American college football season
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 .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 1 6:00 pm at Eastern Illinois * No. 20 OVCDN , WEIU W 38–217,618 September 10 3:00 pm No. 19 Northern Arizona * No. 18 ESPN3 W 34–206,732 September 24 2:30 pm at Northern Illinois * No. 13 ESPN3 W 28–2315,496 October 1 6:00 pm at No. 15 South Dakota State No. 8 ESPN3 L 14–5214,155 October 8 3:00 pm Indiana State No. 13 ESPN3 W 36–355,487 October 15 2:00 pm at Missouri State No. 12 ESPN3 W 38–3512,639 October 22 6:00 pm No. 4 North Dakota State No. 12 ESPN3 L 13–215,329 October 29 2:00 pm at South Dakota No. 13 ESPN3, Midco SN W 35–348,412 November 5 1:00 pm Illinois State No. 12 ESPN3 L 26–313,589 November 12 1:00 pm Northern Iowa No. 19 ESPN3 L 23–303,412 November 19 2:00 pm at Southern Illinois No. 23 ESPN3 L 34–445,362 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
At Eastern Illinois [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total #20 Leathernecks 14 10 7 7 38 Panthers 7 0 14 0 21
1 2 3 4 Total #19 Lumberjacks 13 0 7 0 20 #18 Leathernecks 3 10 14 7 34
At Northern Illinois [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total #13 Leathernecks 14 0 14 0 28 Huskies 0 7 0 16 23
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 [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total #8 Leathernecks 14 0 0 0 14 #15 Jackrabbits 7 21 24 0 52
1 2 3 4 Total Sycamores 7 7 21 0 35 #13 Leathernecks 0 20 7 9 36
1 2 3 4 Total #12 Leathernecks 10 7 14 7 38 Bears 0 7 7 21 35
1 2 3 4 Total #4 Bison 7 14 0 0 21 #12 Leathernecks 3 3 7 0 13
1 2 3 4 Total #13 Leathernecks 14 0 14 7 35 Coyotes 17 14 0 3 34
1 2 3 4 Total Redbirds 14 7 7 3 31 #12 Leathernecks 0 16 3 7 26
1 2 3 4 Total Panthers 7 6 7 10 30 #19 Leathernecks 0 3 6 14 23
At Southern Illinois [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total #23 Leathernecks 3 21 7 3 34 Salukis 14 0 10 20 44
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final STATS FCS 20 18 16 13 8 13 12 12 13 12 19 23 RV RV Coaches 24 18 16 13 8–T 14 13 13 15 14 19 24 RV RV
^ 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.