2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games at Hanson Field. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a three way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they defeated Dayton in the first round before losing in the second round to fellow MVFC member Illinois State.

2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Record7–6 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorA.J. Blazek
Defensive coordinatorBrian Mohnsen
Home stadiumHanson Field
Seasons
← 2014
2016 →
2015 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 North Dakota State +^   7 1     13 2  
No. 5 Illinois State +^   7 1     10 3  
No. 8 Northern Iowa ^   5 3     9 5  
No. 15 South Dakota State ^   5 3     8 4  
Western Illinois ^   5 3     7 6  
Indiana State   3 5     5 6  
Youngstown State   3 5     5 6  
South Dakota   3 5     5 6  
Southern Illinois   2 6     3 8  
Missouri State   0 8     1 10  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 14, head coach Bob Nielson resigned to become the head coach at fellow MVFC member South Dakota.[1] He finished at Western Illinois with a three year record of 16–21.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 36:00 pmEastern Illinois*WIUtv3, ESPN3W 33–55,985
September 1211:00 amat Illinois*BTNL 0–4437,733
September 195:00 pmat No. 2 Coastal Carolina*BSNL 27–3410,311
October 33:00 pmSouthern Illinois 
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
WIUtv3/ESPN3W 37–367,125
October 103:00 pmSouth Dakota
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
MVC TV, WIUtv3, ESPN3W 40–216,298
October 174:00 pmat No. 12 Northern IowaWIUtv3, ESPN3W 24–1916,324
October 242:00 pmat No. 3 Illinois StateNo. 20ESPN3L 28–4813,391
October 311:00 pmNo. 25 Youngstown StateNo. 23
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
WIUtv3, ESPN3L 21–232,610
November 72:30 pmat No. 6 North Dakota StateWIUtv3-TD, ESPN3L 7–5918,251
November 1412:05 pmat Indiana StateWIUtv3-TD, ESPN3W 37–30 OT4,567
November 211:00 pmNo. 5 South Dakota State
  • Hanson Field
  • Macomb, IL
WIUtv3, ESPN3W 30–24 2OT1,853
November 2811:00 amat Dayton*ESPN3W 24–7997
December 51:00 pmat No. 4 Illinois State*
  • Hancock Stadium
  • Normal, IL (NCAA Division I Second Round)
ESPN3L 19–366,124
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Ranking movements

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCSRVRVRVRVRVRVRV2023RVRVRVRV22
CoachesRVRVRVRVRVRV23RVRVRVRV22

References

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  1. ^ "Texas High School Football Hall of Fame to enshrine Kenneth West".