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Western Illinois University Athletics

Mick Nelson, Khalen Saunders

Football WIU Athletic Communications

Western Looks for Perfect Non-Conference Slate, Travels to Coastal Carolina

19th-ranked Leathernecks, looking to improve on their 2-0 record, will play CCU at 5:30 p.m.

Game 3
WESTERN ILLINOIS LEATHERNECKS at COASTAL CAROLINA CHANTICLEERS
September 23, 2017  •  5:30 pm  •  Conway, South Carolina  •  Brooks Stadium
TV: ESPN3.com
RADIO: Announcers (Scott Kornberg, Dr. Tom Cody)
Beardstown - WRMS (94.3 FM); Macomb - WJEQ (102.7 FM); Galesburg - WAIK (1590 AM); Quincy - WPWQ (106.7 FM); Clinton, Iowa - (KCLN 1390 AM)
INTERNET: WRMSFM.com or Tune In Radio App (Google store and iTunes)
LIVE STATS: GoCCUSports.com
GAME NOTES: Western Illinois  |  Coastal Carolina
THE SERIES: Western Illinois travels to Coastal Carolina for the third meeting all-time. The Leathernecks look to take a 2-1 lead, having last played the Chanticleers in 2015 when CCU was the then-number one ranked team in the country... Western won the first-ever meeting, a 17-10 victory in the opening round of the 2010 FCS Playoffs.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 19th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll and 21st in the FCS Coaches poll.

FIRST SINCE 1935: You'd have to go back all the way to 1935 to find the last time Western opened the year with three consecutive road games. That year the Leathernecks opened at Parsons, at Knox and at Bradley... Western opened at Tennessee Tech then will take a plane flight west to Northern Arizona then a plane flight east to Coastal Carolina... The total amount of miles traveled round-trip in non-conference play according to Google Maps is 5,730.

TOP FIVE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Western enters this weekend sharing the top national ranking in five statistical categories, and ranks among the 'Top 5' in another five... WIU shares the national lead in: blocked kicks allowed (0), blocked punts allowed (0), defensive TDs (2), fumbles lost (0), and win percentage (1.000).

TAYLOR ON BUCHANAN AWARD WATCH LIST: Middle linebacker Brett Taylor enters his senior year as one of the top candidates for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the National Defensive Player of the Year. He finished seventh in the voting last year, and was one of three linebackers among the top seven point total leaders - and the only one who was not a senior. Taylor's finish marks the ninth time in WIU history (eight by a linebacker) that a Leatherneck defensive player finished seventh or higher in the final voting. He was the first finalist from the Purple & Gold since Kyle Glazier finished tied for second in 2010. Taylor received four first-place votes, nine votes for second place, eight votes for third place, nine votes for fourth place and three votes for fifth place. His 101 point total was 13 ahead of the next closest in the voting. Taylor turned in one of the top tackles season in WIU history. The national leader in solo tackles per game (8.5 p/g), he also finished third nationally in total tackles per game (12.2 p/g).

GOING FOR TWO STRAIGHT FBS WINS: The Leathernecks travel back to Coastal Carolina for the third time since 2010, and will look to record their second consecutive win over a FBS team. The Chanticleers, still in transition to FBS and a member of the Sun Belt Conference, took the 2015 meeting by a touchdown while WIU defeated Coastal in the first round of the 2010 playoffs. The last time Western recorded back-to-back FBS wins was 2002 and 2003 (Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Following the 41-14 victory at Tennessee Tech, Western extended its streak to five consecutive wins against non-conference opponents... Western has won six of its last eight non-conference games and improved to 12-1 in its last 13 games against non-FBS opponents.

COMEBACK KIDS: Western won its fourth game during the 2016 season in a game decided in the final minute of play, with three of those occurring on the road (held onto lead at Northern Illinois, rallied versus Indiana State, regained lead at Missouri State, rallied at South Dakota)... In the previous three years (2013-15), Western was just 1-16 when trailing after the third quarter.

CAREER STARTS LEADERS: Senior James Torgerson leads all active Leathernecks with 32 career starts, all consecutive... Brett Taylor is next with 29 starts, also all consecutive... David Griffith has 28 starts, 27 of those consecutive... Jacob Judd owns 26 straight starts... Josh Baldus has 26 career starts, 17 consecutive... Xavier Rowe has made 22 career starts.

LEATHERNECK QUICK HITTERS:
• Western Illinois has not trailed through 120 minutes of game time this year.

• Senior Jaelon Acklin entered his senior year with two career touchdowns, both receiving during the 2015 season. In two games this year, he has rushed for a TD and caught a receiving TD in each game... He ranks 37th nationally accounting for 12.0 points per game.

• Tyrin Holloway leads the MVFC and ranks second nationally with two interceptions. He also leads the country averaging 2.5 passes defended per game... Holloway, a senior transfer from Liberty, ranked in the top 15 last year in interceptions... He increased to nine career picks.

