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
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 4
1978 record	8–2 (6–0 OVC)
Head coach	Jimmy Feix (11th season)
Home stadium	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium

1978 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. T–4 Western Kentucky $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Eastern Kentucky	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Tennessee Tech	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Austin Peay	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Murray State	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Morehead State	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	1
Middle Tennessee	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 9	D-1A Chattanooga*		L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 15–42
September 16	at Illinois State*		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 28–6
September 23	No. 10 Austin Peay		L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 17–13
September 30	at East Tennessee*		Memorial Stadium Johnson City, TN	W 27–21
October 7	Akron*	No. 10	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 21–26
October 14	at Tennessee Tech		Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	W 26–20
October 21	No. 7 Eastern Kentucky		L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (Battle of the Bluegrass)	W 17–16
October 28	at Morehead State	No. 8	Jayne Stadium Morehead, KY	W 35–7
November 4	Middle Tennessee	No. 7	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 54–0
November 18	at Murray State	No. 4	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY (Battle for the Red Belt)	W 14–6
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

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.
4. 2019 WKU Football Media Guide retrieved March 31, 2020.