THE SERIES: Western Illinois trails the all-time series versus North Dakota State 5-2... The Leathernecks have not defeated the Bison at Hanson Field.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Charlie Fisher is in his first year at WIU. He is 5-1 with the Leathernecks and 41-18 overall in six years as a head coach... North Dakota State's Chris Klieman owns a 33-4 record in his third year leading the Bison and overall as a head coach.
THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 12th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll, 12th in HERO Sports and 13th in FCS Coaches... North Dakota State ranks fourth in the STATS FCS, HERO Sports and FCS Coaches poll.
ALL-TIME AT HANSON FIELD: On September 23, 1950, Hanson Field was dedicated and became the home of Leatherneck Football... In the last 66 years, Western has compiled a 235-117-7 record at home. In 51 of those years Western finished at least .500 at home, including a perfect 6-0 record in 2010... The 4-1 record in 2015 was the best since that 2010 squad.
LENOIR CHASING MVFC RECORDS: Senior Lance Lenoir already has re-written the WIU receiving record book. Now he's chasing the Missouri Valley Football Conference records... Lenoir currently stands tied for third all-time in MVFC history with 242 receptions, eight shy of Tyrone Walker of Illinois State (2009-12)... Lenoir is in a chase with South Dakota State junior wideout Jake Wieneke (3,579) for the yardage record. Lenoir, one of eight all-time in MVFC history with 3,000 receiving yards at 3,462, enters this weekend seventh in yardage. Lenoir is 46 yards shy of Cornell Craig (SIU), 82 away from Mike Furrey (UNI) and 103 away of Walker to move up the career listing... UNI's Dedric Ward (1993-96) holds the record at 3,876... Lenoir's 25 touchdown receptions ties him for 10th all-time, 16 shy of Ward's record.
LENOIR AMONG ACTIVE NCAA LEADERS: Lance Lenoir so far this year is ranked among the NCAA FCS career active leaders, including: 3rd in Total Receptions (242); 3rd in Total Yards (3,462); 3rd in Receiving Touchdowns (25).
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Western ranks among the 'Top 15' in the latest NCAA FCS rankings:
Time of Possession (4th/34:36)
4th Down Conversion Defense (5th/.200)
Fumbles Lost (10th/2)
Redzone Defense (13th/.688)
Winning Percentage (6th/.833)
Western also stands among the 'Top 25' in five other categories: 21st in total offense (436.8), 23rd in Turnovers Lost (3), 24th in sacks allowed (1.17), 24th in net punting (38.2), 24th in passing offense (267.5).
• Brett Taylor is fifth in solo tackles (MVFC-leading 6.5 p/g) and 18th nationally in total tackles (10.2 p/g).
• Lance Lenoir, Jr. enters this week third nationally in receiving yards per game (MVFC-leading 126.5) and sixth in receptions per game (MVFC-leading 7.5). His 143.3 all-purpose yards per game leads the MVFC and stands 20th in the country.
• Steve McShane stands 11th in rushing yards per game (MVFC-leading 108.3), 17th in rushing TDs (7) and 25th in all-purpose yards (131.3).
• Sean McGuire is 33rd in passing TDs (10) and moved up to 17th in passing yards per game (259.8). His 20 pass completions per game ranks 26th nationally, and he enters this weekend 30th in points accounted for per game (13.3).
• Nathan Knuffman moved up to 23rd nationally (second in the MVFC) averaging 41.9 yards per punt.
TWO MAJOR TURNAROUND STATISTICS FROM 2015: Western ended last year minus four minutes in the time of possession battle, losing the head-to-head statistic nine of the 13 games... This year the Leathernecks rank fourth nationally and second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference averaging 34:36 minutes per game. In all six games, Western has won the TOP competition, including three games holding the ball for at least 10 minutes longer... Last year, Western averaged 30.6 yards of net punting. So far in 2016, the Leathernecks have allowed 5.1 yards on punt returns to score 38.2 yards of net punting, good for 24th in the country.
LEATHERNECK NOTES:
• Currently the MVFC rushing leader and 11th nationally, Steve McShane is trying to become the first Leatherneck to lead the Missouri Valley Football Conference in rushing since Herb Donaldson in 2008.
• Brett Taylor currently ranks third in the MVFC in tackles per game at 10.2 (18th nationally). The last Leatherneck to lead the conference was All-American Kyle Glazier in 2010 (12.85), who finished second in the Buck Buchanan Award voting that year.
• Brett Taylor needs just 17 solo tackles to tie for 10th place on the WIU career 'Top 10'.
• In just 16 career games, Sean McGuire is tied for sixth all-time for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (5)... He is just one away from a tie for fourth place... Every other quarterback on the list has a minimum 20 games played.
• Sean McGuire needs 282 passing yards to reach 3,000 in his career. In six of his 10 starts, McGuire has thrown for 300-plus passing yards.
• Nathan Knuffman kicked his 30th career field goal (at Missouri State).
• Five different Leathernecks currently have 4.0 tackles for a loss or more.
• Jamie Gilmore set a career-high with his two rushing TDs at Missouri State, now with three this season.
• Devon Moore's 11th rushing TD (game-winner at Missouri State) is the most among active Leathernecks.
• Western has held an advantage in time of possession during the fourth quarter of every game this year... Five times Western has held the ball for 10 or more minutes in a quarter: at Eastern Illinois (1st, 3rd), Northern Arizona (4th), Indiana State (3rd) and Missouri State (2nd).
30-PLUS STARTS: Senior Nathan Knuffman extended his streak to 43 consecutive games with a start, every game of his career... Lance Lenoir made his 42nd career start... Joey Borsellino joined the 30-start club in the season-opener, now 35 all-time... Trenton Norvell (33) has also surpassed 30 career starts... Offensive lineman Matt Zobrist joined the club after earning the start against Indiana State, now at 31... Offensive lineman James Torgerson (25), linebacker Brett Taylor (22) and defensive back David Griffith (21), all juniors, are next closest to joining the group.
KNUFFMAN KICKS INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Senior Nathan Knuffman solidified his spot as one of the top five kickers in Western Illinois history... He ranks fifth all-time in: points (215) and field goals (30), and fourth in extra points (125)... Knuffman is 16 extra points and eight field goals away from moving up to the next spot.
NO KICKOFF RETURNS HERE: Junior Luke Otto leads the MVFC and ranks second nationally with 20 touchbacks on his kickoffs, with five each coming against Indiana State and Missouri State... In fact, in his last 14 kickoffs, Otto and Western have accounted for 10 touchbacks and a total of 18 return yards.
TORGERSON TABBED O-LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: James Torgerson was selected as the MVFC 'Offensive Lineman of the Week' following the Missouri State victory... Torgerson helped Western in its come-from-behind 38-35 MVFC road win... The Leathernecks compiled 461 yards of total offense and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes. Western's rushing TD on 4th-and-goal from the one in the final minute capped the fourth quarter rally.
McGUIRE HITS 300: To say Sean McGuire had a memorable first collegiate start would be an understatement... McGuire threw for 332 yards and accounted for two touchdowns in the 37-30 OT win at Indiana State... He was named MVFC 'Co-Newcomer of the Week' and 'National Freshman of the Week' by STATS... He followed that with 282 yards with a TD versus South Dakota State. McGuire capped his home start debut with a game-winning 7-yard touchdown run in the second overtime to give WIU ultimately a playoff berth and end a losing streak to SDSU... He set career-highs in yards (363), TDs thrown (3) and TDs accounted for (4) versus Indiana State.
McGUIRE 300-YARD PASSING GAMES
363 - Indiana State (25-43, 3TD/1 INT - 2016)
341 - at Illinois State in FCS Playoffs (22-43, 2 TD/1 INT - 2015)
336 - Northern Arizona (22-31, 2TD - 2016)
332 - at Indiana State (29-44, 1 TD/2 INT - 2015)
323 - at Missouri State (24-41, 1 TD/1 INT - 2016)
315 - at Northern Illinois (21-37, 1 TD - 2016)
RALLY TIME: Western Illinois over the past 10 games that Sean McGuire has started, the Leathernecks have staged comeback wins in the fourth quarter or overtime victories four times...
• Western rallied from down 17 at Indiana State in 2015 to win in 37-30 overtime.
• The next start (2015 regular season finale) Western won in double-overtime versus South Dakota State (30-24).
• Down by eight at the start of the fourth quarter, Western rallied for a Homecoming victory over Indiana State (36-35).
• After falling behind by four points at Missouri State, the offense marched down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute to win.
SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State suffered its first loss of the season following a 19-17 last second defeat to South Dakota State... Western will be the sixth Top 25 opponent for North Dakota State this season, matching a regular-season high set in 2014 when the Bison faced 10 ranked opponents including the FCS playoffs. NDSU opened this season with four straight wins over Top 25 competition, including the 11th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in FBS... North Dakota State has won the next game after its last 12 losses... NDSU has not suffered consecutive losses since snapping a five-game losing streak in 2009 with a 14-7 victory at Western Illinois... The Bison's last three losses have all come on the last play
of the game, and seven of the last eight losses have been by a combined 24 points... NDSU ranks eighth nationally allowing just 3.83 tackles for a loss and leads the country allowing minus-4 yards per punt return.
 |