• Sophomore running back Max Norris ran for 133 yards at Tennessee Tech and 103 at Northern Arizona, leading the Leathernecks to victories. He can make it three straight 100-yard games to start the season this weekend at Coastal Carolina, and be the first Leatherneck running back this decade to accomplish that feat.

• A victory at Coastal Carolina moves WIU to 3-0. Other than the 2016's start at 3-0 the last time Western opened a year with that many wins was a 4-0 start in 2002.
• The Leathernecks have dominated opponents this year when it comes to time of possession. Western held the ball for 37:20 against Tennessee Tech and 39:03 at Northern Arizona. Last year's season-best was 36:50 at Missouri State… The Leathernecks rank second in the MVFC and second nationally in time of possession with their 38:11 average... This year Western has held the ball for more than 10 minutes in a quarter three times (11:09 4Q at Tech; 11:18 2Q at NAU, 10:14 4Q at NAU). The team did that seven times all last year.

• Western ranks 27th nationally scoring 88.9 percent in the RedZone. The only miss in nine times this year was getting inside the 20 during their final drive at Northern Arizona, which ended when Western ran out the clock to end the game.

• Sean McGuire surpassed 4,000 career passing yards during last year's season finale at Southern Illinois. In eight of his 17 career starts, McGuire has thrown for 300-plus passing yards and the team owns a 5-3 record... He moved into eighth place all-time with 4,418 yards.

• The Leathernecks have forced at least one turnover in 43 of the last 49 contests... Twelve times in the last 20 games Western recorded two or more takeaways, including 11 over the last three games.

• Brett Taylor is one of 12 players all-time with 300 career tackles (329). He ranks eighth all-time. His 208 solo tackles rank him sixth all-time in WIU history.

• In 23 career games (17 career starts), Sean McGuire is tied for third place all-time for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (8). He's four away from Steve LaFalce in second place.

• Quentin Moon, MVFC Defensive Player of the Week after week one, has five career games of 10-plus tackles, including a personal-best 14 last year at Missouri State. Four of those double-digit tackles came during the 2016 season.

SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS: Coastal Carolina begins its second year in transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Sun Belt Conference... CCU dropped a 30-23 decision at UAB last weekend... Osharmar Abercrombie rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns as Coastal rolled up 227 net rushing yards... Tyler Keane was 7-of-16 for 75 yards and threw three interceptions... Dalton Demos went 2-of-7 passing for 25 yards and rushed 10 times for 51 yards... Evan Rabon converted 2-of-4 field goals, hitting from 39 and 33 yards but missing from 29 and 40... Coastal actually out-gained UAB 327-274 overall and held a seven minute time of possession edge... UAB went 4-for-4 in the RedZone and scored 13 points off CCU turnovers... Marcus Williamson (1.0 sacks) and Silas Kelly each had eight tackles to lead the Chanticleers.
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Players Mentioned

Jaelon Acklin

#17 Jaelon Acklin

WR
6' 2"
Senior
Liberty
Josh Baldus

#55 Josh Baldus

OL
6' 5"
Senior
Palatine
David Griffith

#38 David Griffith

DB
5' 11"
Senior
Avon
Jacob Judd

#66 Jacob Judd

OL
6' 3"
Senior
Clinton
Sean McGuire

#18 Sean McGuire

QB
6' 3"
Junior
Franklin
Quentin Moon

#39 Quentin Moon

LB
6' 2"
Junior
Pike
Max Norris

#36 Max Norris

RB
5' 10"
Sophomore
Center Grove
Xavier Rowe

#6 Xavier Rowe

DB
6' 0"
Junior
Oak Park-River Forest
Brett Taylor

#44 Brett Taylor

LB
6' 2"
Senior
Macomb
James Torgerson

#77 James Torgerson

OL
6' 5"
Senior
Springfield
Tyrin Holloway

#16 Tyrin Holloway

DB
6' 0"
Senior
Atascocita

Players Mentioned

Jaelon Acklin

#17 Jaelon Acklin

6' 2"
Senior
Liberty
WR
Josh Baldus

#55 Josh Baldus

6' 5"
Senior
Palatine
OL
David Griffith

#38 David Griffith

5' 11"
Senior
Avon
DB
Jacob Judd

#66 Jacob Judd

6' 3"
Senior
Clinton
OL
Sean McGuire

#18 Sean McGuire

6' 3"
Junior
Franklin
QB
Quentin Moon

#39 Quentin Moon

6' 2"
Junior
Pike
LB
Max Norris

#36 Max Norris

5' 10"
Sophomore
Center Grove
RB
Xavier Rowe

#6 Xavier Rowe

6' 0"
Junior
Oak Park-River Forest
DB
Brett Taylor

#44 Brett Taylor

6' 2"
Senior
Macomb
LB
James Torgerson

#77 James Torgerson

6' 5"
Senior
Springfield
OL
Tyrin Holloway

#16 Tyrin Holloway

6' 0"
Senior
Atascocita
DB