2001 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

2001 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Record	5–5 (4–3 Gateway)
Head coach	Don Patterson (3rd season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field
Seasons ←  2000 2002  →

2001 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^		6	–	1					11	–	3
No. 12 Western Kentucky ^		5	–	2					8	–	4
No. 15 Youngstown State		5	–	2					8	–	3
Western Illinois		4	–	3					5	–	5
Southwest Missouri State		3	–	4					6	–	5
Indiana State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Illinois State		2	–	5					2	–	9
Southern Illinois		1	–	6					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2001 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by third-year head coach Don Patterson and played their home games at Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois. The Leathernecks finished the season with a 5–5 record overall and a 4–3 record in conference play. ^[1] Western Illinois played a ten-game schedule instead of the typical eleven-game schedule in Division I-AA, as they were unable to schedule an eleventh opponent before the season began. ^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	No. 3 Western Kentucky	No. 13	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 17–13	11,832	[3]
September 22	at No. 3 Youngstown State	No. 6	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 7–41	19,331	[4]
September 29	Southern Illinois	No. 13	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 38–21	13,744	[5]
October 6	Southern Utah *	No. 14	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 27–20	8,824	[6]
October 13	at Illinois State	No. 14	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 33–23	6,777	[7]
October 20	No. 14 Northern Iowa	No. 12	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 14–17	15,637	[8]
October 27	Southwest Missouri State	No. 16	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 28–43	5,187	[9]
November 3	at No. 19 Sam Houston State *	No. 23	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	L 24–49	2,842	[10]
November 10	at South Florida *		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	L 17–48	23,252	[11]
November 17	at Indiana State		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 52–15	6,135	[12]
*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. 73. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
2. Batterson, Steve (August 8, 2001). "Western Illinois still seeks respect". Quad-City Times . p. D6. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Toppers lose opener at Western Illinois". Messenger-Inquirer . August 31, 2001. p. 1B. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Youngstown State handles Western Illinois". The Pantagraph . Associated Press. September 23, 2001. p. D3. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
5. Cunningham, Steve (September 30, 2001). "Dawgs bark, but can't bite off a win against Western". The Southern Illinoisan . p. 1B. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
6. "SUU Falls Short Against No. 14 Western Illinois". The Salt Lake Tribune . October 7, 2001. p. C6. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
7. Reinhardt, Randy (October 14, 2001). "Nothing special about this ISU loss". The Pantagraph . p. D1. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
8. Logue, Andrew (October 21, 2001). "Strong kicking, clutch receptions boost Panthers". Des Moines Register . p. 8C. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
9. Capie, Kevin (October 28, 2001). "SMS springs upset on No. 16 Western Illinois". The Springfield News-Leader . p. 1C. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
10. "McCown Throws For 5 TDs". Tyler Courier-Times-Telegraph . Associated Press. November 4, 2001. p. 3:4. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
11. Young, Pete (November 11, 2001). "Bulls keep it close... for a little bit". Tampa Bay Times . p. 17C. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Indiana State again ends with losing mark". South Bend Tribune . Associated Press. November 18, 2001. p. C4. Retrieved January 30, 2022– via Newspapers.com.