Who | Western Illinois (0-1, 0-0) at Montana (1-0, 0-0)

When | Saturday, Sept. 11 - 7 p.m. CT

Where | Washington-Grizzly Stadium (Missoula, Mont.)

Radio | Mixlr - Dr. Tom Cody and Randy Larson

TV | ESPN + and ABC Fox MT

Social Media | Twitter + Facebook + #TRADITIONofTOUGH
 

Quick Hits

• Week two takes Western Illinois football to Missoula, Mont., continuing its slight road stretch in the 2021 season's first pair of weeks. A Saturday (Sept. 11) evening contest versus the Montana Grizzlies will occur at 7 p.m. CT

• This past Thursday (Sept. 2), WIU fell to Ball State on the Cardinals' home field in the season opener, 31-21

• Montana won its season opener on Saturday (Sept. 4) over nationally-ranked Washington in a 13-7 decision. It marked only the sixth time in the last 40 years that an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team defeated a nationally-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. It was also the Grizzlies' first win over a Pac-12 opponent since 1996.

The Last Outing | This past Thursday, in the 2021 season opener, Ball State got on the scoreboard first with a long throw on a 49-yard touchdown pass. As a response, Connor Sampson and Dennis Houston connected on a 49-yard bomb at the start of their third drive that put the Leathernecks in Cardinals territory for the first time of the evening. Feisty defense on both ends kept the teams on their side of the field for the period's remainder.

In the second, Sampson dictated a strong drive by Western as the team pieced together 13 plays, 96 yards, and a Tony Tate rushing touchdown. An extra-point kick by Mason Laramie evened the score at 7-7. Ball State fumbled on the next immediate snap, with just under two minutes left in the quarter, and Michael Lawson was right there to give WIU possession again. The Cardinals made a three-and-out stop, and Adam Fellner dropped a tremendous 52-yard punt right to the Ball State 1-yard line. One final rush happened before the two opponents ran into the halftime break with a tied score.

The third quarter opened in favor of the host, as Ball State completed a 10-play series on a rushing touchdown for 21 yards. Electric play continued when Houston made a 75-yard receiving touchdown look effortless down the WIU sideline. However, Ball State had a quick answer on a 48-yard throw to go ahead again, 21-14. Subsequent stops on traded drives, including an interception from the Cardinals, finished out the quarter.

Likewise to the previous period, it did not take long for Ball State to score underway in the fourth. A 37-yard rushing TD upped the team's lead to 28-14. A 35-yard field goal soon followed. Nevertheless, the Leathernecks would not be finished, as Sampson connected with Daniel Bender on a 34-yard pass to the BSU01 under the two-minute mark. The veteran quarterback then spotted Houston for the latter's second touchdown of the night, and Laramie's kick for an extra point put an end to the setback.

Dennis The Menace | The Ball State contest was quite the evening for senior wide receiver Dennis Houston, as he set a new career-high in receiving yards with 237. His previous best was 141 yards against Montana State on Sept. 14, 2019. The savvy team captain has edged his way onto the all-time list for the fourth-best mark within WIU single-game records. Additionally, his 12 receptions were a career-high and tied for fifth-highest in the program's single-game records.

As of today (Sept. 7), Houston's 237 receiving yards and 12 receptions rank at the top of NCAA FCS leaders. He is also third in all-purpose yards.

That's My QB | Quarterback Connor Sampson started his campaign with a bang against the Ball State Cardinals -- going for 30 completions, 367 passing yards, a 69.8% passing percentage, two touchdowns, and only one interception. His 367 passing yards fell just one yard short of tying a career-high (368 vs. South Dakota, Nov. 2019). He again slides into the single-game record books for taking the 15th-best spot in that category. It was the sixth career game of 30 or more completions for Sampson.

Amongst NCAA FCS individuals, Sampson sits fourth in completions per game, seventh in passing yards, ninth in total offense, and 13th in completion percentage.

Bring 'Em Down | On the defensive side of the ball, Michael Lawson's 14 tackles at Ball State tied for a personal career-best in a single game. He notched this same mark last season on Apr. 2 versus Youngstown State. Lawson also forced two fumbles and was credited for securing Western's first fumble recovery of the year.

In his first game as a Leatherneck, Darius Joiner finished with 12 tackles, seven of which were solo. Dallas Martin had six tackles in his first WIU showing, while Greg Benton Jr. added five.

Sliding into the Rankings | With one week in the books, WIU has fallen into a few team rankings within the NCAA FCS level:

- Passing offense - 7th (367 yards per game)

- Completion percentage - 14th (.698)

- Net punting - 16th (41.43 net yards)

- Pass efficiency - 26th (152.16)

Starting Nods | Several new Leathernecks made debuts as starters during week one:

Brandon Arnold (DL)

Yoesph Carter (OL)

Akil Francisco (DB) - five tackles

Darius Joiner (DB) - 12 tackles

Dejohn Jones (OL)

Dallas Martin (LB) - eight tackles (four solo)

JJ Ross (DB) - four solo tackles

A Brief History | This will only be the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs. Having won the last three matchups, WIU holds a 3-1 advantage. The most recent outing happened at Hanson Field on Sept. 15, 2018, which resulted in a 31-27 Leatherneck win.