1998 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

1998 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Gateway champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 14–42 vs. Georgia Southern
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 4
Record	11–3 (5–1 Gateway)
Head coach	Randy Ball (9th season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field
Seasons ←  1997 1999  →

1998 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
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

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]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	St. Cloud State *	No. 8	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 23–7	7,417	[3]
September 12	at Central Michigan *	No. 11	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	L 14–35	26,412	[4]
September 19	at Elon *	No. 17	Burlington Memorial Stadium Burlington, NC	W 17–7	6,241	[5]
September 26	Southern Utah *	No. 14	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 31–3		[6]
October 3	No. 1 Youngstown State	No. 11	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 14–0	10,304	[7]
October 10	at Southwest Missouri State	No. 5	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	W 20–13	12,377	[8]
October 17	at Southern Illinois	No. 5	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 13–3	12,600	[9]
October 24	No. 18 Illinois State	No. 3	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 37–10	16,741	[10]
October 31	at Buffalo *	No. 3	University at Buffalo Stadium Amherst, NY	W 41–6	18,648	[11]
November 7	Indiana State	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 26–9	7,994	[12]
November 14	at Northern Iowa	No. 2	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 6–10	12,118	[13]
November 28	No. 14 Montana *	No. 4	Hanson Field Macomb, IL (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 52–9	3,614	[14]
December 5	No. 3 Florida A&M *	No. 4	Hanson Field Macomb, IL (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 24–21	7,400	[15]
December 12	at No. 1 Georgia Southern *	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 14–42	11,140	[16]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

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.