IU faces team on 22-game losing streak

The last time the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers won a football game was Sept. 20, 2008.

It was a 50-9 win for the Hilltoppers against Murray State, a team that IU had just beaten two weeks prior. Since that game, WKU has dropped 22 in a row.

The Hoosiers will look to make the streak 23 at 5 p.m. Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky.
 
The first home game of the year for the Hilltoppers comes after losing by a combined score of 112-38 against Kentucky and Nebraska, two BCS conference opponents.
IU’s Big Ten association will not be enough to intimidate a battle-tested Western
Kentucky squad.

“Every week you’ve got to be hyped up or you’ll get upset,” senior linebacker Tyler Replogle said. “We’re hyped up, and I’m sure they are too.” 

Instead of playing non-BCS conference teams in their non-conference schedule, Western Kentucky has taken a different approach to improving its program. Alabama, Virginia Tech and Tennessee are a few of the top-tier FBS programs that Western
Kentucky has played in the past three years.

In addition to facing some of the country’s elite programs, the Hilltoppers possess one of the nation’s elite running backs.

Junior Bobby Rainey is currently the fourth leading rusher in the nation with 339 rushing yards. Rainey gave No. 8-ranked Nebraska all it could handle, racking up 155 rushing yards and a touchdown in the team’s 49-10 loss.

Proving the first week was no fluke, Rainey ran into Kentucky and one-upped his performance from the first game. Rainey posted 184 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns in the Hilltoppers’ 63-28 loss at Lexington.

Physically, Rainey does not impress at 5-foot-7, but IU coach Bill Lynch knows that there’s more to him than meets the eye.

“He’s a short, compact, fast guy,” Lynch said. “But he breaks tackles, he can make you miss and he’s a competitor.”

Stopping the run is an area that IU struggled with against Towson in the opener, allowing 227 rushing yards.

Lynch said he believes the game will have a similar feel to an opening game for a team that has only one game under its belt.

If the Hoosiers can take care of the Hilltoppers, it would mark the fourth straight time in Lynch’s career that the Hoosiers would start 2-0. Being the first Big Ten opponent the Hilltoppers have ever played host to, Lynch knows what this game means to their program.

“I know they’ve been looking forward to Indiana coming down there since this thing got on the schedule,” Lynch said.