2002 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 2002 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Don Patterson and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with an 11–2 record overall and a 6–1 record in conference play, making them conference co-champions. The team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Eastern Illinois in the first round and lost to Western Kentucky in the quarterfinal.[1] The team was ranked No. 5 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of Division I-AA.[2]

2002 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Gateway co-champion
ConferenceGateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 5
Record11–2 (6–1 Gateway)
Head coach
Home stadiumHanson Field
2002 Gateway Football Conference standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 1 Western Kentucky +^  6 –1   12 –3  
No. 5 Western Illinois +^  6 –1   11 –2  
Youngstown State  4 –3   7 –4  
Illinois State  4 –3   6 –5  
Indiana State  3 –4   5 –7  
Northern Iowa  2 –5   5 –6  
Southern Illinois  2 –5   4 –8  
Southwest Missouri State  1 –6   4 –7  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 29Drake*
W 64–710,830[3]
September 14at No. 21 Western Kentucky
W 14–06,000[4]
September 21at Northern Illinois*No. 20
W 29–2623,598[5]
September 28Sam Houston State*No. 12
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 41–1315,318[6]
October 5at Southern IllinoisNo. 8
L 52–5410,283[7]
October 12Illinois StateNo. 13
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 22–1710,113[8]
October 19Indiana StateNo. 10
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 52–218,562[9]
October 26No. 23 Youngstown StateNo. 9
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
W 19–014,186[10]
November 2at Southwest Missouri StateNo. 8
W 28–231,885[11]
November 9at Northern IowaNo. 8
W 35–129,443[12]
November 16at Southern Utah*No. 5
W 38–281,913[13]
November 30No. 10 Eastern Illinois*No. 3
W 48–92,429[14]
December 6No. 15 Western KentuckyNo. 3
L 28–31[15]

References
  1. "Western Illinois Football Record Book" (PDF). Western Illinois University Athletics. p. 73. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  2. "Div. I-AA poll". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. December 24, 2002. p. 6B. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Moeller, Sean (August 30, 2002). "Leathernecks roll over Bulldogs". Quad-City Times. p. D8. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Herbst, Rob (September 15, 2021). "Hilltoppers sacked by WIU". The Daily News. p. 1B. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Narang, Bobby (September 22, 2002). "Leathernecks put the bite on Huskies". The Daily Chronicle. p. B1. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Undefeated Leathernecks scamper past Sam Houston State". Quad-City Times. September 29, 2002. p. D13. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "SIU wins shootout with WIU, 54-52". Daily Republican-Register. Associated Press. October 7, 2002. p. 5. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Reinhardt, Randy (October 13, 2002). "W. Illinois holds off Redbirds". The Pantagraph. p. D1. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "No. 10 W. Illinois overpowers Indiana St. with 2nd-quarter run". The Indianapolis Star. October 20, 2002. p. C12. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Leathernecks shut out Youngstown State, 19-0". The Southern Illinoisan. Associated Press. October 27, 2002. p. 3B. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Western Illinois pulls out win over Bears". The Southern Illinoisan. Associated Press. November 3, 2002. p. 3B. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Gremmels, Jon (November 10, 2002). "Western Illinois claims title share; UNI drops to 4-6". Des Moines Register. p. 9C. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Western Illinois 38, Southern Utah 28". Quad-City Times. November 17, 2002. p. D2. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "WIU storms Eastern". Quad-City Times. December 1, 2002. p. D3. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Jauss, Bill (December 8, 2021). "Kicker's premonition turns into truth". Chicago Tribune. p. 3:5. Retrieved October 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.


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