The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers haven\u2019t been at the FBS level for long. In the school\u2019s first four years at the highest level in college football, they beat just one FBS team. <\/p>\n
Sun Belt Conference 2011-2012 Football Previews: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers While the 2-10 record doesn\u2019t look like much of an accomplishment, the truth is this team took some major steps in 2010. <\/p>\n The team lost two games in the Sun Belt by a single point, and they narrowly lost to Florida International and Troy, the two best teams in the conference. Things are clearly looking up for the Hilltoppers.<\/p>\n Western Kentucky returns 15 starters overall, and many of their star players are still in the fold. This teams isn\u2019t too far away from being a legitimate contender in the Sun Belt, but they\u2019ll need to improve their overall team depth in order to get to that top level. <\/p>\n Can Taggart and the Hilltoppers build on their recent upward momentum?<\/p>\n Bobby Rainey is an absolute workhorse in the backfield despite being only 5\u20198 and 205 pounds. Rainey ran for 1,649 yards in 2010, which was good enough for first in the Sun Belt. Rainey did this with all the defenses knowing that the run was coming. Rainey is a tough runner who works for every yard and often drags tacklers along with him. <\/p>\n The Hilltoppers would be wise to give him the football 30 times each game.<\/p>\n The Hilltoppers have all kinds of talent in the secondary. Tyree Robinson and Arius Wright are just sophomores at the cornerback spot, but they should be two of the best in the Sun Belt. Kareem Peterson and Ryan Beard also return at the two safety spots. <\/p>\n With all four starters returning from last year, there is little doubt that this unit will be a major strength for the defense.<\/p>\n The offensive line returns three guys who have the potential to be first-team all Sun Belt performers. Wes Jeffries, Seth White, and Adam Smith should lead the way for an offensive line that will be much better than it was a year ago.<\/p>\n The Hilltoppers must replace some serious talent at the linebacker spots. They lost Thomas Majors, who was easily their best defensive player in 2010. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n The team doesn\u2019t have a clear leader at this position anymore, and it seems obvious that there will be a decrease in production from this unit in 2011.<\/p>\n Kawaun Jakes and the passing game just weren\u2019t good enough in 2010. Rainey is a great back, but if the Hilltoppers are going to beat decent teams they really need to have a balanced offense. Western Kentucky was 115th in the nation in passing, and they were last in the Sun Belt.<\/p>\n Jakes completed just 51% of his passes and he threw only 10 touchdowns. The team is lacking big play makers on the outside, and Jakes needs to become more consistent under center.<\/p>\n The kicking game really let down the Hilltoppers in 2010. Casey Tinius had a pretty good sophomore season in 2009, but he had a 2010 season to forget. Tinius made just 6 out of 15 field goals, and he missed three extra point attempts. <\/p>\n Western Kentucky can\u2019t afford to give away points in the kicking game.<\/p>\n I like the direction this program is going. Taggart has been doing a solid job recruiting, and this team is still pretty young. <\/p>\n If Jakes and the passing game can be decent, it will make the Hilltoppers offense much more dangerous. I\u2019m certainly not saying that this team will jump to the top of the Sun Belt, but I do think three wins inside the conference is likely. <\/p>\n Look for continued progress from this program in 2011.<\/p>\n 2011 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n 9\/1\/11\t 9:15 PM ET\t @KENTY College football preview guide for the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Western Kentucky Hilltoppers CFB betting season. Kyle Hunter weighs in with his ncaa football predictions, and BCS championship handicapping analysis\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":25445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[51222,44530,49957,51277,16053,51223,50774,16438,51278,51279,51280,51281,51282],"class_list":["post-41718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2011-sun-belt-conference-football-previews","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-hilltoppers-bcs-futures","tag-sun-belt-conference","tag-sun-belt-conference-football-predictions","tag-sun-belt-conference-odds","tag-sun-belt-conference-picks","tag-western-kentucky-football-predictions","tag-western-kentucky-gambling-odds","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers","tag-western-kentucky-predictions","tag-western-kentucky-schedule"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41718"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41723,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41718\/revisions\/41723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHead Coach: Willie Taggart
\n2010 Record: 2-10
\nWestern Kentucky Gambling Odds from JustBet to win BCS: +1,500 (Part of Field)
\nWestern Kentucky Odds from 5Dimes to win Sun Belt Conference: +1,600<\/strong>
\n Western Kentucky Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n**BETONLINE – THE BEST SPORTSBOOK FOR NCAA FOOTBALL BETTING! \u2013 CLICK HERE NOW + BET TODAY!**<\/a><\/h3>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
2011-2012 Western Kentucky Football Prediction: 4-8<\/h3>\n
\n9\/10\/11\t 7:00 PM ET\tNAVY
\n9\/17\/11\t 7:00 PM ET\t INDST
\n10\/1\/11\t 7:00 PM ET\tARKST
\n10\/6\/11\t 7:30 PM ET\t @MTENN
\n10\/15\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @FLATL
\n10\/22\/11 4:00 PM ET\tULLAF
\n10\/29\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @ULMON
\n11\/5\/11\t 4:00 PM ET\tFLINT
\n11\/12\/11 8:00 PM ET\t @LSU
\n11\/19\/11 8:00 PM ET\t @NOTEX
\n11\/26\/11 1:00 PM ET\tTROY <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"