ast Saturday could’ve have been the last game in which the Hilltoppers set foot on the Smith Stadium turf this season.

Western Illinois could have kept its reputation alive as being the only Gateway team the Hilltoppers haven’t beaten in the regular season.

But “shoulda, coulda, woulda” can only get a team close to nowhere.

Offensive lineman Buster Ashley was one of the eight seniors honored on Senior Night at the WIU game

Although he enjoyed the ceremony, he said it wasn’t too emotional for him.

“I felt like it was another game,” Ashley said. “I knew my teammates weren’t going to let this be my final game.”

Before the season started, things were looking a little shaky for this Hilltopper team. The youth of the Hilltoppers was definitely a factor.

Ashley admits that he was also reluctant about their potential because of what the critics were saying about Western.

“It might have went to my head, but after I saw the guys got along and saw the talent that we had with the freshmen coming in and the juniors showing leadership, I knew we had a good team,” Ashley said.

Along with the young talent, the seniors’ will to step up as leaders has played a tremendous role in the Hilltoppers’ season. And with the defense continuing to be a dominant force in the conference, the offensive linemen turned their intensity level up a notch.

“It’s pretty important if we all play as one,” Ashley said. “If one of us messes up, then the whole play is messed up.”

But the Illinois State game on Oct. 30 was a harsh blow to the offensive line when the statistics showed that the running backs had a collective 84 rushing yards.

“Eighty-four rushing yards just wasn’t good enough, and I told them that was representative of their performance,” Coach David Elson said.

Elson challenged the line to not let that happen again, and it has obviously worked. In the last two games Western rushed for 336 and 473 yards respectively.

Rescheduled game not messing up flow

This time of the season is usually reserved for the Hilltoppers to have a week off before playoffs start.

There was a change in that plan in the fourth week of the season when Western was scheduled to play Florida International Sept. 25.

But Hurricane Jeanne whipped past the sunny city of Miami and the game was postponed.

Now the team will have that match up at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s not messing up our flow,” Elson said. “Playing that game does nothing but help our flow.”

It would definitely help the Hilltoppers (8-2, 6-1 Gateway) if they board the plane with a win against the Golden Panthers (2-5).

And even though this is a non-conference game, Elson said that this game is very important and will motivate the team to do well.

“With the playoffs coming up, I think a 9-2 record would give us an excellent chance as a top-four seed,” Elson said.

A top-four seed would give the Hilltoppers the opportunity to have home-field advantage for one or two games.

Ashley remembers being a part of the 2002 national championship team. He said he thinks this team is talented enough to win that title this year.

“One thing we did in 2002 is that we never looked ahead, and that’s what we’re not doing now,” Ashley said. “If we take one game at a time, everything will fall into place.”

Reach Amber North at sports@wkuherald.com.