1991 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 1991 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference during the 1991 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by second-year head coach Randy Ball and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with a 7–4–1 record overall and a 4–2 record in conference play. The team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they lost to Marshall in the first round.^[1]

1991 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 17–20 vs. Marshall
Conference	Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
Record	7–4–1 (4–2 Gateway)
Head coach	Randy Ball (2nd season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^	5	–	1	–	0			11	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Western Illinois ^	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Southern Illinois	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Southwest Missouri State	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Indiana State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Eastern Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	Washburn*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 42–3	8,238	[2]
September 14	at Wisconsin*		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 13–31	42,861	[3]
September 21	St. Ambrose*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 27–7	6,034	[4]
September 28	No. 11 Sam Houston State*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	T 21–21	8,773	[5]
October 5	at Eastern Illinois		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 16–15	4,208	[6]
October 12	No. 15 Southwest Missouri State		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 26–21	5,343	[7]
October 19	Southern Illinois	No. 17	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 21–20	10,225	[8]
October 26	at Illinois State	No. 14	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 22–12	11,283	[9]
November 2	at Indiana State	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	L 6–7	3,076	[10]
November 9	at Morgan State*	No. 16	Hughes Stadium Baltimore, MD	W 44–6	350	[11]
November 16	No. 4 Northern Iowa	No. 13	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 17–24	4,500	[12]
November 30	at Marshall*	No. 14	Marshall University Stadium Huntington, WV (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 17–20	16,840	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game