1955 Western Illinois Leathernecks football | |
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Conference | Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
Record | 5–4–1, 1 win forfeited (2–3–1 IIAC, 1 win forfeited) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Hanson Field |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Central Michigan + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State Normal + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Illinois | 4 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Illinois | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State Normal | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eastern Illinois | 1 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Illinois State | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 8 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1955 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1955 college football season. Led by second-year head coach Wes Stevens, the Leathernecks finished the season with an overall record of 6–3–1 and a mark of 3–2–1 in conference play, placing fourth in the IIAC.[1] Western Illinois later forfeited its win over Illinois State Normal, dropping its season record to 5–4–1 overall and 2–3–1 in the IIAC, putting the team into a fourth-place tie with Illinois State.[2] The forfeit came as a result of Western Illinois using an ineligible player, quarterback Sam Esposito; while Esposito also played in other games for the team, Illinois State Normal was the only school to protest their result.[3]
Western Illinois back Don Lashmet was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on the 1955 All-Interstate Conference football team.[4] Lashmet led the conference in pass receiving with 16 catches for 299 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, Western Illinois led the conference with 40 pass completions for 611 yards. Bill Vandermerkt was credited with 30 of the team's completed passes.[5]
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 17 | at Loras* | Dubuque, IA | W 15–0 | [6] | ||
September 29 | Bradley* | W 25–6 | [7] | |||
October 7 | Michigan State Normal |
| L 2–6 | [8] | ||
October 15 | at Central Michigan |
| L 0–20 | 6,400 | [9] | |
October 22 | at Northern Illinois State | W 39–6 | [10] | |||
October 29 | Southern Illinois |
| T 13–13 | 8,000 | [11] | |
November 4 | at Illinois State Normal | Normal, IL | L 32–13 (forfeit) | [12] | ||
November 11 | St. Ambrose* |
| W 19–13 | [13] | ||
November 19 | 1:30 p.m. | at Eastern Illinois | Charleston, IL | W 13–7 | [14][15] | |
November 24 | Luther* |
| L 20–24 | 5,000 | [16] | |
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