ALL-TIME SERIES: WIU leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: WIU 17, @CCU 10 (11/27/2010)
FACING NUMBER 1 AGAIN: For the second straight year, Western Illinois will square off against the nation's top-ranked FCS team when it travels to Coastal Carolina... The Leathernecks are 1-6 all-time against No. 1s, this time looking to snap a five-game overall losing streak and having lost all three times when playing No. 1 on the road... Last year Western played host to #1 North Dakota State and led the Bison in the fourth quarter before losing 17-10.
THE SERIES: Western Illinois used two rushing touchdowns by Matt Barr and five takeaways, including an interception at the goal line near the end of the game, to win at Coastal Carolina 17-10 in the 2010 FCS Playoffs opening round. It's the only meeting between the two programs.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Bob Nielson is in his third year with the Leathernecks. He owns a 10-16 record at Western and 180-75-1 in his 23rd year as a head coach... Coastal Carolina head coach Joe Moglia is in his fourth year as head coach at CCU. He owns a 34-10 record at Coastal and overall.
THE RANKINGS: Western enters this week receiving votes in both the STATS FCS (46)and Coaches (1) 'Top 25' polls... Coastal is ranked first in the FCS Coaches poll and second in the STATS FCS poll.
STREAK ENDS AT 25: Western Illinois' streak of 25 straight games scoring came to an end at Illinois, shut out 44-0 by the Illini. The previous game Western was held scoreless was the 2012 season finale, just prior to the start of the Bob Nielson era.
MORE RANKED OPPONENTS: The season started with a 33-5 win over #25 Eastern Illinois, and Western's schedule will not get any easier... Western travels to current No. 1 Coastal Carolina... The future opponents rankings this week includes: Southern Illinois and South Dakota (receive votes), UNI (9th), Illinois State (5th), Youngstown State (16th), North Dakota State (2nd), Indiana State (23rd) and South Dakota State (7th). Despite the schedule, Western is only ranked sixth nationally in toughest schedule. However, none of the other seven programs face seven ranked opponents.
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS: Coastal Carolina will play at home for the first time this year, and brings a 2-0 record following the 41-14 win at South Carolina State... DeAngelo Henderson rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown... Alex Ross completed 19-of-28 passes for 195 yards and two TDs with an interception... Devon Brant and Alex Scearce had six solo tackles each. Scearce added two tackles for a loss and two pass break-ups... Coastal ranks third in the nation in first downs and eighth in turnovers lost (1)... The 497 yards of total offense per game leads the Big South Conference and ranks 12th nationally... Henderson ranks second nationally averaging 202 all-purpose yards per game... The last two years the Chanticleers were eliminated in the FCS playoffs by MVFC member and eventual national champion North Dakota State... Coastal will not play a FBS game this season.
LEATHERNECK NOTES:
• Western's current ranking of 31st nationally is down one spot from last week but still the highest since the 2011 preseason poll.
• Western improved to 3-7 overall against ranked FCS teams under head coach Bob Nielson following the win over Eastern Illinois. The Leathernecks are 3-3 in their last six games versus ranked opponents, this after going 3-10 versus ranked teams from 2009-12.
• The Leathernecks moved to 4-0 against non-conference FCS teams under Bob Nielson. Western travels to current No. 1 FCS program Coastal Carolina - a program that recently announced it is making the move to the Sun Belt Conference and joining the FBS ranks.
• Keeping Eastern Illinois to 5 points marked the lowest scoring total by an opponent in the Bob Nielson era (6 points on two occasions). It's the lowest total since blanking Valparaiso in the 2010 season opener at Hanson Field.
• Western kept Eastern Illinois without a touchdown for the first time since at Penn State in 2009, a span of 65 games.
• Western Illinois recorded four takeaways at Illinois. Over the past three games, Western has registered 13 takeaways (8 interceptions/5 fumble recoveries) and owns a +8 advantage in turnover margin.
• Last weekend 18 of the 22 starters were players recruited by Bob Nielson and his staff to Western since spring 2013.
• Brett Taylor ended one shy of tying a Missouri Valley Football Conference record with his two fumble recoveries at Illinois. He leads the nation in that category.
LED BY UNDERCLASSMEN: The Leathernecks lost their top seven tacklers from last year and had a few holes to fill on defense along the back seven. Two games into the season, Western's top seven tacklers are all freshmen and sophomores, led by middle linebacker Brett Taylor. He recorded a game- and career-high 16 tackles at Illinois (8 coming in the first 20 minutes of the game) and recovered two fumbles. Fellow sophomore David Griffith also recorded a career-high in tackles at Illinois, 10 to go with an interception and forced fumble. Griffith and fellow sophomore safety Aaron Diggs are tied for second with 15 tackles this year... Diggs forced a fumble and recovered one at Illinois... Redshirt-freshman Xavier Rowe (14), sophomore Adam Brott (13) and redshirt-freshmen Pete Swenson and Michael Bishoff (11 each) are next in tackles.
TAYLOR LEADS THE NATION: Following his performance at Illinois, Brett Taylor now leads the country with two fumble recoveries... Both recoveries happened on consecutive drives in the third quarter at Illinois, and was one shy of matching the Missouri Valley Football Conference single-game record... Taylor also stands 25th in the country averaging 11 tackles per game.
WATSON MAKES HIS RETURN: Senior running back Nikko Watson returns to action this week, his first game action since the 2013 season finale... Watson used his redshirt year during the 2014 season and sat out the first two games this year... He owns a 4.2 career yard per carry average, rushing for 1,648 yards on 393 attempts and nine touchdowns... Watson was forced into action late in his true-freshman year due to injuries and gained 485 yards over the final four games of the season, earning a spot on the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer team... Watson needs 496 yards to tie for 10th place on the all-time yardage list.
WATSON REACHES THE CENTURY MARK: Nikko Watson ranks 10th all-time in Western history with his six 100-yard rushing games... Watson ranks fifth on the WIU list for most rushing yards in a quarter when he gained 115 versus South Dakota State in 2011.
WATSON 100-YARD RUSHING GAMES
170 - South Dakota State (29 carries/2011)
149 - at Youngstown State (30 carries/2011)
126 - at South Dakota (21 carries/2012)
109 - Butler (25 carries/2012)
108 - Hampton (27 carries/2013)
106 - North Dakota State (16 carries/2011)
WATSON GETS THE THREE-PEAT: In his third season-opening appearance, Nikko Watson again gained 100-plus yards on the ground... In his Leatherneck debut at Youngstown State in 2011, Watson tallied 149 yards on a career-high 30 carries... In the 2012 season-opener, he recorded 109 yards versus Butler on 25 attempts... Watson tallied 108 yards on 27 tries versus Hampton to open the 2013 season.
NEW FACES: Western saw five true-freshmen take the field in their collegiate debut versus Eastern Illinois... Linebackers Quentin Moon (7 tackles) and Riggs Baxter (1 tackle), defensive back Justin Fitzpatrick (4 tackles/2 PBU), tight end Adam Conrady and running back Steve McShane (52 yards rushing) all made their debut... Offensive lineman Drew Wagner saw his first action at Illinois... Including redshirts, a total of 17 freshmen took the field for Western in the first two games and two are starters at cornerback - Xavier Rowe and Timothy Smith... Overall, Western has had 22 newcomers see action for the first time as a Leatherneck. |
