1978 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

The 1978 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University in the inaugural 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season and were led by head coach Jimmy Feix. The NCAA had formed NCAA Division I-AA for football and Western Kentucky, along with the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), moved up from Division II to I-AA.[1] The Hilltoppers won the OVC championship, but just missed the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.[2] The team finished the season tied for fourth in final national NCAA poll.[3]

1978 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
OVC champion
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Ranking
APNo. T–4
Record8–2 (6–0 OVC)
Head coach
Home stadiumHouchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium
1978 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. T–4 Western Kentucky $ 7 –0 –08 –2 –0
No. 8 Eastern Kentucky 6 –1 –08 –2 –0
Tennessee Tech 4 –3 –05 –6 –0
Austin Peay 4 –3 –06 –4 –0
Murray State 2 –5 –04 –7 –0
Morehead State 2 –5 –02 –6 –1
East Tennessee State 2 –5 –04 –7 –0
Middle Tennessee 1 –6 –01 –9 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from Associated Press poll

Western Kentucky's roster included future National Football League (NFL) players Carl Brazley, Darryl Drake, Ray Farmer, Ricky Gwinn, Lamont Meacham, Eddie Preston, Phil Rich, Troy Snardon, Brad Todd, Tony Towns, and Pete Walters. Towns was selected to play in the Blue-Gray Football Classic and Coach Feix was named OVC Coach of the Year for the second time. The All-Conference Team included Brazley, John Hall, Reginald Hayden, Preston, and Towns.[4]

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 9Chattanooga*
L 15–4213,500
September 16at Illinois State*
W 28–612,000
September 23No. 10 Austin Peay
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 17–1315,200
September 30at East Tennessee*
W 27–215,732
October 7No. 6 (D-II) Akron*No. 10
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
L 21–2615,600
October 14at Tennessee Tech
W 26–2016,000
October 21No. 7 Eastern Kentucky
W 17–1619,100
October 28at Morehead StateNo. 8
W 35–79,000
November 4Middle TennesseedaggerNo. 7
W 54–019,500
November 18at Murray StateNo. 4
W 14–69,500

References
  1. OVC History, retrieved 30 April 2020
  2. 2017 OVC Football Media Guide, retrieved 30 April 2020
  3. "Division I-AA". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. November 21, 1978. p. 4B. Retrieved May 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  4. 2019 WKU Football Media Guide retrieved March 31, 2020.


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