2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

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]

2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
ConferenceGateway Football Conference
Record6–5 (4–3 Gateway)
Head coach
Home stadiumL. T. Smith Stadium
2005 Gateway Football Conference standings
ConfOverall
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 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 1West Virginia Tech*No. 8
W 63–38,878
September 10Eastern Kentucky*No. 2
W 23–2118,944
September 24at Auburn*No. 1
L 14–3780,632
October 1at Indiana StateNo. 3
W 38–282,906
October 8at Illinois StateNo. 3
W 37–34 OT10,416[4]
October 15Missouri StatedaggerNo. 3
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 37–2813,105
October 22at Western IllinoisNo. 1
W 42–713,558[5]
October 27No. 8 Southern IllinoisNo. 1
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
L 20–3110,701[6]
November 5No. 14 Northern IowaNo. 6
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
L 20–23 2OT12,364
November 12at No. 19 Youngstown StateNo. 12
L 10–4212,706
November 19at FIUNo. 23
L 35–3813,388

FIU's win was later vacated by the NCAA due to infractions.[7]

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. "No. 1 Toppers roll on, 42-7". Messenger-Inquirer. October 23, 2005. p. 4B. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Grant, Michael (October 28, 2005). "Western mistakes costly vs. Salukis". The Courier-Journal. p. C1. Retrieved December 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "NCAA sanctions Florida International". Yahoo! Sports. May 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.


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