Hampton Stuns #15 Western Illinois, 40-20, Sept 18, 2004

HAMPTON, Va. - Hampton University used Western Illinois turnovers in order to post a stunning 40-20 victory over the 15th ranked Leathernecks at Armstrong Stadium on Saturday in Hampton, Virginia. In the process, HU head coach Joe Taylor records the first-ever win over his alma mater (Western Illinois, ’72), and former Leathernecks football squad.

HU (3-0) used a dominant defensive game plan in order to keep the Leathernecks off balance. WIU (1-2) seemed to be a bit off-balance, and it showed through seven fumbles (four lost) and two interceptions.

WIU went ahead early with a 27-yard Justin Langan field goal under very rainy and sloppy conditions. The ensuing kickoff was fielded by Jerome Mathis at his own 1-yard line … and the rest was history. Mathis used good blocking, strong running and sheer speed in order to record back-to-back games with a kickoff return for touchdown, taking this one 99 yards to pay dirt.

This team is real physical, and we work really hard on special teams in practice,” stated Mathis. “It was all about blocking, and I knew my speed would get us there if they just blocked for me.”

The Pirates responded just five minutes later at the start of the second stanza with a 60-yard pass from Princeton Shepherd to Mathis for a touchdown. Three plays later, the Pirate defense continued its assault on the Leatherneck offense with a 40-yard interception return by Calvin Bannister on the left sideline to the WIU five yard line. Alonzo Coleman took it from their as HU went in from five yards out for the touchdown. Cameron Muro’s extra point sailed through the uprights to give the Pirates a 21-3 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half.

HU continued by scoring 12 more points courtesy of a Dirul Diaab fumble recovery returned for 52 yards, followed up by a Coleman screen pass from Shepherd from 38 yards out. This was part of 33 unanswered points by the Pirates leading midway into the third quarter with a 33-3 advantage … ultimately leading to the upset victory.

We knew coming in this was a game to watch, and we knew this was a true test for our guys,” mentioned WIU head coach Don Patterson. “I congratulate Hampton and Coach Taylor. This is a great program, and they spoke well for it today, that’s for sure.”

Western Illinois, having done the same thing against Nebraska earlier in the season, came alive offensively in the third quarter. Following a seven yard punt from Muro into a heavy wind, the Leathernecks’ top rusher—Travis Glasford (98 yds. rushing/76 yds. receiving)—went in for a touchdown from 11 yards out on the left side. WIU scored again on a Langan 37-yard field goal to narrow the margin to 33-13.

The Pirates went on to record the longest drive, time-wise, of the day after a Steve LaFalce fumble at the Hampton 40-yardline. HU used an 11-play, 5-minute and 14-second drive to push the score to 40-13 as Coleman went in up the middle from the 2-yardline.

WIU brought the final margin down to 40-20 after quarterback Adam Smith linked up with Marco Thomas on a 64-yard deep pass.

This is a great win for our program, and for the conference [MEAC] as a whole,” states Coach Taylor. “We wanted to control the running game of [Travis] Glasford because he’s an outstanding runner on a great program. This really is a good win over a great institution and program.”

After rushing for over 200 yards and six touchdowns last week against Cheyney (Pa.), the Pirate defense—headed up by Justin Durant (15 tackles/forced fumble) and Diaab (11 tackles/fumble recovery)—allowed just 98 yards and a single touchdown by the Gateway Conference’s top rusher.

We knew that we were going to have to step up our defense today against #22 [Coleman] and their offense,” admits WIU defensive back William Penn. “We wanted to step up without Chris McNutt, but that may not have made a difference the way Hampton was running the ball.”

The Pirates allowed just 82 yards rushing on the day, but gave up 219 yards through the air. Meanwhile, HU racked up 155 yards on the ground—aided by Coleman’s 88 yard, two touchdown performance—and 150 yards passing (9-of-17) for two touchdowns and two interceptions by Shepherd.

Defensively, the Leathernecks were led by Wyatt Green’s eight tackles, and Penn’s solo interception and fumble recovery.