1996 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 1996 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Randy Ball and played their home games at Hanson Field. The Leathernecks finished the season with a 9–3 record overall and a 3–2 record in conference play. The team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they lost to Murray State in the first round.^[1]

1996 Western Illinois Leathernecks football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 6–34 vs. Murray State
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 10
Record	9–3 (3–2 Gateway)
Head coach	Randy Ball (7th season)
Home stadium	Hanson Field
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Northern Iowa $^		5	–	0					12	–	2
No. 10 Western Illinois ^		3	–	2					9	–	3
No. 21 Southwest Missouri State		3	–	2					7	–	4
Indiana State		3	–	2					6	–	5
Southern Illinois		1	–	4					5	–	6
Illinois State		0	–	5					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	Northwestern Oklahoma State*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 44–21		[2]
September 7	at Northern Illinois*		Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 17–0	21,370	[3]
September 14	Alcorn State*		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 34–17	6,498	[4]
September 21	at No. 14 Hofstra*		Hofstra Stadium Hempstead, NY	W 18–9	3,719	[5]
October 5	Indiana State	No. 22	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	L 7–10		[6]
October 12	at No. 7 Eastern Illinois*	No. 25	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	W 10–7	10,133	[7]
October 19	at Southern Illinois	No. 17	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 26–19	11,300	[8]
October 26	Cal Poly*	No. 15	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 51–10		[9]
November 2	at No. 7 Southwest Missouri State	No. 13	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	W 23–17	15,878	[10]
November 9	Illinois State	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 28–11	5,714	[11]
November 16	at No. 3 Northern Iowa	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 6–30	15,476	[12]
November 30	at No. 4 Murray State*	No. 10	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 6–34	2,753	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game