2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Charlie Fisher and played their home games at Hanson Field. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They finished the season 6–5, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
2016 record	6–5 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Charlie Fisher (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Malone (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	David Elsen (1st season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field (Capacity: 17,128)

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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 pm	at Eastern Illinois*	No. 20	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	OVCDN WEIU	W 38–21	7,618
September 10	3:00 pm	No. 19 Northern Arizona*	No. 18	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	W 34–20	6,732
September 24	2:30 pm	at Northern Illinois*	No. 13	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN3	W 28–23	15,496
October 1	6:00 pm	at No. 15 South Dakota State	No. 8	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 14–52	14,155
October 8	3:00 pm	Indiana State	No. 13	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	W 36–35	5,487
October 15	2:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 12	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	ESPN3	W 38–35	12,639
October 22	6:00 pm	No. 4 North Dakota State	No. 12	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 13–21	5,329
October 29	2:00 pm	at South Dakota	No. 13	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco SN	W 35–34	8,412
November 5	1:00 pm	Illinois State	No. 12	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 26–31	3,589
November 12	1:00 pm	Northern Iowa	No. 19	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 23–30	3,412
November 19	2:00 pm	at Southern Illinois	No. 23	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	L 34–44	5,362
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Eastern Illinois

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

Northern Arizona

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

at Northern Illinois

	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

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

Indiana State

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

at Missouri State

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

North Dakota State

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

at South Dakota

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

Illinois State

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

Northern Iowa

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

at Southern Illinois

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

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	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

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.