Western Kentucky's Devon Key runs drills Thursday, April 6, 2017, during practice at Houchens-Smith Stadium. (Bac Totrong/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Second-year Western Kentucky football coach Mike Sanford and his Hilltoppers are set to open their sophomore spring together March 20, which will include 14 practices leading up to the Red vs. White spring game April 21.

Admission and parking for the annual Red vs. White game will be free, and the game is slated for a 2 p.m. kickoff from Houchens-Smith Stadium. Additional details on the game will be announced at a later date.

WKU will celebrate 100 years of football this fall as the 100th team takes the field for Western Kentucky. WKU’s first-ever team played one game in 1913, but due to three years off (1917-19) for World War I and three more (1943-45) for World War II, the 100th squad hits the field for the 2018 campaign.

In order to celebrate the 100th team, WKU will have various themed giveaways throughout the season as well as select an All-Century team, a portion of which will be decided by a fan vote later this year.

The Hilltoppers return 15 starters from last year’s team, which went 6-7 and lost in the Cure Bowl.

Seven defensive starters are led by Conference USA All-Freshman selection Devon Key at safety and seniors Evan Sayner and DeAndre Farris, all three Kentuckians.

Offensively, WKU is looking to replace All-C-USA and NFL Scouting Combine-bound quarterback Mike White, the second player in program history to have multiple 4,000-yard passing seasons, as well as All-C-USA guard Brandon Ray.

WKU has a five-man race for the QB position this spring, led by senior Drew Eckels, before adding a sixth in the fall in the program’s first-ever four-star high school recruit, quarterback Kevaris Thomas.

All-C-USA punter Jake Collins returns. He allowed fewer than one punt return per game last season while his yards per return and total yards allowed were both top 40 marks nationally.

In 2017, the growing process began for WKU as 11 true freshmen saw game action and 24 players earned their first career start.

2018 home games will happen under brand new, state-of-the-art, high definition videoboards from DakTronics which are being installed this offseason. They’ll increase the viewing size of the screen by nearly 400 percent.