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Western Illinois University Athletics

Kyle Glazier

Football

Football Travels to #13 North Dakota State

WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (3-1, 1-0)
at #13 NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (3-1, 0-1)
Saturday, October 2, 1 p.m.,  Fargo, N.D.
Fargodome (Artifical Turf/18,700 capacity)
All-Time Series: NDSU leads 2-1
Last Meeting: NDSU 14, @WIU 7 (10/31/09)

THE GAME: Western Illinois makes the first of two consecutive trips to the Dakotas to face 13th-ranked North Dakota State... In the three previous meetings, the road team has come away with a win (2007-09)... This will be the first ranked opponent Western will face this season... The Leathernecks enter the game second nationally in rushing offense, fourth in total offense, third in scoring offense, sixth in scoring defense and third in turnover margin... This marks Western's first road game at a NCAA FCS opponent... North Dakota State ranks fourth in scoring defense among the national leaders.

THE RANKINGS: Western received 129 points (34th place) in The Sports Network/Fathead.com 'Top 25 poll and 50 points in the FCS Coaches poll (29th place). North Dakota State is ranked 13th in both national polls.

THE SCHEMES: Western Illinois will line up in a multiple formation on offense and 3-4 alignment on defense... North Dakota State runs a West Coast style offense and 4-3 defensive alignment.

THE COACHES: Mark Hendrickson is in his 12th year with the Leatherneck Football program, first as the head coach. He owns a 3-1 record this season, 8-11 record in three years (parts of two years as acting head coach)... Craig Bohl is 55-26 in his eighth year with the Bison and overall as a head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: This is the fourth meeting all-time between Western Illinois and North Dakota State... The Leathernecks will look to continue the series trend as the road team has won all three meetings... The last two margins has been seven or fewer points.

SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State opened the season with a defensive battle, 6-3 win at FBS Kansas... The Bison dropped their first MVFC game, 16-9 at Northern Iowa, but have rebounded to win two consecutive at home, against Morgan State (35-9) and #20 South Dakota (38-16)... NDSU leads the MVFC and ranks fourth nationally allowing just 11 points per game... The Bison ranks fifth in net punting (39.1), ninth in punt returns (17.9) and eighth in sacks per game (3.0)... John Prelvitz ranks eighth nationally averaging 43 yards per punt... Coulter Boyer is third in the league but tied for ninth nationally with a sack per game. He has 23 tackles, team-leading 6.0 TFL, 5.0 sacks and two fumble recoveries... D.J. McNorton averages 92 rushing yards per game - fourth in the league and 31st nationally. He has rushed for four touchdowns... Brock Jensen has thrown for four touchdowns and 300 yards in two games, completing 47.2 percent of his passes but turning in a 153.66 passing rating... Ryan Jastram converted 10-of-11 extra points and 4-of-6 field goals... Preston Evans leads the defense making 33 tackles, including two for a loss... North Dakota State's defense has picked off six recorded six interceptions, 26 tackles for a loss and 13 sacks in four games.

DIFFERENCE IN WINNING/LOSING MVFC OPENER: Looking over the previous 11 years Mark Hendrickson has been at Western Illinois, winning the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener has been a telling sign of the season... When Western won its conference-opener (five times), the team would eventually win or share two titles, tie for third twice and finish no worse than fourth... When the Leathernecks lost their opener, the squad finished no better than tied for fourth (two occasions)... Western captured its 2010 conference opener in convincing fashion defeating Indiana State 40-7 on Homecoming.

PROTECT THE BALL: Western Illinois committed its first offensive turnover of the year, but still ranks among the national leaders in turnover margin. The Leathernecks committed two miscues against Indiana State but made up for it by recording four takeaways... Western ranks first in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and third nationally in turnover margin (+7/1.75 pg). Last year Western finished at minus-12 in turnovers.

NATIONALLY-RANKED OFFENSE: Western's offense has been nothing short of impressive during the month of September. Head coach Mark Hendrickson, offensive coordinator Doug Ruse and the offense ranks among the national leaders (and leads the MVFC) in several categories...
  • 2nd in rushing offense (287 ypg)
  • 4th in total offense (480 ypg)
  • 3rd in scoring offense (40.5 ppg)
Bryce Flowers leads the Valley and ranks ninth nationally averaging 109 yards on the ground... Matt Barr is 28th in total offense and 38th in passing efficiency.

TOUCHDOWN WESTERN ILLINOIS: That phrase has been said often during the first four games of the 2010 season. Western has scored 23 touchdowns this season - 16 rushing and 7 passing... The 40.5 ppg (162 points) leads the conference and ranks third nationally. This year's team already outscored last year's squad, which finished with 154 points and 21 TDs in 11 games.

DEFENSE MATCHING THE OFFENSE: The Leatherneck defense is keeping pace with the offense's national rankings... Western stands among the national rankings...
  • 4th in passing efficiency defense (87.37)
  • 6th in scoring defense (13.0 ppg)
  • 3rd in turnover margin (+1.75)
  • 5th in pass defense (114.5 ypg)
Senior linebacker Kyle Glazier enters the weekend tied for 34th nationally in tackles for a loss (1.38 p/g), 40th in tackles per game (9.5) and 79th in sacks (0.5 p/g).

HOME SWEET HOME: After going winless at Hanson Field last year, this year's Leathernecks have been simply dominating at home in the first three games.
  • The offense is scoring 47 points per game at home while the defense is allowing 7.0 ppg...
  • The offense has scored in all 12 quarters at home; the defense has shutout the opposition in 10 of the 12 quarters...
  • The rushing game has tallied at least 300 yards in all three home games; the defense allowed 180 or fewer yards of total offense twice...
  • The offense had kept control of the ball at least 34 or more minutes in two of the games...
  • The defense has recorded nine of the 10 takeaways at home.
  • And it has rained at some point during the day of every game. The Valparaiso and Indiana State games were played in a constant rain all game long.

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Glazier

#12 Kyle Glazier

LB
6' 1"
Senior
Matt Barr

#4 Matt Barr

QB
6' 2"
Senior
Bryce Flowers

#23 Bryce Flowers

RB
5' 10"
Redshirt

Players Mentioned

Kyle Glazier

#12 Kyle Glazier

6' 1"
Senior
LB
Matt Barr

#4 Matt Barr

6' 2"
Senior
QB
Bryce Flowers

#23 Bryce Flowers

5' 10"
Redshirt
RB