THE SERIES: Western Illinois currently leads the series 5-2 over South Dakota. Western Illinois dropped the first two contests of the series in 1976 and 1977, but the Leathernecks have not lost to the Coyotes since South Dakota joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference. In Vermillion last year, Western Illinois erased a 17-point deficit in the second half to win 35-34. That wild comeback ties for the second largest in program history.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 13th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll and 16th in the FCS Coaches poll.

A FIRST IN PROGRAM HISTORY: Thanks to a 52-10 win at FBS-school Coastal Carolina, Western Illinois is off to a 3-0 start for the second year in a row, and the third time in program history. However, this 3-0 beginning to the campaign is unique for the Leathernecks. It is the first time in school history that Western has scored three straight road wins to start a season. The Leathernecks' throttling of the Chanticleers marked the most points any MVFC squad has ever scored against an FBS school. It was Western's largest margin of victory ever against an FBS team, and the 10 points they allowed were the fewest versus an FBS team since shutting out Northern Illinois in 1996.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES: South Dakota head coach Bob Nielson makes his first trip to Macomb as a visitor in Saturday's matchup at Western Illinois... The Coyotes won 35-27 on Sept. 9 at FBS-school Bowling Green before crushing No. 10 North Dakota 45-7 on Sept. 16... Quarterback Chris Streveler is completing 67.0 percent of his passes for 840 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions this season. He's also the team's leading runner with 229 rushing yards and six touchdowns on a 4.6 average... Streveler's favorite target is Levi Falck, who has registered 13 catches for 144 yards (11.1 average). Kody Case has a team-best 170 yards on six catches with two touchdowns for a 28.3 average... Cornerback Danny Rambo is South Dakota's leading tackler with 17 stops. Meanwhile defensive end Darin Greenfield has 16 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, and a team-best three sacks.

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 2017 at Tennessee Tech before taking a plane flight west to Northern Arizona. After a bye week, they finished their non-conference slate with a plane flight east to Coastal Carolina... The total amount of miles traveled round-trip in non-conference play was 5,730 according to Google Maps.

BACK-TO-BACK FBS VICTORIES: Last year, Western Illinois ended a 15-game losing streak against FBS programs with a 28-23 victory at Northern Illinois.This year, the Leathernecks pounded Coastal Carolina 52-10 for their second straight FBS victory, marking the first time since 2002 and 2003 (Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan, respectively) that Western Illinois has earned back-to-back wins over FBS opponents. The Fighting Leathernecks are now 8-29 versus the FBS, with seven of those victories coming against Mid-American Conferance programs.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Following the Leathernecks' 52-10 victory at Coastal Carolina, Western extended its streak to seven consecutive wins against non-conference opponents... Western has won eight of its last 10 non-conference games and improved to 14-1 in its last 15 games against non-FBS opponents.

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 235-120-7 record at home. In 51 of those years Western finished at least .500 at home, including a perfect 6-0 record in 2010.

McGUIRE, TAYLOR EARN WEEKLY MVFC HONORS: Junior quarterback Sean McGuire and senior linebacker Brett Taylor were named the Missouri Valley Football Conference co-Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, after the Leathernecks pounded Coastal Carolina 52-10 in Conway. McGuire, who was also named CFPA National FCS Performer of the Week, went 17-for-19 for 276 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions at the Chanticleers. He also caught a 9-yard touchdown from wide receiver Isaiah LeSure. Thus, McGuire's performance marks the first time since 2010 (Matt Barr, six passing TDs, one rushing TD, 22-for-25) that a Western Illinois quarterback recorded more touchdowns than incompletions in one game. Taylor led the Leathernecks with eight tackles and tied for the team-best with two tackles for a loss at Coastal Carolina. The Macomb native has now at least tied for the team lead in stops in each of the last eight contests, including all three games this season.

