We finish up with the last 4 games of the season.
First up was a home game against the 23rd ranked Panthers of Northern Iowa (who would finish the regular season 8-4 with wins over both NDSU and ISUr and are in the FCS playoffs). Western started off slow in this game, with UNI getting ahead 20-0 before the Leathernecks got their first score with just over 1 minute left in the half to go into halftime down 20-7. A shutout 3rd quarter for both teams, then a roughly even 4th quarter (1 TD + XP for UNI, 1 TD + missed XP for WIU) meant that the first half difference was essentially the final score difference, with Western losing 27-13. This game was the 5th consecutive ranked team that Western had played this season.
Notable Performances:
- Lance Lenoir had 106 receiving yards, his 5th of the year
- David McDaniel blocked 2 kicks
- Kevin Kintzel had 10 tackles, 1 sack for 10 yards, and 1 forced fumble
- JJ Raffelson also had 10 tackles
Following the UNI game, Western had a bye week, and then went on the road (for the first of 2 weeks in a row to the state) to South Dakota. USD struggled this year, finishing the season 2-10 overall. Western scored early to take a quick 14-0 lead, but USD fought back to take the lead early in the 2nd Quarter. Western then got 2 points off a USD XP attempt that was returned to the other end zone and later tacked on another TD. Another UDS field goal tied up the score going into halftime at 23-all. The second half, however, was all Western, with 14 points in the 3rd quarter and 7 in the 4th, while holding UDS to only a field goal each quarter, for a final score of 44-29, with the Leathernecks coming away with the victory.
Notable Performances:
- Norvell had 287 yards with a 71% completion rate and 5 TDs (and no INTs)
- Baker had another 100+ yard game, finishing with 118 yards, which put him past the 1,000 yard mark for the season
- Sophomore Devon Moore nearly had a 100 yard game himself, racking up 98 yards and a TD
- The receiving corps as a whole did well, with 5 players getting TDs (Borsellino, Baker, Lenoir, Scott, and TE Larry Harris)
- Knuffman also kicked well, punting 5 times with an average of 40.4 yards and 2 within USD’s 20 yard line
Western found themselves heading back to South Dakota, this time 90 minutes up the road to Brookings to take on South Dakota State, who finished the regular season 8-4 and are in the FCS playoffs. On a snowy field, in one of the coldest games the the Leathernecks have played in a long time, one team seemed to have no problem with the elements...the Jackrabbits. SDSU went up early, outscoring Western in every quarter...up by 7 after 1, up by 18 at halftime, 32 after the 3rd quarter, and then after pulling a few of their starters, finally winning by 35 points, 59-24. SDSU star RB, Zach Zenner would end up with 132 yards and 2 TDs rushing, as well as 40 yards and another TD receiving. Their redshirt freshman WR, Jake Wieneke caught for 159 yards and 3 TDs.
Notable Performances:
- Baker narrowly missed another 100 yard game, ending up with 97 yards and 1 TD
- David Griffith led the team with 9 tackles
- The SDSU field crew....just because...well...that couldn't have been easy.
To finish out the season, the Leathernecks returned home for a Thanksgiving Break game against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Sycamores, who most felt would have to win this game to make the playoffs, would end up 7-5 in the regular season, but, despite the loss, ended up qualifying for an at-large spot in the playoffs, in large part due to their previous wins against other playoff teams, Liberty and Northern Iowa, as well as a win over MAC team, Ball State. The Leathernecks started off strong, essentially trading Western TDs for ISUb field goals until ⅔ of the way into the 3rd quarter when ISU would get their first TD of the game. Western then reeled off a FG and two more TDs to blow open the lead that ISU would end up not being able to fully recover from despite getting one more TD in the middle of the 4th quarter. The Leathernecks would hold on to win 34-20 and, what seemed like at the time, to knock ISUb out of consideration for a playoff spot.
Notable Performances:
- Baker rushed for 163 yards and a TD
- The Leatherneck Defense only gave up a total of 27 yards on the ground for the game
- Jonathon Rollins would end up with 10 tackles, 1 sack (for 13 yards) and 1 interception
- David Griffith, Luke Venegoni, and Martinez Davis would all each record an interception as well.
So, despite an up and down season, with a couple of pretty demoralizing tough losses, the team finished strong and ended the season 5-7 (3-5) in the conference. Despite not being a winning record, it was the best season record that the Leathernecks have had since 2010 with a lot of hope for the future.
I plan on finishing up my review of the 2014 football season in the next few days with some of the season and career records that were set during the year (and maybe a few that are on-target to be set in the near future).