Tennessee Game Notes
The Western Kentucky University football team open the 91st - and quite possibly the most anticipated - season in their history Saturday at Tennessee. WKU becomes officially Sun Belt Conference championship and bowl eligible for the first time in 2009 following a two-year transition to becoming the 120th member of the Football Bowl Subdivision. This is the fourth straight year the Toppers have opened the season on the road, and the third time they have done so against an SEC opponent. WKU opened 2006 at Georgia and 2007 at Florida.
Opening Up - WKU is 54-30-5 (63.5%) all time on opening day - no score is available for the first game of 1916 - going 2-4 in its season debut in the six years of Elson's tenure. This will be the fourth straight season, and the seventh occasion in the last nine years, that the Hilltoppers will open on the road, where they last debuted with a victory after earning a 34-10 win at Tennessee-Martin to start the 1999 campaign.
Toppers Add To SEC Checklist - WKU Football adds another Southeastern Conference opponent to its all-time resume this Saturday when it takes on Tennessee for the first time. This will mark the fifth straight season - and sixth time in the last seven years - that the Hilltoppers have faced an SEC school, having played at Auburn (2003 and 2005), Georgia (2006), Florida (2007), Alabama (2008) and Kentucky (2008). In addition to its recent history against the league, WKU faced off against two other current SEC teams in the early years of the program. The Toppers dropped games to Mississippi in both 1931 and 1942, and dropped all five meetings against Vanderbilt between 1921 and 1938.
Coaching...The Next Generation - While David Elson is beginning his seventh season as head coach at WKU and Lane Kiffin is starting his collegiate coaching career at Tennessee, the two share at least one thing in common - they are two of the four youngest head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision. At age 34, Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is the youngest coach in the FBS. Elson, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Aug. 26, sits fourth on that list behind Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald (34 - born Dec. 2, 1974) and Washington's Steve Sarkisian (35). Florida International's Mario Cristobal rounds out the top five as he'll turn 39 on Sept. 24.
WKU - UT Connections - There are a few players on both sidelines that will be familiar with each other come Saturday's kickoff. WKU junior wide receiver Quinterrance Cooper and Volunteer senior receiver Quintin Hancock helped lead St. Augustine HS to the 2005 Florida Class 3A state championship. WKU redshirt freshman quarterback Kawaun Jakes and defensive lineman Brandon Whitty also played at St. Augustine. Two more receivers - Hilltopper redshirt freshman Anthony Sheppard and Tennessee freshman Nu'Keese Richardson led Pahokee HS to back-to-back Florida Class 2B state titles in '06 and '07. At that time, Sheppard was a quarterback throwing to Richardson. Further north, WKU sophomore defensive lineman Jared Clendenin and UT freshman linebacker Nigel Mitchell-Thornton were teammates at Stephenson HS in Stone Mountain, Ga.
Gaebler Eyes Records - Coming off the best season of his Hilltopper career in 2008, senior wide receiver Jake Gaebler is looking to write his name into the record books in his final season at WKU. Gaebler - WKU's top returning receiver each of the last two seasons - needs 25 receptions to break Curtis Hamilton's school record of 149...a mark that was set just two seasons ago in 2007. Gaebler's 1,430 career receiving yards entering the year leaves him just 15 yards shy of moving into the career top 10 in that category as well.
Fourth Start On the Fifth - Saturday's game will mark the fourth time in WKU's football history that it will open the season on Sept. 5. After picking up a 35-7 win at Evansville in 1981, the Toppers have dropped their other two games on this date - a 28-24 setback at home against Gardner-Webb in 1987 and a 21-7 home loss to Eastern Kentucky in 1992.
Big Crowds Nothing New - While an expected crowd on Saturday near or exceeding 100,000 will go down as the largest crowd ever to see a WKU team play, the amount of people should be nothing new for seasoned Hilltopper players. Since 2003, WKU has played in front of five crowds exceeding 80,000 - all coming at SEC schools. In fact, three of the top 10 crowds to see a Topper team came in 2008 - at Alabama (2nd - 92,138), at Kentucky (7th - 70,730) and at Virginia Tech (8th - 66,233). Entering the season, the announced crowd of 92,746 at Georgia on Sept. 2, 2006 is the largest to see a Hilltopper football game.
