The 2015 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

(WKU) in the

2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 3, 2015 and ended on D ...

as members of the East Division of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

. Led by second year head coach

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current head football coach of the Louisville Cardinals. Brohm played college football at the University of Louisville for coach Howard Sc ...

, they played their home games at

Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium at Jimmy Feix Field is a 22,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Bowling Green, in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is home to the Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky Hilltoppe ...

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the 2 ...

. They finished the season 12–2, 8–0 in C-USA play to be champions of the East Division. They represented the East Division in the

Conference USA Football Championship Game The Conference USA Football Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the season champion of Conference USA (C-USA) since 2005. History The championship game from 2005–2021, showcased the C-USA East Division regu ...

where they defeated

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

to win their first ever C-USA championship. They were invited to the

Miami Beach Bowl The Miami Beach Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played for three years (2014–2016) at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. The bowl was crea ...

where they defeated

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. They led the NCAA in Passing Efficiency, tied the school record for

victories The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...

and were also ranked in the FBS AP Top 25 for the first time in program history.

Previous season

The Hilltoppers finished the 2014 season 8–5 overall and 4–4 in conference play. WKU biggest win and upset was against season closer

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

by 67–66 in overtime, Marshall's first and only loss of their season making them ineligible for a berth in a New Year's Six Bowl. WKU became bowl eligible after defeating UTSA and was invited to play in the inaugural

Bahamas Bowl The Bahamas Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually in Nassau, Bahamas, at the 15,000-seat Thomas Robinson Stadium. First held in 2014, the Bowl has tie-ins with the Mid-American Conference ...

, the first international bowl game since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. The Hilltoppers defeated the

Central Michigan Chippewas The Central Michigan Chippewas are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Central Michigan University (CMU), located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The school fields sixteen men's and women's intercollegiate teams that compete at the ...

, 49–48.

Schedule

Western Kentucky announced their 2015 football schedule on February 2, 2015. The 2015 schedule consist of five home and seven away games in the regular season. The Hilltoppers will host CUSA foes Florida Atlantic,

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

, and

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

, and will travel to Florida International (FIU),

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

, and

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. :Schedule source:

Rankings

Game summaries

At Vanderbilt

Louisiana Tech

At Indiana

Miami (OH)

At Rice

Middle Tennessee

At North Texas

At LSU

At Old Dominion

Florida Atlantic

At Florida International

Marshall

Southern Miss (C–USA Championship Game)

South Florida (Miami Beach Bowl)

References

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football seasons Conference USA football champion seasons Miami Beach Bowl champion seasons

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level and represents the university as a member of Confer ...

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