THE SERIES: Western Illinois trails the all-time series 30-14, but is coming off a 24-19 win in the UNI-Dome last year. A victory Saturday will mark the fourth time in the series that the Leathernecks recorded wins in consecutive years. Western has yet to win three consecutive games versus UNI.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Charlie Fisher is in his first year at WIU. He is 6-3 with the Leathernecks and 42-20 overall in six years as a head coach... Mark Farley owns a 133-66 record in his 16th year at UNI and overall as a head coach.
THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 17th in HERO Sports, 19th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll, and 19th in FCS Coaches... UNI received 37 points (32nd place) in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' and two points (37th place) in the FCS Coaches poll.
THE NEW MVFC LEADER: Senior Lance Lenoir already has re-written the WIU receiving record book, and added a MVFC record to his resume. During the second half at South Dakota he became the MVFC all-time leader in catches. He extended his record to 262.
   Lenoir jumped up two spots to fourth all-time in receiving yards, in a chase with South Dakota State junior wideout Jake Wieneke for that record. Lenoir is one of eight all-time in MVFC history with 3,000 receiving yards, currently at 3,680... Wieneke (3,899) broke the record last week, moving past UNI's Dedric Ward (3,876 yards) then followed by fellow former UNI standout Eddie Berlin (3,735).
CURRENT SAGARIN RANKINGS: According to the current Sagarin rankings of all Division I football programs, Western Illinois stands 18th among the FCS teams and 126th of 253 teams... Western is ranked ahead of 20 FBS programs.
   Among the conference ranking leaders, the Missouri Valley Football Conference once again stands as the top-ranked FCS league in 15th place. The MVFC (56.81) ranked ahead of: Sun Belt (56.49), Mountain West Conference West Division (56.27), Conference USA West Division (55.93), Conference USA East Division (55.67), and Mid-American Conference East Division (54.92). The next closest FCS Conference is the Southern Conference (21st/48.21).
THANK YOU SENIORS: Western Illinois will honor 12 Leathernecks playing in their final regular season game at Hanson Field... Pregame on Saturday Western will honor: (Wide receivers) Joey Borsellino, Lance Lenoir, J'Vaughn Williams; (running back) Jamie Gilmore, Devon Moore; (offensive line) Matt Zobrist, Nick Ziegenbein, Andrew Nichols; (kicker) Nathan Knuffman, Luke Otto; (defensive line) Steve Mercado; and (quarterback) Trenton Norvell... Western will also recognize letterwinner Jean-Marc Charles, who graduated in May but did not play his senior year this fall due to injuries and is currently assisting with the equipment staff.
SECOND HALF STAND: The second half of three recent games, Western has played some of its best football of the season... The Leathernecks allowed just 133 yards of total offense to North Dakota State while holding the Bison scoreless after allowing 21 points in the opening half... South Dakota was limited to 207 yards during the final 30 minutes (320 in the first half) and just three points after scoring 31 in the opening half... Illinois State was held to 10 points (after scoring 21 in the first half) and 184 yards in the second half.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Western ranks among the 'Top 15' in the latest NCAA FCS rankings:
Time of Possession (10th/33:08)
4th Down Conversion Defense (7th/MVFC-leading .286)
Blocked Kicks (18th/3)
Western also stands among the 'Top 30' in several other categories: 11th in fumbles lost (3), 20th in passing offense (265.1 ypg), 21st in sacks allowed (MVFC-leading 1.22) and 22nd in tackles for a loss allowed (4.78 p/g)...
• Brett Taylor ranks FIRST nationally in solo tackles (8.0 p/g) and sixth nationally in total tackles (11.3 p/g).
• Lance Lenoir, Jr. enters this week eighth nationally in receiving yards per game (108.6) and ninth in receptions per game (7.2). His 123.8 all-purpose yards per game stand second in the MVFC and 31st nationally.
