2019 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

2019 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
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

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.

Previous season

Main article: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

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.

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.

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	ATTSN	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

Game summaries

at North Alabama

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

See also: 2019 North Alabama Lions football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Colorado State

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

See also: 2019 Colorado State Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Montana State

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

See also: 2019 Montana State Bobcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3	2018	L, 23–26

Tennessee Tech

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

See also: 2019 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2017	W, 41–14

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

See also: 2019 Missouri State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–16–1	2018	W, 31–14

at Indiana State

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

See also: 2019 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
25–16	2018	L, 13–15

Illinois State

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

See also: 2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
51–47–3	2018	L, 16–33

at Youngstown State

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

See also: 2019 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–18	2018	W, 45–38

South Dakota

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

See also: 2019 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–4	2018	L, 12–17

at North Dakota State

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

See also: 2019 North Dakota State Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–8	2018	L, 7–34

Southern Illinois

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

See also: 2019 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
36–23–4	2018	W, 34–31

at Northern Iowa

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

See also: 2019 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–31	2018	W, 37–17

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV
Coaches