# 2008 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

The 2008 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was David Elson. WKU competed as an NCAA Division I FBS independent team in 2008 before their move to the Sun Belt Conference in 2009. The Hilltoppers played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 11:00 a.m. | at Indiana | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | BTN | L 13–31 | 30,067 |
| September 6 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 22 FCS Eastern Kentucky | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY (Battle of the Bluegrass) | | W 37–13 | 18,500 |
| September 13 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Alabama | Bryant–Denny StadiumTuscaloosa, AL | PPV | L 7–41 | 92,138 |
| September 20 | 6:00 p.m. | Murray State | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY (Battle for the Red Belt) | | W 50–9 | 22,297 |
| September 27 | 6:00 p.m. | at Kentucky | Commonwealth StadiumLexington, KY | WKYT | L 3–41 | 70,731 |
| October 4 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 20 Virginia Tech | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | | L 13–27 | 66,233 |
| October 11 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 25 Ball State | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 7–24 | 16,319 |
| October 18 | 6:00 p.m. | Florida Atlantic | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 20–24 | 14,171 |
| November 1 | 3:30 p.m. | North Texas | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | Sun Belt Network | L 40–51 | 18,879 |
| November 8 | 2:30 p.m. | at Troy | Movie Gallery StadiumTroy, AL | Sun Belt Network | L 7–17 | 19,066 |
| November 15 | 12:00 p.m. | Middle Tennessee | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY (100 Miles of Hate) | Sun Belt Network | L 10–21 | 11,817 |
| December 6 | 6:00 p.m. | at Florida International | FIU StadiumMiami, FL | | L 3–27 | 9,405 |
| HomecomingRankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Alma mater |
| David Elson | Head Coach | Butler 1994 |
| Mike Chism | Recruiting Coordinator/Tight Ends | Kentucky 1990 |
| Mike Dietzel | Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers | Otterbein 1985 |
| Stuart Holt | Running Backs | North Carolina 1995 |
| Cary Marquell | Inside Linebackers | Ball State 1996 |
| Erik Mathies | Defensive Line | Murray State 1998 |
| Travaris Robinson | Defensive Backs | Auburn 2007 |
| T.J. Weist | Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator | Alabama 1988 |
| Kevin Wright | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks | WKU 1987 |
| Walter Wells | Running Game Coordinator | Belmont 1993 |
| Jami DeBerry | Graduate assistant | WKU 2005 |
| Jamison Link | Student assistant | |
| Nick Uhlenhopp | Director of operations | Graceland 2002 |
| Mark Harris | Dir. of equipment and facility operations | |
| Jim Nowell | Dir. of strength & conditioning | Southern Miss 1990 |
| Duane Hall | Strength & conditioning assistant | WKU 1997 |
| Chris Zuccaro | Video coordinator | Ole Miss 2004 |

## Game summaries
### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| Hoosiers | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### Eastern Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 7 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 37 |
| Colonels | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

### Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| #11 Crimson Tide | 17 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 41 |

### Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Racers | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| Hilltoppers | 10 | 17 | 16 | 7 | 50 |

### Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 41 |

### Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| #20 Hokies | 10 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 27 |

### Ball St

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #25 Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |

### Florida Atlantic

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Hilltoppers | 3 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 20 |

### North Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mean Green | 21 | 3 | 7 | 20 | 51 |
| Hilltoppers | 14 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 40 |

### Troy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Trojans | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

### Middle Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Raiders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Hilltoppers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

### Florida International

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hilltoppers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Golden Panthers | 0 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 27 |