# 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.

## 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 7:00 p.m. | at North Alabama* | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL | ESPN+ | L 17–26 | 10,567 |
| September 7 | 3:00 p.m. | at Colorado State* | Canvas StadiumFort Collins, CO | AT&T RM | L 13–38 | 18,231 |
| September 14 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 10 Montana State* | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | L 14–23 | 4,728 |
| September 21 | 3:00 p.m. | Tennessee Tech* | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | L 24–38 | 1,594 |
| October 5 | 3:00 p.m. | Missouri State | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | L 31–37 $^{3OT}$ | 3,149 |
| October 12 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | L 10–20 | 7,243 |
| October 19 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 11 Illinois State | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | L 14–28 | 2,984 |
| October 26 | 1:00 p.m. | at Youngstown State | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | L 14–59 | 10,437 |
| November 2 | 1:00 p.m. | South Dakota | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | W 38–34 | 1,728 |
| November 9 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN+ | L 21–57 | 17,441 |
| November 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN+ | L 21–45 | 1,739 |
| November 23 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Northern Iowa | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN+ | L 7–38 | 8,920 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll 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 |

### 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: RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |