1997 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

The 1997 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season and were led by quarterback Willie Taggart and head coach Jack Harbaugh. The team was an independent and earned their first NCAA Division I-AA Playoff berth since 1988, making it to the quarterfinals. The Hilltoppers primarily ran an option offense and were ranked 1st in Rush Offence for NCAA Division I-AA. They finished the season ranked 5th in final I-AA postseason national poll.[1]

1997 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
Division I-AA Playoffs, Lost Quarterfinals
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
FCS CoachesNo. 5
1997 record10–2
Head coach
Assistant coachDavid Elson
Home stadiumHouchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium
1997 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 18 Cal Poly  0 0     10 1  
No. 5 Western Kentucky ^  0 0     10 2  
No. 17 Hofstra ^  0 0     9 2  
No. 25 Liberty  0 0     9 2  
Samford  0 0     7 4  
Morehead State  0 0     5 4  
South Florida  0 0     5 6  
Southern Utah  0 0     5 6  
Saint Mary's  0 0     4 6  
Davidson  0 0     3 8  
Buffalo  0 0     2 9  
La Salle  0 0     1 8  
Charleston Southern  0 0     1 9  
Austin Peay  0 0     0 10  
  • ^ NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Western Kentucky's roster included future NFL players Rod “He Hate Me” Smart and Ben Wittman. Patrick Goodman and Andy Hape were named to All-America teams, while Harbaugh was Division I-AA Independents and AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year.[2] The I-AA Independent All-Star Team included Goodman, Bryan Heyward, Joey Stockton, Hape, Ron Kelly, and Taggart.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResult
August 28at Tennessee-MartinNo. 10W 42–0
September 6No. 12 Murray StateNo. 11W 52–50 ot
September 13at Eastern KentuckyNo. 9W 37–21
September 20Austin PeayNo. 6
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 53–7
September 27South FloridaNo. 3
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 31–3
October 4at D-1A UABNo. 3L 16–20
October 18No. 3 D2 New HavenNo. 7
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 24–21
October 25at Southern IllinoisNo. 7W 52–31
November 1Morehead StateNo. 5
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY
W 38–24
November 8at Indiana StateNo. 5W 21–14
November 29No. 15 Eastern KentuckyNo. 5
  • L. T. Smith Stadium
  • Bowling Green, KY (I-AA Playoffs First Round)
W 41–14
December 3at No. 4 Eastern WashingtonNo. 5
L 21–38

References

  1. "Div. I-AA Poll". Longview News-Journal. Longview, Texas. November 18, 1997. p. 2D. Retrieved April 30, 2017 via Newspapers.com.
  2. Coach Bio: Jack Harbaugh retrieved 6 April 2020.
  3. WKU Football Media Guide retrieved 31 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.