Western Kentucky started the season 0-4 and it looked like it was going to be another miserable season for the Hilltoppers. The team came together and went 7-1 in the Sun Belt Conference to finish 7-5 on the year. This is a team that just a few years ago lost 26 games in a row. Clearly, Willie Taggart is doing something right at Western Kentucky. <\/p>\n
Sun Belt 2012-2013 College Football Previews: Western Kentucky
\nHead Coach: Willie Taggart
\n2011 Record: 7-5
\nWestern Kentucky Gambling Odds from JustBet to win BCS Championship: (Part of Field) +1,800
\nWestern Kentucky Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win Sun Belt: +900<\/strong>
\nW. Kentucky Team Page \u2013 Players Stats \u2013 Roster \u2013 2012 Schedule \u2013><\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nDespite finishing 7-5, Western Kentucky wasn\u2019t invited to a bowl game. They were the only FBS team to finish with a winning record and not receive a bowl bid. Taggart says the team will use the bowl snub as extra motivation for this season. Unfortunately the team lost star running back Bobby Rainey to graduation. Rainey was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, and he rushed for 1,695 yards in 2011. Can the team continue its amazing turnaround without Rainey?<\/p>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
The Hilltoppers have a very nice defensive front. It is anchored by senior defensive tackle Jamarcus Allen. Quanterus Smith is one of the best pass rushers in the league, and he is a really tough guy to hold down. This isn\u2019t the type of defensive line that the opposition will be able to just line up and run it against.<\/p>\n
The secondary was mediocre last year, but they should be very good in 2012. Jonathan Dowling was a very highly touted safety in high school, and he transferred in from Florida. Expect Dowling to make a major impact for Western Kentucky. In addition, Kareem Peterson and Tyree Robinson look like future stars in the secondary. This group should be extremely tough.<\/p>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
Wide receiver is a position that is a major question mark for Western Kentucky. The team didn\u2019t throw it too much last year, but it is still shocking that no receiver caught more than 20 passes or had over 200 yards receiving in 2011. There just isn\u2019t anyone on the outside who can consistently get separation. It\u2019s tough to open up an offense without any wideouts who are reliable.<\/p>\n
The backfield at Western Kentucky won\u2019t have any stars now. Losing Rainey is a huge blow, and while Antonio Andrews should be a decent replacement, it will still be a major downgrade. Kuwaun Jakes is a senior quarterback for the Hilltoppers, but he has 27 interceptions compared to just 29 touchdown passes in his career. He\u2019ll have to be better this year.\u00a0[soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
2012-2013 Western Kentucky Football Prediction: 5-7<\/h3>\n
I still think Taggart is terrific for this program, but the offense will have serious problems adjusting to life without Rainey. Jakes isn\u2019t consistent throwing the ball, and the wideouts aren\u2019t good at getting open. The schedule is a difficult one, and it is hard to see this team finishing with a winning record in 2012.<\/p>\n
Western Kentucky must play Arkansas State, FIU, and Lafayette (arguably the top three teams in the league) all on the road. I think the Hilltoppers will finish with five wins this season.<\/p>\n
2012 WK Schedule<\/h3>\n
9\/1\/12\t 7:00 PM ET\t AUSPY
\n9\/8\/12\t 3:30 PM ET\t @ALAB
\n9\/15\/12\t 7:00 PM ET\t @KENTY
\n9\/22\/12\t 7:00 PM ET\tSOMIS
\n9\/29\/12\t TBD\t @ARKST
\n10\/11\/12\t 7:30 PM ET\t @TROY
\n10\/20\/12\t TBD\tULMON
\n10\/27\/12\t TBD\t @FLINT
\n11\/1\/12\t 9:15 PM ET\tMTENN
\n11\/10\/12\t TBD\tFLATL
\n11\/17\/12\t TBD\t @ULLAF
\n11\/24\/12\t TBD\tNOTEX<\/p>\nGRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2012-13 Football Previews \u2013 (Sun Belt) \u2013 W. Kentucky Western Kentucky started the season 0-4 and it looked like it was going to be another miserable season for the Hilltoppers. The team came together and went 7-1 in the Sun Belt Conference to finish 7-5 on the year. This is a team that just a […]<\/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":[44530,55989,49957,51277,56071,51223,50774,16438,56072,56073,56074,56075,56076],"class_list":["post-53769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-2012-sun-belt-conference-football-previews","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-hilltoppers-bcs-futures","tag-hilltoppers-predictions","tag-sun-belt-conference-football-predictions","tag-sun-belt-conference-odds","tag-sun-belt-conference-picks","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-football","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-football-predictions","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-gambling-odds","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-hilltoppers","tag-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-schedule"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53769","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=53769"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53985,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53769\/revisions\/53985"}],"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=53769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}