SEVEN STRAIGHT HOME-OPENING WINS: Tied in with the current win streak versus non-MVFC teams at home, Western Illinois won its seventh-straight home opening game  following the 34-20 win over Northern Arizona last year. The last time Western lost its home opener was 2009 versus Stephen F. Austin.

LEATHERNECK QUICK HITTERS:

• When Coastal Carolina's Evan Rabon hit a 52-yard field goal with 7:29 to go in the first quarter, Western Illinois found themselves trailing for the first time all season, a total of 122 minutes and 31 seconds. Through three games, the Leathernecks have trailed for only 11 minutes and 50 seconds out of 180 minutes of game time. In comparison, Western Illinois has led for 146 minutes and 20 seconds this season. They were in front of Tennessee Tech for 58:15, Northern Arizona for 47:26 and Coastal Carolina for 40:39.

• Western Illinois is 3-0 for just the third time in school history (2002, 2016, 2017). With a win over the Coyotes, the Leathernecks would improve to 4-0 for just the second time in the program's 115-year history. The 2002 squad went 4-0 before falling in their fifth game.

• Sean McGuire surpassed 4,000 career passing yards during last year's season finale at Southern Illinois. In eight of his 18 career starts, McGuire has thrown for 300-plus passing yards and the team owns a 5-3 record. He is currently into eighth place in school history with 4,694 yards.

• Beginning with the second half of Week 2 at Northern Arizona, quarterback Sean McGuire has completed 33-of-38 (86.8 percent) of his passes for 412 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions. On the season, he ranks ninth nationally with 9.55 yards per attempt.

• The Leathernecks have dominated opponents this year when it comes to time of possession. Western held the ball for 37:20 against Tennessee Tech, 39:03 at Northern Arizona and 33:03 at Coastal Carolina. Last year's season-best was 36:50 at Missouri State. The Leathernecks rank second in the MVFC and fourth nationally in time of possession with their 36:28 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.

• After going 7-for-7 in the red zone at Coastal Carolina, Western ranks ninth nationally scoring 93.8 percent in the red zone. The only miss in 16 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.

• Western Illinois has excelled on both sides of the ball on third downs. The Leathernecks rank 13th in the nation by converting 50 percent of their third downs. Meanwhile, their defense ranks fifth nationally by holding opponents to a 22.9 percent success clip on third down.

• Related to their success on third down, Western Illinois ranks in the top 20 in scoring offense (ninth, 43.7 points per game), total offense (17th, 458.3 yards per game), rushing offense (15th, 243.3 yards per game) and fewest penalties per game (14th, 4.67 per game). Defensively, the Leathernecks are 11th in scoring defense (14.7 points per game), 12th in rushing defense (12th, 75.7 yards per game) and 15th in total defense (279.0 yards per game).

• After just 13 sacks a year ago in 11 games, Western Illinois' defense has racked up nine sacks through three games so far this year. They have only allowed two sacks on Sean McGuire.

• The Leathernecks have forced at least one turnover in 44 of the last 50 contests... Thirteen times in the last 21 games Western recorded two or more takeaways, including 15 over the last four games.

• Brett Taylor is one of 12 players all-time with 300 career tackles (327). He ranks eigth all-time. His 212 solo tackles rank him sixth all-time in WIU history.

• In 24 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 1, 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.

• When Isaiah LeSure surpassed 100 yards in the Illinois State game last year, he became the third Leatherneck to reach the 100-yard mark, joining Lance Lenoir and Joey Borsellino. It marked the sixth year in program history that three different receivers recorded 100 yards in a game.

• Seniors Brett Taylor and Jacob Judd are two-time selections to the FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star team, honored for their work in the classroom and on the field. Judd and James Torgerson were CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees in 2016; Judd and fellow senior David Griffith earned CoSIDA Academic honors in 2015. Senior transfer Lucas Holder has something in common with his teammates, during the 2016 season he earned CoSIDA Academic All-District and FCS ADA Academic All-Star accolades.

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