Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Adam Brott, Brett Taylor
23
Winner Youngstown State YSU 4-4 , 2-3
21
Western Illinois WIU 4-4 , 3-2
Winner
Youngstown State YSU
4-4 , 2-3
23
Final
21
Western Illinois WIU
4-4 , 3-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
YSU Youngstown State 10 10 3 0 23
WIU Western Illinois 7 7 7 0 21

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Western Loses to #24 Youngstown State

Adam Brott finished with 14 tackles while Brett Taylor added 13.

PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois took possession of the ball late in the game but could not get into scoring range as the 23rd-ranked Leathernecks dropped a 23-21 Missouri Valley Football Conference game to #24 Youngstown State on Saturday (Oct. 31). The Leathernecks stand 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the MVFC while the Penguins improved to 4-4 and 2-3.
 
"Give credit to Youngstown State, they did a nice job. They're a very good defensive football team and they did a great job at the end of the game of running the clock out and switching the field position back, which is one of the things that they did all day long and we didn't do a very good job with," said head coach Bob Nielson. "It's disappointing, a hard fought game but one that we're going to look back on and have a lot of could haves and should haves."
 
Neither team scored on their opening drive on the rainy afternoon, Western went 3-and-out while YSU's Zak Kennedy's 34-yard field goal hit off the upright. The Penguins used a 48-yard touchdown on their second drive to take a 7-0 lead.
 
Western responded with a three-play drive to even the score. After a 1-yard loss, Steve McShane broke off a 29-yard run before Trenton Norvell connected with Lance Lenoir on a 56-yard touchdown. Nathan Knuffman's extra point tied the score.
 
Kennedy kicked a 46-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead. Western responded early in the second quarter. Facing 4th-and-10, Western took advantage of a pass interference call and subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct flag to set up 1st-and-goal from the nine. Two plays later Nikko Watson's 7-yard touchdown run eventually put WIU ahead 14-10.
 
Jody Webb scored a 9-yard TD run and Kennedy added a 40-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to go ahead 20-14.
 
The Leathernecks regained the lead midway through the third when Watson rushed for 18 yards on the final two runs of the drive – his second run from 2-yards out for a 21-20 lead.
 
Youngstown responded on its next drive with a 30-yard field goal, which proved to be the final margin.
 
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Western drove to the YSU 26 and faced a 4th-and-1. Watson was stopped just shy of a first down and YSU took over on downs. Hunter Wells tried a deep ball but Luis Sharpe collected his first career interception to end the drive.
 
After two more punts, Western's defense needed a stop with YSU on the ball with 7:36 remaining on its own 10. Three times the Penguins faced 3rd down and eventually converted on a 3rd-and-5, 3rd-and-6 and 3rd-and-5. Western finally got a stop on 3rd-and-6 near midfield and forced a punt with 1:07 remaining.

Western had four consecutive incomplete passes, one of those coming on a pass break-up and another on a dropped pass, and YSU was able to take a knee to close out the game.
 
"We had them three times. We had them at 3rd-and-5, 3rd-and-6, and 3rd-and-5, and the first time it was at their own 15-yard line. We stop them right there, get the ball back, we had the field position switched around maybe could've got the ball close to midfield which would've given us an opportunity for an offensive drive," stated Nielson. "Not only did they use a lot of the clock, they completely changed the field position around in that last drive by generating three first downs and I think we'll look back at that and probably say we didn't execute well in those situations. That's how you have to win tough games, you have to make a play at the end of the game, you have to convert 4th-and-1. We didn't do those things today and they did."
 
Norvell threw for 154 yards, 98 of those coming in the second half. Lenoir led the receiving corps with four receptions totaling 96 yards.
 
McShane totaled a season-high 67 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Watson matched a career-high with two touchdown runs.
 
A pair of sophomore linebackers led the Western defense. Adam Brott collected a career-high 14 tackles, 11 of those solo stops. He also recorded four tackles for a loss, the first time a Leatherneck defender collected 4.0 or more tackles for loss since 2011. Brett Taylor added 13 tackles (nine solos).
 
Senior Kris Harley finished with a career-high eight tackles, including one for a loss. Dallas Nichols also made eight tackles. Despite not recording a sack, Western finished with 10 tackles for a loss.
 
Youngstown State was 5-of-17 on third downs while Western was 3-of-16. The Penguins held the ball for 10:30 longer and held a 356-260 edge in total yards.
 
Western will hit the road for two consecutive road games, starting with next Saturday's (Nov. 7) game at North Dakota State. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.com.
 
GAME NOTES: Watson rushed for two touchdowns for the fourth time in his career. He has 18 in his four years, good for ninth place all-time… Norvell went past 7,000 career total yards, third all-time with 7,130. Norvell also needs 10 passing yards to move past Matt Barr for second place on the WIU career leaderboard… Lenoir extended his streak to 25 straight games with a catch, tying the third-longest in program history. The junior needs five yards to move past Lito Senatus for second place all-time in receiving yards (2,265). Lenoir also surpassed 3,000 all-purpose yards and now with 18 career TD receptions is three away from matching that career record… Brott recorded double-digits in tackles for the second time this year. He had just 2.5 tackles for a loss in the previous seven games this year before recording 4.0 against the Penguins… Taylor made his 11th career start (a normal season), and now has recorded 10-plus tackles in five of those 11 games, a 9.6 total tackle average per game… The team's 10.0 TFL came one shy of matching the season-high set against Eastern Illinois.
 
 
Print Friendly Version