– Editor’s note: This is part one of a 13-part series previewing each of Western Kentucky’s opponents for the 2021 football season. Part one features an overview of the Hilltoppers’ schedule. Part two will preview UT Martin.

From the opening kickoff at Houchens-Smith Stadium to the regular-season finale at Marshall, each matchup in Western Kentucky’s 2021 football schedule features its own set of challenges.

But the Hilltoppers are ready to embrace those challenges after an unpredictable 2020 season.

“Really like our schedule,” WKU head coach Tyson Helton said July 21 during the virtual Conference USA media days. “Early in the season it’s a very challenging schedule, but we embrace it. We talk about (it) all the time, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. It puts us on a platform in the first four games to position ourselves to have an exceptional year.”

Helton enters his third season as the Hilltoppers’ head man, after seasons with 9-4 and 5-7 records in 2019 and 2020, respectively. WKU earned bowl berths in each of his first two seasons, with a win over Western Michigan in the 2019 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl and a loss to Georgia State in the 2020 LendingTree Bowl.

“This will be my fourth year and I’ve seen some lows and I’ve seen some highs and I’m really excited to just come out here and to really put on, and I feel like we have a chance to really do that,” WKU junior offensive tackle Mason Brooks said Aug. 3 at the team’s media day.

WKU has gone 4-6 against nonconference opponents the last two seasons, and will face a nonconference slate in 2021 that went a combined 24-15 last season.

The Hilltoppers open the season Sept. 2 at Houchens-Smith Stadium against UT Martin after struggling against FCS teams in recent history – WKU narrowly defeated Chattanooga, 13-10, last season, and fell to Central Arkansas and Maine the two seasons prior.

Following the opener, WKU will travel to West Point, N.Y., to take on Army on the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, before an open week.

After the week off, the Hilltoppers will get a big test at home against an Indiana team ranked 17th in the preseason coaches poll. The game is scheduled to kick off at Houchens-Smith Stadium at 7 p.m., and a full crowd is expected with WKU announcing full capacity earlier this summer after limiting the number of fans last season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think every game every fan is going to be extremely hungry. When you add that into the players that we have and their excitement and their love for football, I think you go into every game on 10 ready to play,” WKU defensive coordinator Maurice Crum said at the team’s media day. “Each game has its own challenges, but that’s why we play the game. You play the game for those moments, and these kids live for those moments and I think they’ll be excited.”

WKU will close out its nonconference schedule Oct. 2 with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., to take on the Big Ten’s Michigan State in a 6:30 p.m. game.

“Definitely challenging but we like those games, we embrace those games,” Helton said at the team’s media day. “You know, you go win those games and all of a sudden you’re part of the national conversation. That’s really what we try to shoot for here – let’s go make some good things happen and be a part of that national conversation.”

The Hilltoppers will open C-USA play Oct. 9 at home against West Division foe UTSA, before hitting the road in back-to-back weeks against Old Dominion – a program that didn’t play last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic – and FIU.

WKU will then return home to face Charlotte in an Oct. 30 homecoming game, and will host Middle Tennessee in the “100 Miles of Hate” rivalry the following week. The Hilltoppers head to Houston to face Rice on Nov. 13 and return to Bowling Green for a Nov. 20 senior day game against Florida Atlantic and former Hilltopper Willie Taggart.

The Hilltoppers then close out the regular season Nov. 27 in a “Moonshine Throwdown” meeting with Marshall in Huntington, W.Va.

The goal for when it’s all said and done? Make – and win – another bowl game. But first, the Hilltoppers want to capture the C-USA title.

“Bowl games are extremely important,” Helton at the team’s media day. “At the end of the day you always need to make a bowl game, you need to play in a bowl game and we’ve always said here it’s also important to win bowl games. It’s one thing to make a bowl game, but you need to win a bowl game because that puts you on a different platform.

“Our goal every year is to win a conference championship – first and foremost, that’s the goal. We’ll play a competitive nonconference schedule. We love the people that we’re going to play, but at the end of the day, you’re evaluated on your conference performance, and we want to make a conference run. That’s our goal every single year. It’s championship first and bowl game second, and go win those bowl games.”{&end}