2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team
# 2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team

The 2009 WKU Hilltoppers football team represented Western Kentucky University (WKU) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was David Elson. WKU was an NCAA Division I FBS independent team in 2008, this year was their first year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| September 5 | 11:21 am | at Tennessee* | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | SEC Network | L 7–63 | 98,761 |
| September 12 | 6:30 pm | South Florida* | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | Big East Network | L 13–35 | 20,568 |
| September 19 | 6:00 pm | No. 13 FCS Central Arkansas* | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 7–28 | 17,295 |
| September 26 | 2:30 pm | at Navy* | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSCS | L 22–38 | 29,009 |
| October 10 | 6:00 pm | Florida International | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 20–37 | 13,574 |
| October 17 | 6:00 pm | Louisiana-Lafayette | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 22–30 | 11,919 |
| October 24 | 2:30 pm | at Middle Tennessee | Johnny "Red" Floyd StadiumMurfreesboro, TN (100 Miles of Hate) | Sun Belt Network | L 24–62 | 17,787 |
| October 31 | 3:30 pm | at North Texas | Fouts FieldDenton, TX | Sun Belt Network | L 49–68 | 11,214 |
| November 7 | 4:00 pm | Troy | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | | L 20–40 | 16,747 |
| November 14 | 3:00 pm | at Louisiana-Monroe | Malone StadiumMonroe, LA | | L 18–21 | 16,229 |
| November 28 | 3:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | Lockhart StadiumFort Lauderdale, FL | | L 23–29 | 14,671 |
| December 3 | 6:00 pm | Arkansas State | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | Sun Belt Network | L 20–24 | 4,513 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Coaching change

On November 9, 2009, David Elson was officially released as WKU's head coach. He remained as head coach until the end of the 2009 season. He was replaced by Stanford's running backs coach Willie Taggart, a Western Kentucky University alumnus.

