2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

The 2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season and were coached by David Elson. The Hilltoppers started the season strong, but after being ranked number 1 in Division I-AA, they lost their last four games and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.^[1]

2005 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Record	6–5 (4–3 Gateway)
Head coach	David Elson (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	T. J. Weist (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Mike Dietzel (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	L. T. Smith Stadium
Seasons ← 2004 2006 →

2005 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Northern Iowa +^		5	–	2					11	–	4
No. 7 Southern Illinois +^		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 14 Youngstown State +		5	–	2					8	–	3
No. 22 Illinois State		4	–	3					7	–	4
Western Kentucky		4	–	3					6	–	5
Western Illinois		3	–	4					5	–	6
Missouri State		2	–	5					4	–	6
Indiana State		0	–	7					0	–	11
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The team included future National Football League (NFL) players Curtis Hamilton and Greg Ryan. Erik Losey and Antonio Thomas were named to the AP All American team and Chris James made the 1AA All-Star Team.^[2] The All-Conference team included Losey, Thomas, James, Lerron Moore, Marion Rumph, Deion Holts, Dennis Mitchell, and Daniel Williams.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	West Virginia Tech*	No. 8	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 63–3	8,878
September 10	Eastern Kentucky*	No. 2	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (Battle of the Bluegrass)	W 23–21	18,944
September 24	at Auburn*	No. 1	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	L 14–37	80,632
October 1	at Indiana State	No. 3	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 38–28	2,906
October 8	at Illinois State	No. 3	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 37–34 OT	10,416	[4]
October 15	Missouri State	No. 3	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 37–28	13,105	[5]
October 22	at Western Illinois	No. 1	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 42–7	13,558	[6]
October 27	No. 8 Southern Illinois	No. 1	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 20–31	10,701	[7]
November 5	No. 14 Northern Iowa	No. 6	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	L 20–23 2OT	12,364
November 12	at No. 19 Youngstown State	No. 12	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 10–42	12,706
November 19	at FIU	No. 23	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	L 35–38	13,388
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

FIU's win was later vacated by the NCAA due to infractions.^[8]