Western Illinois wide receiver Matt Henry caught 15 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown in the Leathernecks’ 49-38 loss to Lindenwood. (Photo by GoLeathernecks.com)
By Barry Bottino
On a dynamic offensive day, turnovers decided the fate of Western Illinois Saturday.
Despite piling up 713 total yards, the second-most in a game in school history, the Leathernecks fumbled the ball away on their final three drives in a span of 6 minutes, 38 seconds, in a 49-38 Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association loss to Lindenwood.
“We said at halftime that this game was probably going to come down to a turnover,” WIU head coach Joe Davis said. “We were unable to turn them over.”
The lead changed six times in the second half between the two teams, who combined for 1,285 yards. Western (3-5 overall, 2-2 Big South-OVC) lost for only the second time in the past five games.
With Western trailing, 42-38, Lindenwood (4-5, 3-2) forced a fumble by tight end Brandon Lanier with 7:06 remaining at the Lions’ 32-yard line. On the next WIU drive, quarterback Nate Lamb – who set WIU single-game school records with 42 completions and 564 passing yards – drove the Leathernecks 90 yards, connecting with wide receiver Eli Aragon for 7-yard touchdown.
But a holding penalty on running back Cameren Smith negated the play.
“They turned us over after what we thought was the game-winning touchdown pass,” Davis said. “The next play is a turnover. It was very unfortunate.”
Entering the game, Western had committed only two turnovers – and one lost fumble – in the past 16 quarters. The last time Western lost a fumble before Saturday was Sept. 14 against Illinois State.
While Lamb and WIU wide receivers Matt Henry (15 catches, 226 yards, one TD) and Eli Aragon (nine catches, 132 yards, two TDs) thrived, the Western defense struggled.
The Leathernecks allowed 389 rushing yards and five TDs on the ground, including four by freshman Steve Hall, who led all players with 259 yards. That total included a 93-yard TD run with 1:31 left in the game after Lamb’s first fumble. Hall was named this week as one of 30 players on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List. The honor is given to the best freshman in FCS.
“That performance on defense is inexcusable. It’s not what we want to be about,” Davis said. “Our inability to stop the run and stop explosive plays is something that we need to continue to work on and we will work on that.”
Lindenwood also scored on plays of 30, 35 and 75 yards.
Game changers
9:02, 3rd quarter: Aragon caught a 2-yard scoring pass early in the third quarter to give Western its first lead of the game, 24-21. It was the first of six second-half lead changes.
9:43, 4th quarter: Lindenwood TE Darrin Fugitt caught a 35-yard touchdown pass to give Lindenwood the lead for good, 42-38.
0:28, 4th quarter: Lamb’s second fumble of the quarter ended WIU’s scoring threat and allowed Lindenwood to run out the clock.
What it means
The loss disrupts Western’s string of three wins in the past month and evens their league record at 2-2.
Nifty ‘Necks
Prairie State Pigskin chooses the top three Western Illinois players in the game:
Lamb, QB: His 42 completions and 564 passing yards are now the best in a single game in WIU history.
Henry, WR: His 15 receptions are now the second-most in a game for WIU, while his 226 yards ranks sixth.
Aragon, WR: While catching two touchdowns, Aragon piled up 132 receiving yards on nine receptions.
What’s next?
Western travels to Charleston for a 2 p.m. conference game Nov. 2 against Eastern Illinois (1-7, 0-4).
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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