WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS (1-2 overall, 0-0 MVFC)
at #2 NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS (1-1 overall, 0-0 MVFC)
Saturday, September 24  •  4 p.m.  •  UNI Dome
All-Time Series: UNI leads 26-13
Last Meeting: @WIU 30, UNI 14 (11/20/10)

THE GAME: Western Illinois and Northern Iowa both open Missouri Valley Conference play... Western closes out a September in which the Leathernecks will play 3-of-4 games on the road... UNI is coming off a bye week and will play host to Western in its home-opener... The match-up will feature the top two teams from the MVFC last year. Western won the meeting but finished one game behind the Panthers in the final standings. Both teams qualified for the Division I playoffs last year... This also marks the fourth straight game Western will play a ranked team or one receiving votes in the 'Top 25' poll.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois received 18 points in the Sports Network/Fathead.com 'Top 25' poll (50th place)... UNI is ranked second in both the Sports Network/Fathead.com and FCS Coaches 'Top 25' polls.

THE COACHES: Mark Hendrickson is in his 13th year with the Leatherneck Football program, second full year as the head coach. He owns a 14-17 record at Western and overall (parts of two years as acting head coach)... Mark Farley is in his 11th year as head coach at Northern Iowa. He owns a 90-40 record at UNI and overall.

RADIO: Every Western Illinois Football game can be listed to on the Leatherneck Sports Network: WIUS 88.3 FM (Flagship) Macomb and also on WJEQ 102.7 FM in Macomb... Beau Spencer (Play by Play) and Anthony D'Astice (color) will call the action.

TELEVISION: The game will be available on a tape delay basis on WIU-TV3, Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. Michael Broskowski, Adam Studzinski and Sean Ingrassia call the action.

INTERNET: Fans can listen to the game on the internet at: www.GoLeathernecks.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Northern Iowa leads the all-time series against Western Illinois 26-13... Western has won five of the last 12 meetings dating back to head coach Mark Hendrickson's arrival in 1999... The Leathernecks last won at the UNI-Dome in 2006, a 24-13 victory.

HUDSON AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: In his first three games as a Leatherneck Josh Hudson was leading the nation but slipped to 29th nationally in passing efficiency. He threw his first interception of the year at Missouri but still owns a 143.33 passing efficiency... Hudson has completed 25-of-47 passes (53.2 percent) for 371 yards and four TDs.

MORE CAREER LISTINGS FOR CRUMP: Terriun Crump turned in another impressive game with seven receptions totaling 143 yards  helping Western to a home-opening win over Jacksonville... He also moved into the career 'Top 10' in two more categories... Crump's fifth 100-yard receiving game puts him tied for sixth all-time... He currently is tied for ninth all-time with 87 receptions while his 1,394 yards holds 10th place... With four more TDs Crump will join that list as well.

FRANKEN VOTED TEAM CAPTAIN: Senior Tim Franken has played since his true-freshman season, but has missed seven games the last two years due to injuries... Franken is approaching 100 career tackles... He opened the year with six at Sam Houston State and thanks to three at Missouri Franken is one shy of the milestone... Franken also accounted for one of the three interceptions against JU, the fifth of his career and first since his freshman season.

WEST LEADS IN TACKLES: Junior free safety Tyler West led the Leathernecks with three interceptions last season... He finished third on the team with 75 tackles, including six break-ups and nine passes defended. He also recovered a fumble and forced one... One of West's three picks came in the 2010 playoff game against Appalachian State, returning it 60 yards to stop a scoring threat (longest return of any kind last year)... West recorded eight stops in the season-opener at Sam Houston State, but his season-high nine against Missouri moved him into the team lead. With 22 stops, West holds a one-tackle lead among the leaders.

AND ALSO APPROACHING MILESTONE: Like his teammate Tim Franken, junior Tyler West is close to recording his 100th career tackle. With 97 and counting, West is third among the Western active career leaders.

DAVIS NAMED ALL-NEWCOMER: Senior strong safety Ryan Davis was chosen to the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer squad... He made nine starts in 12 games played, recording 29 tackles, six pass break-ups and six passes defended... So far in 2011 Davis has nine tackles, including one for a loss.

ANOTHER DAVIS MAKES DEBUT: Another Davis in the Leatherneck secondary, freshman Martinez Davis, has started the past two games... He shares the team-lead with two pass break-ups and has made six solo tackles.

HOOD MAKES AN IMPACT: Junior Maurice Hood joined the Leathernecks just prior to the season-opener. Originally slated to go to SMU, the JUCO All-American from Tyler College would enroll at Western instead. He came off the bench to break-up a key pass during the Jacksonville win... Hood made his first start at Missouri and responded with a game-high 11 tackles.

ALL-PURPOSE PATTERSON : Redshirt-freshman Larry Patterson took over as the Leathernecks' leader in all-purpose yards. Averaging nearly 100 per game, Patterson is proving to be a threat returning kickoffs. In nine attempts (three per game), he is averaging 27.2 yards per return - second best in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and 23rd nationally.

RECORD-SETTING GAME FOR SHROBLE: Not really the record you want to set if you're Western Illinois, but the Leathernecks called on freshman Michael Shroble 13 times at Missouri to punt. That broke the previous record of 12 set by Peter Muller at Akron in 1971. Chris Fuchs held the freshman record of 11 set during the 2007 season at Illinois... Shroble also tied a Missouri Valley Football Conference record for number of punts in a game, matching Missouri State's Chris Hurst (vs. McNeese State in 1995).

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Northern Iowa dropped a last-minute heart-breaking 20-19 loss at Iowa State to open the season, then followed with a 34-23 win at Stephen F. Austin... UNI leads the country in turnover margin with a +7 in two games... The offense ranks 21st nationally averaging 207.5 rushing yards per game. UNI is tied for ninth having allowed one sack this year... The defense stands 15th in pass efficiency defense (99.92)... The 21.5 points allowed per game is good for 36th... UNI is ranked among the nation 'Top 50' in seven categories... Tirrell Rennie is seventh nationally in rushing (MVFC-best 126.5 yards per game) and 12th in total offense (292.5)... Garrett Scott's two interceptions ties him for second nationally... David Johnson is tied for fourth averaging 12 points per game and 74th at 61.5 rushing yards per game... L.J. Fort's 12.5 tackles per game puts him in a tie for fifth nationally... Tyler Sievertsen is tied for fourth in the nation with 2.0 field goals per game.