Experienced at the Skills - Gaebler is not the only returning skills player on offense that is expected to see quite a bit of action at Tennessee. Junior wide receiver Quinterrance Cooper will also provide an experienced threat in the passing game after seeing action in 23 games over his first two seasons in uniform. Sophomore tight end Tristan Jones played in all 12 games and started five contests in '08. The backfield senior duo of Tyrell Hayden and Marell Booker - along with sophomore Bobby Rainey - all return after posting the three best sets of numbers by WKU running backs a season ago. Hayden is just two years removed from a 1,000-yard season in 2007.
Smith Takes Shot Under Center - Senior Brandon Smith enters the season at the top of the depth chart at quarterback, and leads a young crop of Hilltopper quarterbacks. In fact, outside of Smith, no other QB in camp has seen action in a game for WKU. Smith has seen action in 12 games during his first three seasons on the Hill, completing 18 of 38 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. Since Justin Haddix started every game under center from 2003-06, Smith will be the third different opening-week starter in as many years. David Wolke started the '07 opener at Florida, while K.J. Black led the offense in last year's opener at Indiana.
Protection Has Been There Before - While Smith will be a new face starting the game at quarterback, the guys up front on the offensive line have plenty of experience playing together. Four of the five projected starters - LT Wes Jeffries, LG Derrick Elder, C Cody Hughes and RT Preston King - combined for 39 starts on the line in 2008, while RG Mychal Patterson will join that group after missing last season with an injury.
Seven True Freshmen To Play in '09 - Seven members of the 2009 Hilltopper recruiting class will get a chance to make an immediate impact as they will see action this season in their first year on the Hill. One - cornerback Jamal Forrest - is also expected to be in the starting lineup in the opener at Tennessee. The only two true freshmen not to redshirt on the offensive side of the ball will be 6-foot-7 tight end Ed Hazelett and offensive lineman Sean Conway. Conway is on the opening-week depth chart as the backup at center. Along with Forrest, defensive back Kareem Peterson, linebackers Josh Carter and Chuck Franks, and defensive lineman Cole Tischer will also see playing time. Peterson is listed behind Mark Santoro on the depth chart at free safety.
Youth Reigns Supreme on D - Not only will five true freshmen see playing time on the defensive side of the ball, the WKU defense as a whole has a youthful feel to it. While only two seniors are projected in the defensive starting lineup (LB Taurean Smith and CB Jihad Morris), five of the top 10 returning tacklers from a season ago are back on the field, including sophomore safety Mark Santoro, who is the returning leading tackler with 60 stops from a year ago. Another sophomore - Jared Clendenin - anchors the defensive line along with new starters Rammell Lewis and Jamarcus Allen - both redshirt freshmen.
Linebackers Also Get "Major" Shakeup - WKU's four projected starting linebackers combine for 33 games played but just one start in 2008. Senior inside linebacker Taurean Smith had that lone start a year ago. All four linebackers at the top of the depth chart qualify as upperclassmen, with juniors Mike Gothard and Chris Bullard patrolling the outside, and newcomer Thomas Majors - a junior college transfer from Northwest Mississippi CC - joins Smith on the inside after earning the starting spot during fall camp.
New Kids On The Block - With the start of the 2009 season, Western Kentucky University officially becomes the 120th bowl-eligible member of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A). The Hilltoppers have completed a two-year transition after the WKU Board of Regents accepted a proposal to elevate the program from the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) by a 7-2 vote - with one abstention - on Nov. 2, 2006. The Toppers won nine games during the transition period.
They Are New And Young - 57 of WKU's 85 scholarship players are true freshman, redshirt freshman or sophomores meaning 67% of the team's roster has three or four years of eligibility remaining. WKU has 11 scholarship seniors and 17 scholarship juniors.
