2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Record6–5 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDoug Malone (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorDavid Elsen (1st season)
Home stadiumHanson Field
Seasons
← 2015
2017 →
2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 North Dakota State +^   7 – 1     12 – 2  
No. 6 South Dakota State +^   7 – 1     9 – 4  
No. 2 Youngstown State ^   6 – 2     12 – 4  
Illinois State ^   4 – 4     6 – 6  
Northern Iowa   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Western Illinois   3 – 5     6 – 5  
South Dakota   3 – 5     4 – 7  
Indiana State   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Missouri State   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Southern Illinois   2 – 6     4 – 7  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Charlie Fisher, the Leathernecks compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the MVFC. Western Illinois played home games at Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 pmat Eastern Illinois*No. 20
OVCDN, WEIUW 38–217,618
September 103:00 pmNo. 19 Northern Arizona*No. 18
ESPN3W 34–206,732
September 242:30 pmat Northern Illinois*No. 13
ESPN3W 28–2315,496
October 16:00 pmat No. 15 South Dakota StateNo. 8
ESPN3L 14–5214,155
October 83:00 pmIndiana StatedaggerNo. 13
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
ESPN3W 36–355,487
October 152:00 pmat Missouri StateNo. 12
ESPN3W 38–3512,639
October 226:00 pmNo. 4 North Dakota StateNo. 12
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
ESPN3L 13–215,329
October 292:00 pmat South DakotaNo. 13
ESPN3, Midco SNW 35–348,412
November 51:00 pmIllinois StateNo. 12
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
ESPN3L 26–313,589
November 121:00 pmNorthern IowaNo. 19
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
ESPN3L 23–303,412
November 192:00 pmat Southern IllinoisNo. 23
ESPN3L 34–445,362
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

At Eastern Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
#20 Leathernecks 14 10 7 7 38
Panthers 7 0 14 0 21

See also: 2016 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Northern Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total
#19 Lumberjacks 13 0 7 0 20
#18 Leathernecks 3 10 14 7 34

See also: 2016 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

At Northern Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
#13 Leathernecks 14 0 14 0 28
Huskies 0 7 0 16 23

See also: 2016 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Western Illinois beat Northern Illinois, 28–23. The Leathernecks were leading 28–7 in the third quarter and held on for the win. WIU quarterback Sean McGuire went 21 for 37 for 315 yards. Wide receiver Joey Borsellino had nine catches for 148 yards. This was Western's first-ever victory over an FBS team.[1]

At South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total
#8 Leathernecks 14 0 0 0 14
#15 Jackrabbits 7 21 24 0 52

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Indiana State

1 2 3 4 Total
Sycamores 7 7 21 0 35
#13 Leathernecks 0 20 7 9 36

See also: 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At Missouri State

1 2 3 4 Total
#12 Leathernecks 10 7 14 7 38
Bears 0 7 7 21 35

See also: 2016 Missouri State Bears football team

North Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total
#4 Bison 7 14 0 0 21
#12 Leathernecks 3 3 7 0 13

See also: 2016 North Dakota State Bison football team

At South Dakota

1 2 3 4 Total
#13 Leathernecks 14 0 14 7 35
Coyotes 17 14 0 3 34

See also: 2016 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Illinois State

1 2 3 4 Total
Redbirds 14 7 7 3 31
#12 Leathernecks 0 16 3 7 26

See also: 2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Northern Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 7 6 7 10 30
#19 Leathernecks 0 3 6 14 23

See also: 2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At Southern Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
#23 Leathernecks 3 21 7 3 34
Salukis 14 0 10 20 44

See also: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCS20181613813121213121923RVRV
Coaches241816138–T14131315141924RVRV

References

  1. ^ Severson, Jesse (September 24, 2016). "NIU Football: Western Illinois Shocks Huskies; NIU Drops to 0-4". Daily Chronicle. DeKalb. Retrieved September 26, 2016. For the Leathernecks, who came in ranked No. 13 in the FCS coaches poll, it is the first win over an FBS school in 15 attempts. "We saw teams in our conference do it, North Dakota State beat Iowa, and we said why not us?" Western Illinois wide receiver Joey Borsellino said.
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