THE SERIES: For the first time in nearly 50 years, Western Illinois will face Northern Arizona. The only other meeting came in Flagstaff during the 1967 season.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Charlie Fisher begins his first year at WIU. He is 1-0 with the Leathernecks and 37-17 overall in six years as a head coach... Northern Arizona head coach Jerome Souers is 107-98 in 19 years at NAU and overall.
THE RANKINGS: Western ranks 18th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll, 17th in HERO Sports and 18th in FCS Coaches... Northern Arizona ranks 19th in the HERO Sports poll, 19th in STATS and 17th in the FCS Coaches.
FISHER WINS HIS DEBUT: Looking back over the past 60 years, Charlie Fisher became the eighth head coach in Western history to win his debut. The Leathernecks' captured a 38-21 season-opening win at in-state rival Eastern Illinois... Fisher joins Don Patterson (1999 at Northern Illinois, 27-21) and Bill Shanahan (1976 at South Dakota State 28-21) as the only coach to win his debut when playing on the road in that same span.
SEASON-OPENING STREAK: Western captured its fifth straight win on opening night, and for the first time since 2009 the Leathernecks did so on the road... That EIU rivalry game was also just the third season-opening road game against a FCS program since 1986 (2-1 record).
TEAM CAPTAINS: Western Illinois announced the team captains for the 2016 season... During the spring game, head coach Charlie Fisher announced sophomore quarterback Sean McGuire and junior linebacker Brett Taylor received the honor. In fall camp, sophomore linebacker Riggs Baxter was named captain for special teams. The trio will be joined by a fourth Leatherneck every week.
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES: The Leathernecks have four members of the program who already received their bachelor's degree. Trenton Norvell (QB - Marketing), Jacob Judd (Jr/OL - Law Enforcement Justice Administration), and Matt Zobrist (OL - Accountancy) graduated last May. They were joined by Jean-Marc Charles (Exercise Science), who ended his career this summer but will remain with the program as a student equipment manager.
LOOKING FOR BACK-TO-BACK: One part of the Leathernecks' goals during the off-season is to accomplish something only done two other times in program history... Coming off a 2015 FCS Playoff appearance, if Western returns to the postseason, this year's team will match the consecutive years streak from 1996-98 and again from 2002-03.
PRESEASON TOP 25: Western Illinois received two more preseason 'Top 25' rankings when the STATS FCS and Coaches 'Top 25' poll each was released… The Leathernecks were ranked 20th in the STATS poll and 24th in the Coaches… Western was ranked 22nd in both poll at the conclusion of the 2015 season… The No. 16 preseason ranking by the Sporting News poll remained the highest ranking for Western... It marks the first preseason 'Top 25' ranking for Western since the 2008 season, and highest since starting 12th in the 2004 season.
PRESEASON ALL-MVFC POLL: In the preseason MVFC poll, Western (with 17 returning starters) was picked to finish sixth among the 10 teams in a vote by the league's head coaches, select media members and sports information directors... After finishing in a tie for third last year, Western received 176 points to finish sixth in the preseason poll. North Dakota State received 37 of the 39 first-place votes for 388 points. Northern Iowa received the other two votes for first place, tallying 343 points. South Dakota State (284), Illinois State (274) and Youngstown State (254) rounded out the top five... South Dakota (146), Southern Illinois (124), Indiana State (115) and Missouri State (41) rounded out the poll.
TAYLOR EARNS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONOR: Junior linebacker Brett Taylor earned a spot on the STATS Preseason All-American team. Taylor, an All-MVFC selection last fall, earned a spot on the Third Team Preseason team... One of the top defensive players in the MVFC as a sophomore (third in the 'Defensive Player of the Year' voting), Taylor led the Leathernecks with 144 tackles (60 more than the next closest) and scored two touchdowns – interception and fumble return. He tied the WIU season record and shared the national lead with four fumble recoveries.
THREE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVFC: Western Illinois landed three players on the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference team, as announced by the conference office... Junior linebacker Brett Taylor (Macomb/Macomb), senior wide receiver Lance Lenoir, Jr. (Crete/Crete Monee) and junior offensive lineman Jacob Judd (Clinton, IA/Clinton) were chosen to the preseason team.
