BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Second-year head coach Mike Sanford and his Hilltoppers are set to open their sophomore spring together on March 20 which will include 14 practices leading up to the Red vs. White Spring Game on April 21.
Admission and parking for the annual Red vs. White game will be free, and the game is slated for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium. Additional details on the game will be announced at a later date.
WKU will celebrate 100 years of football this fall as the 100th team takes the field for Western Kentucky University. WKU's first-ever team played one game in 1913, but due to three years off (1917-19) for World War I and three more (1943-45) for World War II, the 100th squad hits the field for the 2018 campaign.
In order to celebrate the 100th team, WKU will have various themed giveaways throughout the season as well as select an All-Century team, a portion of which will be decided by a fan vote later this year.
The Hilltoppers return 15 starters from last year's AutoNation Cure Bowl team, including seven defensive starters led by All-Freshman teamer Devon Key at safety and seniors Evan Sayner and DeAndre Farris, all three Kentuckians. Offensively, WKU is looking to replace All-Conference and NFL Combine bound quarterback Mike White, the second player in program history to have multiple 4,000-yard passing season, as well as All-Conference guard Brandon Ray. In his place, WKU will have a five-man race for the position this spring, led by senior Drew Eckels, before adding a sixth in the fall in the program's first-ever four-star high school recruit in quarterback Kevaris Thomas.
Where the Hilltoppers are not in need of a replacement this spring is at punter with the return of rising senior All-Conference performer Jake Collins. Collins allowed fewer than one punt return per game last season while his yards per return and total yards allowed were both top 40 marks nationally.
In 2017, the growing process began for WKU as 11 true freshman saw game action and 24 players earned their first career start. Rising sophomore stars like Roger Cray and DeAngelo Malone on defense, along with Jacquez Sloan and Cole Spencer on offense, mean this spring will be as critical as ever for WKU's bid to return to a bowl game for the seventh consecutive season.
And, in 2018 at home, it will all happen under brand new, state-of-the-art, high definition video boards from DakTronics which are being installed this offseason and increasing the viewing size of the screen by nearly 400 percent.
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