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
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
2005 record	6–5 (4–3 Gateway)
Head coach	David Elson (3rd season)
Assistant coach	Willie Taggart
Home stadium	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium

2005 Gateway Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
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 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

FIU's win was later vacated by the NCAA due to infractions committed by FIU.[4]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 1	West Virginia Tech*	No. 8	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 63–3
September 10	Eastern Kentucky*	No. 2	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (Battle of the Bluegrass)	W 23–21
September 24	at D-1A Auburn*	No. 1	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	L 14–37
October 1	at Indiana State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 38–28
October 8	at Illinois State	No. 3	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 37–34 ot
October 15	Missouri State	No. 3	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 37–28
October 22	at Western Illinois	No. 1	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 42–7
October 27	No. 8 Southern Illinois	No. 1	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 20–31
November 5	No. 14 Northern Iowa	No. 6	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 20–23 ot
November 12	at No. 19 Youngstown State	No. 12	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 10–42
November 19	at D-1A FIU	No. 23	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	L 35-38 vacated
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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. "NCAA sanctions Florida International". Yahoo! Sports. May 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.