Elson's Eleven - WKU's 11 scholarship seniors are the fewest in the Sun Belt Conference and tie for the fifth fewest among all 120 FBS members. Ironically, WKU plays the two schools with the most seniors in the nation (Navy, 32; Troy, 31). Here is a list of the schools with the fewest scholarship seniors in the FBS in 2009:
1. Boise State................................................ 4
2. Duke.......................................................... 9
South Carolina......................................... 9
4. Georgia Tech......................................... 10
5. WKU........................................................ 11
Miami (Ohio)........................................... 11
North Carolina........................................ 11
A Strong Tradition On And Off The Field - While this is WKU's first year as a full Football Bowl Subdivision member, the football program has 90 seasons of success. WKU's 511-337-30 all-time record equates to a .600 winning percentage, ranking 26th among all 120 Division I FBS schools and making the Hilltoppers the winningest program in the Sun Belt Conference. WKU's 948 APR in football is also higher than all other Sun Belt Conference programs.
Championship Effort - WKU's only team National Championship was in football (2002 I-AA). WKU also has 12 conference championships, 10 playoff appearances, and has had 64 players earn All-American honors in its 90-season history.
They've Been There Before - All 10 WKU football coaches played college football and have a combined 161 years of coaching experience.
If You Build It, They Will Come - The 2008 season marked the highest student attendance in school history and second-highest total attendance in school history, trailing only the 1971 season. Student attendance has increased 80.3 % since 2006.
Hitting the Streets - For the third consecutive year, members of the WKU football team helped sell season tickets by going door-to-door in eight Bowling Green neighborhoods on Tuesday, July 28 and Thursday, July 30. Fans were able to purchase a $30 season ticket good for general admission to all six WKU home games. Over 100 individuals were divided into four teams and the efforts resulted in 258 season tickets being sold. The offense was the overall winner and was treated to a cookout at Head Coach David Elson's house while also being excused from early morning breakfast checks for a week.
Lending A Helping Hand - All WKU football players and coaches spent the morning of August 23 helping freshman students move into their respective residence halls. The football team annually lends a hand in helping all freshmen acclimate themselves to campus.
Headed Towards The Sun - With the completed transition, Western Kentucky University also becomes the ninth football-playing member of the Sun Belt Conference, and will be eligible to win a league title in 2009. WKU Athletics has been part of the Sun Belt since 1982, and now has all 19 of its programs competing in the same conference. The SBC is the third league home for WKU football over its 91 seasons after previously playing in the Ohio Valley Conference (1948-81; 1999-2000) and the Gateway Football Conference (2001-06).
WKU and UK Ink Four-Year Deal - Western Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky have agreed to an unprecedented four-year football series, both universities jointly announced on July 29. The schools will meet in Lexington in 2010 and 2012 and at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn., in 2011 and 2013. The games in the Music City are designated as home games for the Hilltoppers. While the schools have met five times in basketball (UK leads 3-2), their only meeting on the gridiron was Kentucky's 41-3 win on September 27, 2008 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington last season. The Hilltopper basketball team picked up a 64-52 win over the Wildcats on Nov. 15, 2001 at Rupp Arena in the school's last basketball match up.
The Hilltoppers In OT - Since the 1996 season, the Hilltoppers have played an overtime contest six times, compiling a 5-1 mark in those games. The first two overtime games in the program's history both came against Murray State in 1996 and 1997. Each went multiple overtimes, with WKU winning 44-41 in two extra frames in '96, then following it up a year later with a 52-50 win in three OTs. The last time a Topper team played an overtime contest was also the only loss- a 23-20 setback to Northern Iowa on Nov. 5, 2005.
WKU Celebrates 100 Years of Athletics - The 2009-10 season marks the 100th anniversary of the start of intercollegiate athletics at Western Kentucky University. Baseball was the first varsity sport to be played on the Hill, and fielded a team for the first time in the spring of 1910. Football is the second-oldest varsity sport on the Hill, playing its first season in 1913 - three years after WKU fielded its first baseball team. A team was not fielded in 1917-19 and 1943-45 due to World War I and II. WKU has been playing football longer than 22 current I-A's and as long as or longer than 26 I-A's.
