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Western Kentucky, a school entering its 91st season of football, will add to its storied history this year.
After completing a two-year transition to the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A), the Hilltoppers are now eligible to complete for the Sun Belt Conference title and participate in a bowl game.
The program has won big in the past, finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division II level in 1973 and '75. In 2002, WKU won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship.
<center> <a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090729/SPORTS/907290307/1006/Countdown-to-Cajun-Kickoff--Western-Kentucky" target="_blank">The rest of the story </a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • July 29, 2009
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Now the Hilltoppers are the 120th member at the highest level of college football. A new era kicks off on Sept. 5 as head coach David Elson and his team play their first game as an official member of the Sun Belt on the road against Tennessee. Their first conference game is Oct. 10 at home against Florida International.
"That's one of the things that's so exciting for our guys - once we get into conference play to see those conference standings and understand the importance of each game," Elson said. "We've been away from that for two years.
"It's different. It's special. And your conference is what everybody's shooting for."
The odds are against WKU (2-10), which is coming off its first losing season since 1995. The only wins last year came against I-AA schools Eastern Kentucky and Murray State. In the preseason the team was picked to finish last in the nine-team Sun Belt.
Still, the move into a new league has inspired the Hilltopper players, coaches and fans.
"From what I've seen from this spring and summer, there's a new wind in our sails with getting to play for a conference championship," said Jake Gaebler, a senior wide receiver. "No one's ever been eligible for a bowl game and won it in their first year. That's inspiring to us, and we know we have a chance to make history."
Since leaving the Gateway Conference after the 2006 season, WKU has gone 1-7 the past two years against Sun Belt competition - including a 0-5 mark last year. The only victory was a 20-17 win in 2007 over a Middle Tennessee team that tied for third in the league that season.
Those seven losses are somewhat deceiving, given that five of those games were close in the fourth quarter. Three were decided by fewer than seven points.
Last season, North Texas needed a last-second touchdown off an interception return to hold on for a 51-40 win over the Hilltoppers.
Florida Atlantic, which last season became the first team in Sun Belt history to win bowl games in back-to-back years, had to rally for a 24-20 win last October.
Those near-misses were noticed across the league.
"I think (voting WKU last in the preseason) was probably wishful thinking," FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "We had our hands full with them last year, and I expect to have our hands full with them again this year. They're a very solid team that's been playing football for 100 years, and they've been playing football at a good level for that period of time.
"They have a fine fan base, and I expect them to have a good group."
WKU will have a veteran group back on offense with nine returning starters. Four of those returnees are on the line.
That experience up front might help senior running back Tyrell Hayden to regain his old form. After rushing for 1,134 yards as a sophomore, Hayden saw his production slip last year to 388 yards.
Gaebler led the team in every receiving category last season with 54 catches for 588 yards and four touchdowns. Whether he can provide similar numbers this season depends on how a new quarterback operates the spread option offense. Last year's top two quarterbacks - K.J. Black and David Wolke - are gone. Brandon Smith, a senior who threw 25 passes a season ago, enters the fall atop the depth chart.
If WKU had been included in last season's national statistical rankings, it would have been in the bottom 11 in pass offense, total offense and scoring offense. This fall will be the first for the program under new offensive coordinator Walter Wells.
The defense welcomes back six starters for first-year defensive coordinator Mike Dietzel, most notably senior linebacker Darvis McBride. Despite playing a schedule that included six bowl teams a season ago, the Hilltoppers would have ranked among the nation's top 70 teams in pass defense (212.83 yards per game) and scoring defense (27.7 ppg).
WKU allowed fewer passing yards and points per game in 2008 than five teams in the Sun Belt - FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Monroe, UL and North Texas. The Hilltoppers finished ahead of FAU, ULM, UL and UNT in rush defense (162.42 ypg) and total defense (375.25 ypg).
Elson, though, took no solace from those facts.
"A losing season is a losing season," he said. "We were 2-10, and it's definitely not something we're used to around here. It was a challenging situation, and we didn't get done what we wanted to on the field.
"We have got a phenomenal opportunity here at WKU to be that 120th (FBS) member and to show people we can make that move and make it in a successful way quicker and maybe better than anyone else in the past."
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