1998 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 1998 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Randy Ball and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with an 11–3 record overall and a 5–1 record in conference play, making them conference champions. The team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Montana and Florida A&M before losing to Georgia Southern in the semifinals.[1] The team was ranked No. 4 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of Division I-AA.[2]

1998 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Gateway champion
ConferenceGateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 4
Record11–3 (5–1 Gateway)
Head coach
Home stadiumHanson Field
1998 Gateway Football Conference standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 4 Western Illinois $^  5 –1   11 –3  
No. 16 Illinois State ^  4 –2   8 –4  
Northern Iowa  3 –3   7 –4  
Youngstown State  3 –3   6 –5  
Southwest Missouri State  3 –3   5 –6  
Indiana State  2 –4   5 –6  
Southern Illinois  1 –5   3 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 3St. Cloud State*No. 8
W 23–77,417[3]
September 12at Central Michigan*No. 11
L 14–3526,412[4]
September 19at Elon*No. 17
W 17–76,241[5]
September 26Southern Utah*No. 14
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 31–3[6]
October 3No. 1 Youngstown StateNo. 11
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 14–010,304[7]
October 10at Southwest Missouri StateNo. 5
W 20–1312,377[8]
October 17at Southern IllinoisNo. 5
W 13–312,600[9]
October 24No. 18 Illinois StateNo. 3
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 37–1016,741[10]
October 31at Buffalo*No. 3
W 41–618,648[11]
November 7Indiana StateNo. 2
W 26–97,994[12]
November 14at Northern IowaNo. 2
L 6–1012,118[13]
November 28No. 14 Montana*No. 4
W 52–93,614[14]
December 5No. 3 Florida A&M*No. 4
W 24–217,400[15]
December 12at No. 1 Georgia Southern*No. 4
L 14–4211,140[16]

References
  1. "Western Illinois Football Record Book" (PDF). Western Illinois University Athletics. p. 72. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  2. "Final Div. I-AA poll". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. December 22, 1998. p. 7C. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Cook, Robin (September 4, 1998). "Huskies drop the ball, 23-7". St. Cloud Times. p. 1C. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "CMU ends nine-game losing streak". Lansing State Journal. Associated Press. September 13, 1998. p. 10C. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Western Illinois 17, Elon 7". Quad-City Times. Associated Press. September 20, 1998. p. 2F. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "T-Birds can't get job done in 31-3 loss". The Spectrum. September 27, 1998. p. B1. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Leathernecks blank No. 1 Youngstown State". The Springfield News-Leader. Associated Press. October 4, 1998. p. 4C. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Scranton, Lyndal (October 11, 1998). "Western deflates SMS". The Springfield News-Leader. p. 1C. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "WIU stays unbeaten in Gateway". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. October 18, 1998. p. F10. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Jauss, Bill (October 25, 1998). "Western Blitzes Ill. St". Chicago Tribune. p. 3:11. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "W. Illinois buffaloes Buffalo". Chicago Tribune. November 1, 1998. p. 3:12. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Western Illinois beats Indiana State to gain berth in playoffs". Evansville Courier. Associated Press. November 8, 1998. p. B3. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Cooper, Craig (November 15, 1998). "UNI stuns Western". Quad-City Times. p. 2F. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Geise, George (November 29, 1998). "Ouch!". Great Falls Tribune. p. 1S. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Wallace, Michael (December 6, 1998). "Rattlers fall short". Tallahassee Democrat. p. 1B. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Reese, Earnest (December 13, 1998). "Eagles win 42-14, arrive at I-AA final". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. D23. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.


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