• Steve McShane stands 24th in rushing yards per game (MVFC-leading 91.4) and 27th in rushing TDs (MVFC-leading 8).
• Sean McGuire moved up to 13th in passing yards (2,340) and ranks 38th with his 14 touchdown passes. His 20.4 completions per game ranks 21st-best.
LEATHERNECK NOTES:
• Currently the MVFC rushing leader and 24th nationally, Steve McShane is trying to become the first Leatherneck to lead the Missouri Valley Football Conference in rushing since Herb Donaldson in 2008. He has accounted for five of the team's six runs of 20-plus yards.
• Brett Taylor currently ranks second in the MVFC in tackles per game at 11.2 (sixth 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. His 8.0 solo tackles per game not only leads the MVFC but the nation as well. No Leatherneck has ever finished first in the conference in that category.
• Brett Taylor has three games this year of 10-plus solo tackles.
• Sophomore Pete Swenson recorded his 13th and 14th career tackle for a loss. His 7.0 career sacks are the most among active Leathernecks.
• Adam Brott made his 16th career start last game, but his first lined up at defensive end.
• In 19 career games, Sean McGuire is tied for fourth all-time for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (6)... He is just two away from third place... Every other quarterback on the list has a minimum 20 games played.
• Sean McGuire is close to moving past 3,500 career passing yards (3,499). In seven of his 13 starts, McGuire has thrown for 300-plus passing yards.
• Nathan Knuffman ranks 13th among the NCAA active leaders in field goals (34).
• This year 15 different players have made their first start as a Leatherneck (7 offense/8 defense).
• A win Saturday over UNI would mark the fourth time in Leatherneck history WIU had posted consecutive wins in the series.
TAYLOR NEARING 300: Thanks to a game-high 11 tackles against Illinois State, Brett Taylor closed the gap to 300 career stops. He enters the weekend with 274 career total tackles.
MOON IS RISING: Sophomore Quentin Moon played in all 13 games last year as a true-freshman and finished with 26 tackles... He set a career-high with nine tackles against Northern Arizona... Two games later at South Dakota State he matched his career-high of nine tackles then surpassed his best effort against Indiana State with 10 stops (8 solos/2 assisted), his first career double-digit tackles game. Moon added a team-leading and career-high 14 tackles at Missouri State... Moon put together consecutive games with 10-plus tackles - 12 at South Dakota (career-high 10 solos) and 10 versus Illinois State... He stands sixth in the MVFC averaging 8.3 tackles per game... Moon surpassed 100 career tackles during the Illinois State game (102).
NO KICKOFF RETURNS HERE: Junior Luke Otto leads the MVFC and ranks second nationally with 29 touchbacks on his kickoffs, with a season-high five coming against Indiana State and Missouri State.
TRIO MAKE HISTORY: When Isaiah Lesure surpassed 100 yards in the Illinois State game, he became the third Leatherneck to reach the 100-yard mark this year, joining Lance Lenoir and Joey Borsellino... It marks the sixth year in program history that three different receivers recorded 100 yards in a game... The most came in 2003 with five different receivers reached 100... The most recent occurrence was in 2013 when Hi-C Scott, Lenoir and Borsellino each hit the milestone.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Northern Iowa is coming off a 39-6 road win at Indiana State... In his first game, Sam Drysdale kicked four second half field goals... Michael Malloy scored three touchdown runs, all five yards in, and finished with 84 yards... In his first start, Colton Howell finished with 112 passing yards on eight completions... Marcus Weymiller rushed for a career-high 171 yards, mainly in the wildcat formation... UNI gained 307 yards on the ground while holding Indiana State to 88 rushing yards... Karter Schult logged 2.5 sacks to give him 31.5 in his career, good for third place all-time in UNI history... Jalen Rima set a UNI record with a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown in the game... Howell was the third different Panther to start at quarterback this year... The Panther defense ranks second nationally with 17 pass interceptions and 11th in total defense (295.2 yards allowed).
 |
