2011 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

American college football season

2011 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football

Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	7–5 (7–1 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Willie Taggart (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Zach Azzanni (1st season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Lance Guidry (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium
Seasons ← 2010 2012 →

2011 Sun Belt Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Arkansas State $	8	–	0	10	–	3
Western Kentucky	7	–	1	7	–	5
FIU	5	–	3	8	–	5
North Texas	4	–	4	5	–	7
Louisiana–Monroe	3	–	5	4	–	8
Troy	2	–	6	3	–	9
Louisiana–Lafayette *	1	–	2	1	–	4
Middle Tennessee	1	–	7	2	–	10
Florida Atlantic	0	–	8	1	–	11

$ – Conference champion * – Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 8 wins including 5 in conference due to NCAA violations.

The 2011 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hilltoppers were led by second-year head coach Willie Taggart and played their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium. They are members of the Sun Belt Conference. The Hilltoppers finished with a record of 7–5, 7–1 in Sun Belt play to finish in second place.^[1] The 7 wins and second place conference finish were the Hilltoppers best results since joining the FBS, until it was surpassed in 2015 with a perfect 8–0 conference record. Despite being bowl eligible, the Hilltoppers were not invited to a bowl.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:15 p.m.	vs. Kentucky*	LP Field Nashville, TN	ESPNU	L 3–14	24,599
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Navy*	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	L 14–40	19,409
September 17	6:00 p.m.	Indiana State*	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	L 16–44	15,793
October 1	3:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	Sun Belt Network	L 22–26	10,813
October 6	6:30 p.m.	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN (100 Miles of Hate)	ESPNU	W 36–33 ^2OT	23,307
October 15	3:00 p.m.	at Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL		W 20–0	29,103
October 22	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY		W 42–23	15,122
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA		W 31–28 ^OT	13,428
November 5	3:00 p.m.	Florida International	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY		W 10–9	15,293
November 12	6:00 p.m.	at No. 1 LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPNU	L 9–42	92,917
November 19	3:00 p.m.	at North Texas	Apogee Stadium Denton, TX		W 31–21	17,011
November 26	12:00 p.m.	Troy	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY		W 41–18	15,432
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

References

^ 2019 Sun Belt Conference Football Media Guide, retrieved 30 April 2020
^ WKU Football Media Guide retrieved 31 March 2020.

v t e Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
Venues	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (1968–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Eastern Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass Middle Tennessee: 100 Miles of Hate Murray State: Battle for the Red Belt
Culture & lore	Big Red "Stand Up and Cheer"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold