2014 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

2014 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
2014 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	5–7 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	A.J. Blazek
Defensive coordinator	Brian Ward
Home stadium	Hanson Field
	Seasons ← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second 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 5–7, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for seventh place.

2014 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^	7	–	1	15	–	1
No. 2 Illinois State +^	7	–	1	13	–	2
No. 10 Northern Iowa ^	6	–	2	9	–	5
No. 12 South Dakota St. ^	5	–	3	9	–	5
No. 19 Indiana State ^	4	–	4	8	–	6
No. 22 Youngstown State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Southern Illinois	3	–	5	6	–	6
Western Illinois	3	–	5	5	–	7
Missouri State	1	–	7	4	–	8
South Dakota	0	–	8	2	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The team gave up the quickest score in the history of college football. In the opening kickoff against the Wisconsin Badgers, the kick returner stepped out of the end zone before returning and taking a knee the end zone for a safety. One second had elapsed off the clock.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	6:00 pm	Valparaiso*	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	W 45–6	3,584
September 6	11:00 am	at No. 18 (FBS) Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	L 3–37	77,125
September 13	3:00 pm	Drake*	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	W 38–13	9,445
September 20	11:00 am	at Northwestern*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNews	L 7–24	32,016
September 27	6:00 pm	at No. 17 Southern Illinois	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL		L 17–34	13,170
October 4	3:00 pm	No. 1 North Dakota State	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	Mediacom, ESPN3	L 10–17	5,111
October 11	6:00 pm	at No. 16 Youngstown State	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 30–24	12,771
October 18	3:00 pm	No. 10 Illinois State	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	L 34–37	4,641
October 25	1:00 pm	No. 23 Northern Iowa	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	L 13–27	2,588
November 8	4:00 pm	at South Dakota	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD		W 44–29	7,145
November 15	2:00 pm	at No. 19 South Dakota State	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD		L 24–59	3,204
November 22	1:00 pm	No. 18 Indiana State	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	WIUtv3	W 34–20	1,783
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time