WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (0-0 overall)
at SAM HOUSTON STATE BEARKATS  (0-0 overall)

Thursday, September 1st  -  6 p.m.  -  Huntsville, TX
All-Time Series: Series tied 4-4-1
Last Meeting: @WIU 56, SHSU 14 (9/23/10)

THE GAME: Western Illinois kicks off its 108th season of football... This season-opening clash marks the 10th meeting between Western Illinois and Sam Houston State... The Leathernecks are 8-6-1 all-time against programs in the Southland Conference... For the second time in three years Western opens the season in Huntsville (35-28 win in 2009)... The Fighting Leathernecks have won three straight in the series (2002, 2009, 2010) and four of the last five meetings.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois received 247 votes in the preseason Sports Network/Fathead.com 'Top 25' poll (30th place) and 72 votes in the FCS Coaches 'Top 25' poll (27th place)... Sam Houston State received 75 votes in the Sports Network/Fathead.com 'Top 25' poll (40th place) and 9 votes in the FCS Coaches 'Top 25' poll (47th place).

THE COACHES: Mark Hendrickson is in his 13th year with the Leatherneck Football program, second full year as the head coach. He owns a 13-15 record at Western and overall (parts of two years as acting head coach)... Willie Fritz enters his second year in charge of Sam Houston State, 6-5 with the Bearkats and 142-57-1 overall in 18 years.

TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE: Western Illinois has amassed the highest all-time winning percentage of any Division I school in Illinois. The Leathernecks recorded their 500th career win last September against Sam Houston State.

School............. 1st Year...... Games................... W - L - T......... Pct.
WESTERN......... 1903................ 959............. 506-417-36........ .545
Northern Illinois. 1899.............. 1023............. 512-460-51........ .525
Illinois.................. 1890.............. 1152............. 573-528-51........ .520
Eastern Illinois... 1913................ 996............. 470-483-43........ .493
Southern Illinois 1913................ 932............. 425-475-32........ .473
Illinois State....... 1887................ 988............. 429-495-64........ .467
Northwestern..... 1882.............. 1119............. 463-613-43........ .433

500 AND COUNTING: Leatherneck Football hit a milestone in the 56-14 win over Sam Houston State. That marked the 500th career win in Western Illinois history... Now in the 108th year of the storied program, the Fighting Leathernecks own the highest winning percentage of all the Division I programs in the state of Illinois (.545, 506-417-36).

2011 TEAM CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED: Three seniors and a junior were voted team captains for the 2011 season. Linebacker Kevin Palermo (West Chicago/Driscoll Catholic) and defensive back Tim Franken (Carol Stream/Driscoll Catholic), both seniors, join senior tight end Aaron Muhammad (River Oaks, TX/Tyler College) and junior quarterback Wil Lunt (Rochester/Rochester) in representing the Fighting Leathernecks.

FAMILIAR CAPTAINS: For two of Western Illinois' captains, this is not their first stint sharing the team honor... Linebacker Kevin Palermo and defensive back Tim Franken, both of whom played as true-freshmen, were team captains at Driscoll Catholic High School and have played football together since elementary school age.

ALL-TIME SERIES: This marks the 10th meeting between Western Illinois and Sam Houston State... The Leathernecks are 8-6-1 all-time against programs in the Southland Conference... For the second time in three years Western opens the season at Sam Houston State (35-28 win in 2009)... The Fighting Leathernecks have won three straight in the series and four of the last five meetings.

SCOUTING THE BEARKATS: Sam Houston State returns 23 starters and 43 letterwinners for the 2011 season... The Bearkats have all but one starter back on offense and will replace two defensively... After losing 56-14 to the Leathernecks last year, SHSU won six of its final nine games... The Bearkats are 51-40-4 in season-opening games, including a victory in 10 of their last 13... Tim Flanders returns after earning the Southland Conference's 'Freshman of the Year' award. He tallied 13 rushing TDs last year, including both scores in the Western game... The defense's 31 sacks last year were the most since 2001... SHSU owns an 88-42-1 record in 24 home seasons.