TOUGHEST SCHEDULE AGAIN?: The 2015 season saw Western finish with the nation's toughest schedule. At 6-5 in the regular season, but 5-3 and 3rd place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Western earned an at-large bid to the postseason and advanced to the second round... This year Western has five preseason ranked opponents on the schedule, another four receiving votes, and another against a FBS program (Northern Illinois).
PLENTY OF RANKINGS: Over the past 2-plus seasons (26 games), 15 have been against a ranked team, another which appeared in the FCS Playoffs, three that received 'Top 25' votes, and three more versus a FBS program.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS AGAINST FCS: The Leathernecks have had great success in season-opening games against Football Championship Subdivision opponents... Western's 38-21 road win at Eastern Illinois marked the 12th win in the last 13 opportunities (only loss 20-6 at Sam Houston State in 2011).
2016: 38-21 at Eastern Illinois
2015: 33-5 vs. #25 Eastern Illinois
2014: 45-6 vs. Valparaiso
2013: 42-9 vs. Hampton
2012: 23-15 vs. Butler
2010: 45-0 vs. Valparaiso
2009: 35-28 at Sam Houston State
2007: 29-26 (4OT) win vs. #20 South Dakota State
2006: 31-6 vs. Morehead State
2002: 64-7 vs. Drake
2001: 17-13 vs. #3 Western Kentucky
1997: 41-0 vs. #6 Eastern Illinois.
Since 2000 the Leathernecks have defeated Division II Wayne State (35-3 in 2003) and lost to FBS teams Missouri (50-20 in 2000), Nebraska (56-17 in 2004), Toledo (62-14 in 2005) and Arkansas (28-24 in 2008).
ALL-TIME AT HANSON FIELD: On September 23, 1950, Hanson Field was dedicated and became the home of Leatherneck Football... In the last 65 years, Western has compiled a 233-117-7 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.
HANSON FIELD TOUGH ON NON-CONFERENCE TEAMS: Playing at Hanson Field has been a tough task for non-conference teams in recent years... The Leathernecks are 32-4 against non-MVFC teams since 1999, including a current 10-game win streak following a 2-0 mark in both 2013 and 2014 then 1-0 during the 2015 season.
SIX STRAIGHT HOME OPENERS: Tied in with the current win streak versus non-MVFC teams at home, Western Illinois won its sixth-straight home opening game... The Fighting Leathernecks extended the streak following the 33-5 win over Eastern Illinois... The last time Western lost its home opener was 2009 versus Stephen F. Austin (40-30).
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Western shares the national lead in several categories in the latest NCAA FCS rankings:
4th Down Conversion Defense (.000), 4th Down Conversion (1.000), Fumbles Lost (0), Passes Had Intercepted (0), Redzone Offense (1.000) and Turnovers Lost (0).
The Leathernecks are 16th in net punting (40.3), seventh in punt return defense (0 yds), 14th in Redzone Defense (.500) and 10th in fumble recoveries (2).
Individually:
• Steve McShane leads the nation in all-purpose yards (263.0). He ranks second nationally in rushing yards.
• Nathan Knuffman shares the national lead in field goal percentage.
• Steve Mercado and Mick Nelson are tied for second nationally with a fumble recovery.
• Brett Taylor and Jordan Veloz are tied for fifth in forced fumbles (1).
• Taylor also ranks sixth in interceptions (1) and seventh in total tackles (14).
• McShane stands 16th in points per game (12.0).
McSHANE GAINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Steve McShane's career-best day at Eastern Illinois earned him the MVFC 'Co-Offensive Player of the Week' award, and he picked up two more honors nationally... He was an Honorable Mention performer for National 'Offensive Player of the Week' by STATS and the College Football Performance Awards... It was the first time in his career McShane received a weekly award.
SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona kept the game close in the first half but eventually dropped a 44-13 decision at Arizona State... National 'Freshman of the Year' Case Cookus threw for 369 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-33 passing... Elijah Marks (174, TD) and Emmanuel Butler (118) both surpassed 100 receiving yards... Jake Thomas recorded eight of his nine tackles as solo stops... ASU held the Lumberjacks to 56 rushing yards and edged the total offense mark (456-425)... NAU was unsuccessful on both fourth down attempts... Cole Sterns picked off a pass in the opener... Cookus was selected to virtually every preseason All-America list. The sophomore quarterback threw for 3,117 yards and 37 touchdowns to just five interceptions... Butler grabbed 15 touchdowns in his 64 catches and totaled 1,208 yards.
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