- Saturday's game is Kids Day. All kids 12 and under receive free admission when accompanied by an adult.
- Those who purchase a football game ticket can bring the ticket stub to Western Hall Saturday night and receive a free general admission ticket to the women's basketball game at 7 p.m. versus Chicago State.
ALL-TIME SERIES: WIU trails 8-4
THANK YOU SENIORS: Western Illinois will honor 13 seniors playing their final home game at Hanson Field. Those seniors include: #8 Luis Sharpe (DB), #11 Kyle Hammonds (DB), #20 Dwayne Phillips (DB), #25 Dallas Nichols (LB), #27 Brad Blumenshine (LB), #39 Larry Harris (TE), #41 Nikko Watson (RB), #63 Ryan Ricketts (OL), #89 Taylor Hill (TE), #92 Kris Harley (DL), #96 John LaChapelle (DL), #98 Gavin Ricketts (DL), and #99 Eddy Holtschlag (DL).
THE SERIES: Western Illinois trails the all-time series with South Dakota State 8-4... The Fighting Leathernecks are looking to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Jackrabbits.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Bob Nielson is in his third year with the Leathernecks. He owns a 14-20 record at Western and 184-79-1 in his 23rd year as a head coach... South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier is 128-88 in his 19th year in charge of the Jackrabbits and overall as a head coach.
THE RANKINGS: Western is receiving votes in the FCS Coaches poll (2 points/39th place)and the STATS FCS poll (37 points/33rd place)... South Dakota State is ranked fifth in the FCS Coaches and STATS FCS poll.
SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: South Dakota State is coming off a come-from-behind victory at in-state rival South Dakota last weekend 30-23... SDSU out-scored the Coyotes 20-3 in the final quarter to pull out the win... Kyle Parris rushed for a team-leading 56 yards and scored two touchdowns in the final quarter... Taryn Christion threw for 153 yards and an interception while Zach Lujan was 6-of-8 for 128 yards... Jake Wieneke continues to lead the MVFC in receiving following his 180-yard performance on six catches... Dallas Brown had 12 tackles while Nick Farina added 10 and an interception return for a TD in the fourth quarter... The Jackrabbits lead the nation having not lost a fumble this year and ranks sixth with a MVFC-best 15.4 points allowed per game... The offense ranks 12th in passing efficiency (151.95) while the defense is 10th in passing efficiency defense (102.38)... SDSU also leads the nation with just six turnovers lost.
LEATHERNECKS CONTINUE WITH NATION'S TOUGHEST SCHEDULE: Once again based off the NCAA rankings, Western Illinois has the nation's toughest schedule according to the NCAA Division I FCS... The Fighting Leathernecks are one of five MVFC teams among the 'Top 12' ranked... Western continues to rank first with a .687 cumulative opposition winning percentage, ahead of Elon (.641) and Furman (.611).
MORE RANKED OPPONENTS: Last year WIU played a program-record eight ranked teams in the 12-game schedule... The 2015 season picked up where last year left off, playing #25 Eastern Illinois, at #1 Coastal Carolina, at #12 UNI, at #3 Illinois State, versus #24 Youngstown State and at #5 North Dakota State... Southern Illinois, South Dakota and Indiana State all received votes at the time Western played that game... This week's opponent South Dakota State enters the game ranked fifth nationally.
TAYLOR AMONG ELITE SOPHOMORES: Linebacker Brett Taylor surpassed 100 tackles on the year... With 112, he has currently recorded the most tackles by a sophomore since Edgerton Hartwell in 1998 with 156 total tackles... With nearly as many solo tackles (60) as the next closest in total tackles (David Griffith, 65), Taylor is on pace to become the first sophomore to lead the team in tackles since Kyle Glazier in 2008 (91)... Currently 13th nationally in total tackles and solo tackles, he's the only underclassman nationally to rank in the 'Top 13' in both categories.
LEATHERNECK NOTES:
• Western matched its win total from last year, as the five wins equal the 2014 team for the most over the past six seasons... A victory Saturday over South Dakota State gives Western its first winning record in five years.
• The win at Indiana State marked the first time in the past three years Western won a game when trailing after the first and third quarter. WIU was 0-15 when trailing after each quarter heading into the Indiana State game.
• A victory over South Dakota State not only gives Western its needed sixth win to become playoff eligible, but would put the Leathernecks in a tie for third place in the MVFC standings at 5-3 and owning the tie-breaker with South Dakota State and potentially UNI if the Panthers defeat Southern Illinois... In that scenario those three (along with North Dakota State and Illinois State) would finish as the top five teams in the league. So that being said...
• Playoffs with 3 League Losses? Â
In 30 previous seasons, seven MVFC teams with three or more conference losses got into the NCAA playoffs. Two league teams, North Dakota State in 2010 and Indiana State last year, had a .500 conference record and earned a playoff berth.
Previous MVFC Playoff Teams with 3 MVFC Losses
2006 - Southern Illinois (t-4th place, 4-3 in the league)
2010 - North Dakota State (t-3rd, 4-4 in the league)
2010 - Western Illinois (2nd place, 5-3 in the league)
2012 - Illinois State (t-3rd place, 5-3 in the league)
2013 - South Dakota State (t-2nd place, 5-3 in the league)
2014 - South Dakota State (4th place, 5-3 in the league)
2014 - Indiana State (t-5th place, 4-4 in the league)
• With a win Saturday, Sean McGuire can join his teammate Trenton Norvell as a freshman quarterback who won their first two starts... Then redshirt-freshman Matt Barr in 2007 won his WIU debut start, also an overtime victory just like McGuire, when the Leathernecks defeated South Dakota State in a four-OT win.
• Over the past 11 games, Western has registered 24 takeaways (15 interceptions/9 fumble recoveries) and owns a +7 advantage in turnover margin. The defense scored three touchdowns this year alone, including the 95-yard interception return by Aaron Diggs.
• In the 34 games Western has played with Bob Nielson as head coach, the Leathernecks have forced at least one turnover in 30 of those 34 contests.
• Western ranks 33rd nationally in fumble recoveries (9), led by current second place ranked Brett Taylor (3)... The 20 turnovers gained this year is second in the MVFC and 27th nationally.
• Brett Taylor ended one shy of tying a Missouri Valley Football Conference record with his two fumble recoveries at Illinois. He picked up another loose ball and scored a touchdown versus Southern Illinois. Taylor ranks second in the nation with three fumble recoveries.
• Nikko Watson has rushed for a touchdown in seven of his eight games played... In the four WIU wins he played in Watson recorded seven TDs and four 100-yard rushing games; in the four losses he has five touchdowns but only 100-yard game.
• Speaking of Nikko Watson, now that he met the national minimum of percentage of team games played, he stands 13th nationally in rushing yards per game (105.0).
• Western already clinched an above .500 record at home, and can make it 4-1 with a victory Saturday.
• For the fourth time this year Western gained 500-plus yards of total offense.
• Western was flagged for 41 or fewer yards for the third straight game, following a streak of five consecutive games of 50-plus yards.
• When Eddy Holtschlag joined an elite group of players with 40 or more games played... Holtschlag (41) joined Gavin Ricketts (45-of-45) and Larry Harris (44-of-45).
• Western was picked to finish eighth in the 10 team MVFC. The Leathernecks will finish no worse than tied for fifth but a victory will put Western tied for third place.
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