2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

Last updated

2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
WKU Hilltoppers wordmark.png
Conference Gateway Football Conference
Record6–5 (4–3 Gateway)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator T. J. Weist (3rd season)
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinatorMike Dietzel (2nd season)
Base defense 3–4
Home stadium L. T. Smith Stadium
Seasons
  2004
2006  
2005 Gateway Football Conference standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
No. 2 Northern Iowa +^  5 2   11 4  
No. 7 Southern Illinois +^  5 2   9 4  
No. 14 Youngstown State +  5 2   8 3  
No. 22 Illinois State  4 3   7 4  
Western Kentucky  4 3   6 5  
Western Illinois  3 4   5 6  
Missouri State  2 5   4 6  
Indiana State  0 7   0 11  
  • + Conference co-champions
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season and were coached by David Elson. The Hilltoppers started the season strong, but after being ranked number 1 in Division I-AA, they lost their last four games and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999. [1]

The team included future National Football League (NFL) players Curtis Hamilton and Greg Ryan. Erik Losey and Antonio Thomas were named to the AP All American team and Chris James made the 1AA All-Star Team. [2] The All-Conference team included Losey, Thomas, James, Lerron Moore, Marion Rumph, Deion Holts, Dennis Mitchell, and Daniel Williams. [3]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 1 West Virginia Tech *No. 8W 63–38,878
September 10 Eastern Kentucky *No. 2
W 23–2118,944
September 24at Auburn *No. 1L 14–3780,632
October 1at Indiana State No. 3W 38–282,906
October 8at Illinois State No. 3W 37–34 OT10,416 [4]
October 15 Missouri State Dagger-14-plain.pngNo. 3
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 37–2813,105 [5]
October 22at Western Illinois No. 1W 42–713,558 [6]
October 27No. 8 Southern Illinois No. 1
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
L 20–3110,701 [7]
November 5No. 14 Northern Iowa No. 6
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
L 20–23 2OT12,364
November 12at No. 19 Youngstown State No. 12L 10–4212,706
November 19at FIU No. 23L 35–3813,388

FIU's win was later vacated by the NCAA due to infractions. [8]

References

  1. 2005: A Year in Review - Tragedies, near misses By NORM HANEY, The Daily News, Jan 1, 2006 retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. WKU Football Media Guide retrieved 31 March 2020.
  3. 2019 MVC Football Records, retrieved 30 April 2020
  4. "James' field goal lifts Western in OT, 37-34". The Courier-Journal . October 9, 2005. p. C12. Retrieved November 27, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "'Perfect' play caps WKU win". The Courier-Journal. October 16, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  6. "No. 1 Toppers roll on, 42-7". Messenger-Inquirer . October 23, 2005. p. 4B. Retrieved January 27, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  7. Grant, Michael (October 28, 2005). "Western mistakes costly vs. Salukis". The Courier-Journal . p. C1. Retrieved December 19, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "NCAA sanctions Florida International". Yahoo! Sports. May 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.