Game 4 - Sept. 26

Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro, TN 6:00 p.m. CDT

Location-Murfreesboro , TN

Founded-1911

President-Dr. James E. Walker

Enrollment-18 ,366

Colors-Blue and White

Conference-Ohio Valley

Nickname-Blue Raiders

Athletics Director-Lee Fowler

Head Coach-Boots Donnelly (MTSU , 1965)

Coaching Record at MTSU-135-82-1 / 20th year

Coaching Record Overall-149-89-1/22nd year

Jack Harbaugh Coach

Phone (615) 898-2570

Ass istant Coaches-John Bobo , Tom Fiveash, Sean Corbitt, Dom Green, Ricky Herzog, Cliff Lewis, Steve McAdoo , Alex Robins, Wes Salyer, Floyd Walker , Matt Riley

Last Year's Overall Record-4-6-0

Last Year's Conference Record/Finish-2 - 5-0/6th

SID-Ed Given (615) 898-2450

Home Phone No -(615) 895-0827

SID FAX No -(615) 898-5626

Trainer-Arnold Gamber

Stadium / Capacity-Floyd / 31 ,000

Press Bo x Number-(615) 898 - 2312

Willie Taggart Quarterback

A very productive and reliable option offense , coupled with continued improvement on both defense and the special teams, made a big winner out of Western Kentuc k y football in 1997 Last year saw the Hilltoppers win 10 of 12 games, earn a berth in the I-AA national championship playoffs (where the Hilltoppe rs advanced to the qua rterfinal round) and finish the year ranked sev enth in the nation in both The Sports Network and the ESPN/USAToday I-AA polls.

That 10-2 record included three w ins over nationally-ranked teams , as wel l as the No 2 ranked team in NCAA Division II , New Haven.

Things look prom ising for the 1998 Hilltoppers , who return 45 lettermen (24 on defense , 20on offense and the placekicker), including 16starters, from last fall's squad

The Hilltoppers return four athletes who earned All -America recognition last fall. That list includes a coupleofoffensive linemen--fi rstteamer Pat r ick Goodman and third-teamer Andy Hape -- placekicker Jeff Poisel and recordsetting quarterback Willie Taggart

Taggart was honored as I-AA football's National Player of the Week on thre e occasions (once by ESPN and twice by Hansen's Football Gazette) He fi nished the season ranked 11th in the nation in scoring (9 0), 13th in rushing ( 121 7 ypg) and 36th in total offense (206 6 ypg )

On the defensive side, 11 of the Toppers' top 14 tacklers return Leading th e wa y are linebackers Brandon Egan (72tackles) , Bernie Adams (68stops) an d Trae Ha ck ett (57 tack les) Poisel returns at k ick er after hitting 54-55 extra poi nts a nd 11-17 field goals for a school-record 87 points by kicking

Western leads the series, 41-31-3 1998SCHEDULE

Lettermen Lost/Returning-7/38

Kelverick Green

PROSPECTUS Tailback

MTSU head coach Boots Donnelly, starting his 20th season at the helm of the Blue Ra iders , is hoping a year makes a lot of difference His Middle Tennessee club took its lumps last year , particularly on the defensive side of the ball, in finishing with a 4-6-0 overall record It was only the second losing season for the Raiders since 1980

The "difference a year makes" phrase becomes applicable because Donnelly starts the '98 season with much the same cast which ended the '97 campa ign. The Blue Raiders return 38 of 45 lettermen , eight of 11 starters on offense and 10 of 11 starters on defense

"We were awfully young last year," says Donnelly "We lost one or two key people that we'll miss a lot , but mainly have the same crew coming back Experi ence counts for a lot, but it doesn't count for everything."

MTSU will attemptto replace the departed quarterback Jonathan Quinn and tailback Lebrian McGill in 1998. Quinn was understudied by sophomore Judd Moore , while junior college transfer Gabe Alaniz will also get a look there The heir-apparent to McGill ' s spot is Kelverick Green who has gained more than 1 ,200 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in the last two seasons.

The entire offensive li ne returns intact as well as a bevy of ta lented receivers AII-OVC tight end Gary Dav is (30 catches, 488 yards, 5 TD's) is back as well as starting split end Matt Lowe (39-534-2) and flanker Tri Heard (32425-2)

The only player missing from the defensive lineup that started the final game of the 1997 campaign is linebacker Terrell Nesmith

Eastern leads the series, 28-19-0