2019 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 2019 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Jared Elliott and played their home games at Hanson Field. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They finished the season 1–11, 1–7 in MVFC play to finish in a two-way tie for ninth place.

2019 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
2019 record	1–11 (1–7 MVFC)
Head coach	Jared Elliott (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Ty Howle (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	David Rocco (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Anthony (1st season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field (Capacity: 17,128)

2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		8	–	0					16	–	0
No. 5 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					10	–	5
No. 7 Illinois State ^		5	–	3					10	–	5
No. 10 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Southern Illinois		5	–	3					7	–	5
South Dakota		4	–	4					5	–	7
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	7
Youngstown State		2	–	6					6	–	6
Missouri State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Western Illinois		1	–	7					1	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Leathernecks finished the 2018 season 5–6, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in fifth place.

Preseason

MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Leathernecks were predicted to finish in eighth place.[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Dakota State	392 (32)
2	South Dakota State	348 (4)
3	Illinois State	289 (3)
4	Indiana State	279 (1)
5	Northern Iowa	266
6	South Dakota	176
7	Youngstown State	153
8	Western Illinois	128
9	Southern Illinois	89
10	Missouri State	80

Preseason All–MVFC team

The Leathernecks had one player selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.[2]

Offense Clint Ratkovich – FB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:00 p.m.	at North Alabama*	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	L 17–26	10,567
September 7	3:00 p.m.	at Colorado State*	Canvas Stadium Fort Collins, CO	AT&T RM	L 13–38	18,231
September 14	3:00 p.m.	No. 10 Montana State*	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 14–23	4,728
September 21	3:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech*	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 24–38	1,594
October 5	3:00 p.m.	Missouri State	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 31–37 ^3OT	3,149
October 12	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	L 10–20	7,243
October 19	1:00 p.m.	No. 11 Illinois State	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 14–28	2,984
October 26	1:00 p.m.	at Youngstown State	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 14–59	10,437
November 2	1:00 p.m.	South Dakota	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 38–34	1,728
November 9	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 21–57	17,441
November 16	1:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 21–45	1,739
November 23	1:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Northern Iowa	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN+	L 7–38	8,920
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[3][4]

Game summaries

at North Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	0	14	3	0	17
Lions	6	13	7	0	26

at Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	3	3	0	7	13
Rams	14	14	7	3	38

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Bobcats	7	0	10	6	23
Leathernecks	0	7	7	0	14

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	7	10	14	38
Leathernecks	0	3	7	14	24

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Bears	0	7	0	14	7	3	6	37
Leathernecks	7	7	0	7	7	3	0	31

at Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	0	10	0	0	10
Sycamores	0	0	10	10	20

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Redbirds	7	7	0	14	28
Leathernecks	0	0	7	7	14

at Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	7	0	0	7	14
Penguins	28	17	14	0	59

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	7	10	3	14	34
Leathernecks	7	0	10	21	38

at North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	0	0	7	14	21
No. 1 Bison	13	14	13	17	57

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	7	3	21	14	45
Leathernecks	0	7	0	14	21

at Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	7	0	0	0	7
No. 9 Panthers	7	10	14	7	38

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	RV
Coaches

References

1. "North Dakota State Picked to Win Missouri Valley Football Crown". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
2. "MVFC Announces Preseason All-Conference Team". valley-football.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
3. "2019 Western Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
4. "2019 Football Schedule". Western Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved August 1, 2019.