. FS1 Dan Rowe Defensive Graduate Assistant Bryan Schneider Head Trainer HISTORY Home games in Bold * - Denotes C-USA Game All times Central Travis Taylor Asst Director of Football Operations Ryan Wallace Offensive GA/Tight Ends 2013 WKU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE OVERALL RECORD - 8-4 | SUN BELT RECORD - 4-3 FOOTBALL INFORmATION DaTe oPPonenT Score aTTenD UNIVERSITY Aug. 31 vs Kentucky W, 35-26 47,623 Starters Returning (O/D/S) 15 (9/4/2) Sept. 7 at Tennessee L, 52-20 86,783 Starters Lost (O/D/S) 10 (2/7/1) Sept. 14 at South Alabama* L, 31-24 17,721 Lettermen Returning (O/D/S) 43 (19/22/4) Sept. 21 Morgan State W, 58-17 20,973 Lettermen Lost (O/D/S) 20 (9/10/1) Sept. 28 Navy W, 19-7 19,813 All-Time Record: 534-375-31 (.585) OPPONENTS Oct. 3 at ULM* W, 31-10 16,317 All-Time Conference Record: 179-126-9 (.584) Oct. 15 ULL* L, 37-20 16,359 Home Facility Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium Oct. 26 Troy* (HC) L, 32-26 20,110 Capacity 22,113 Nov. 2 at Georgia State* W, 44-28 15,212 Surface FieldTurf Nov. 9 at Army W, 21-17 36,276 Stadium Opening 1968 Nov. 23 at Texas State* W, 38-7 17,051 Addition Completed 2008 Nov. 30 Arkansas St.* W, 34-31 14,417 ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS COACHING STAFF Michael Schroeder Assistant AD/Communications naMe PosiTion aLMa MaTer Kyle Neaves Director of Media Relations/Football Jeff Brohm Head Coach Louisville, ‘89 Jeremy Brown Asst. Director/Secondary Football Nick Holt Associate HC/DC U. of Pacific, ‘86 Robert Sampson Asst. Director/Secondary Football Tyson Helton OC/Quarterbacks Houston, ‘99 Whitney Tarpy Asst. Director Ricky Brumfield Corners/S. Teams Utah State, ‘99 Megan Stearman Lead Photographer/Graphic Designer Neil Callaway Offensive Line Alabama, ‘78 Paul Just Sports Information Director Emeritus Mike Cassity Secondary Kentucky, ‘76 Dr. James Robinson Staff Photographer Ken Delgado Defensive Ends San Jose St., ‘84 Don Dunn Defensive Tackles E. Tenn. St., ‘76 Greg Nord S. Teams/RBs Kentucky, ‘80 JaMarcus Shephard Wide Receivers DePauw, ‘05 CREDITS Editor: Kyle Neaves The 2014 WKU Football Media Guide is a publication of the WKU Athletic Asst. Editors: Jeremy Brown, Robert Sampson Media Relations Office. All text and photo content is property of WKU Athletics and Western Kentucky University and may not be reproduced Design/Layout: Kyle Neaves, Hannah Krill without permission. This document was printed with state funds. Contributors: Adam Klupp, Will Owens, Michael Schroeder WKUSports.com is the official online home for all 18 sports on The Photography: Bryan Lemon, Clinton Lewis, Joe Imel, Hill. Rosters, schedules, statistics, game notes, game recaps and media 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 @WKUFootball | @WKUSports 3 media information WORKING CREDENTIALS: To request credentials, contact the FIELD ACCESS: Photographers are allowed access to the Athletics Media Relations (AMR) office. All requests should be playing field at only two points throughout the course of the made as early as possible and should be limited to working event: when the Hilltoppers enter the field immediately prior press only. Working space in the Houchens-Smith Stadium to kickoff and immediately following the game. press box is limited and a photo work room is available on the RECRUITS: Per NCAA rule, media are not permitted to have ground level for credentialed photographers. contact with a prospect or family members of a prospect Credentials will be screened and issued on a priority basis, during their visit (official or unofficial) to campus, including with national publications, daily newspapers, wire services, prospects in attendance at practice or games. Contact originating radio and television networks, television includes in-person conversations, phone calls, text messages, tape crews and student newspapers from WKU and the e-mails, etc. Media are also asked to make every effort to keep visiting school receiving top priority. Requests from weekly distance from prospects on campus, including at practice, newspaper, internet publications, and radio stations that during pre-game activities on the sidelines and in the stands. cover WKU and the visiting team will be honored on a space- GAMEDAY SERVICES: Members of the media covering WKU available basis. Requests for credentials will be reviewed on a will be provided with pregame notes for both teams, a game case-by-case, year-by-year basis. program and a flipcard. Statistics and a running play-by-play The Athletic Media Relations office has the final authority will be handed out after each quarter. Approximately 30 on whether any individuals from any organization will be minutes following the completion of the game, a final issued media credentials. Space will also be made available to statistical book, including complete team and individual stats, professional scouts. Complimentary tickets are not provided running play-by-play and postgame quotes from players and to the media.