Know Your Opponent: Week Two Western Illinois

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers take to the field in week two on a Friday night in Bloomington as they host the Western Illinois Leathernecks. This is the first meeting between the two schools on the football field.

Head Coach: Joe Davis (1st Year at WIU)
Overall: 0-11 (.000) 1st Year
At WIU 0-1 (0-0)
Playoff Appearances: 11 (Last in 2017)
Last Year’s Record: 0-11 (0-8)
This Year’s Record: 0-1 (0-0)
Postseason Appearances Since 2000: 6 Appearances
Mascot: Colonel Rock and Rocky
Colors: Purple  and Gold
Outfitter: adidas
National Titles: 0
Conference Titles: 13
Heisman Winners: 0

FUN FACT:

•    Western Illinois is the only college which officially takes its nickname from a branch of the U.S. military.

 Instead of Our Usual Points Here is a Q&A with Barry Bottino of Prairie State Pigskin

Your readers can find our WIU and Illinois FCS coverage here: Prairie State Pigskin – All Illinois. All FCS.

1.  WIU has a new coaching staff, what have they done to move the program in the right direction?

 Despite their current 25-game losing streak – a school record – Western has some positivity surrounding the program thanks to 65 new players on its roster and the nine new coaches. 

 Part of that reason is because head coach Joe Davis, who was the offensive coordinator the past two years at Eastern Illinois, says he hasn't mentioned the streak once. He wants to move forward and move away from it since none of the new players or coaches have any ownership of it. 

 As for players who are holdovers, last year's leading tackler, safety Bradyn Smith, said the new coaches made him fall in love with football again after being part of back-to-back 0-11 seasons. 

2. It was a rough opener against NIU, but there looked to be some positives. What are the strengths of this team?

The biggest positives were on offense. QB Nathan Lamb, who threw only six passes as the backup last season, was sharp at times and was able to make plays in the passing game. He is working with 14 – yes, 14! – new receivers on this year's roster. Lamb was able to spread the ball around to six different wide receivers and hit running back Torrance Farmer out of the backfield for a late touchdown, too. Protection was another highlight. Western gave up 50 sacks last season, but they allowed only one against a veteran NIU defense with nine starters back. That was on the first play of the game on a play-action pass. On two occasions in the second half, Lamb spun out of potential sacks and was able to complete passes. 

3. What are the areas where WIU struggles?

 The two biggest areas where Western must improve is pass rush and keeping big plays to a minimum on defense. Western's defense only had six sacks last season, so they brought in transfer defensive ends from Wisconsin (Tommy Brunner) and Lenoir-Rhyne (D.J. Taylor). Both are high-effort, long-armed rushers. Northern Illinois did a good job of getting the ball out quickly in the passing game and muted the rush. 

As for big plays, it's been the story of Western's defense throughout the losing streak. On Saturday, five different NIU receivers had a catch for 20 yards or more. Four different rushers had a carry that resulted in 15 yards or more. There were numerous instances of NIU receivers running wide open down the field. 

4. What does WIU have to do to stay with the Hoosiers?

 The biggest one is to try and limit big plays that can turn the scoreboard into a pinball machine. In a 20-3 game just before halftime Saturday, NIU scored twice in a span of 1 minutes, 15 seconds to bump the score to 34-3. There were too many wide receivers running open in the secondary, and it's something that Indiana can exploit if those breakdowns occur. 

5. Who are some players on each side of the ball IU needs to be aware of?

The quarterback, Nathan Lamb, made his very first D-I start Saturday at age 23 after beginning his career at Fresno State, then playing on the junior college level before being the backup at WIU last year. Davis, who is Western's play caller, has a lot of trust in him and is encouraged by what he saw against NIU. 

The top running back is Cam Smith, a transfer from Division II Missouri S&T. He runs hard and managed over 50 yards rushing against NIU. That may not sound like much but WIU averaged 48 yards a game as a team last season. 

Two key receivers are Eli Aragon, a productive player from the junior college ranks, and Christian Anaya, whose career started at Montana State, which is a top-five FCS program. Both have good speed and made impressive catches Saturday. 

The O-line is a veteran group, as all five starters vs. NIU had started D-I games before Saturday. The most experienced player is left guard Isaiah Foote, who started 13 games at East Carolina in 2022. 

Western has two veterans up front on the defensive line in Tre Henry and Brian Bruce, who are a combined 600 pounds. 

In the secondary, former cornerback Willie Jones moved to safety and had 13 tackles against NIU, including 10 in the first half. He was around the ball on numerous plays. 

6. With the changes in the world of college football, how difficult is it for a program like WIU to not only succeed but survive?

On the FCS level these days, there's always a concern about a player thriving then getting pulled away by an FBS program. Coach Davis and other Illinois FCS coaches have commented how much they like their freshmen classes. But in the next breath, they wonder if they can keep them all for four years. 

For Western, in particular, building more depth will be crucial. At their spring game two years ago, after a previous coaching change, they had only 52 players on the roster and could only do drills during the spring "game." That was a low point that WIU is still recovering from. But, the new coaching staff is making quite a bit of headway. They really beat the bushes for recruits this off-season. They have players from 29 states, including one from Indiana – freshman running back Ethan Bryce of Mishawaka, who got some carries during the team's recent Purple-White fall scrimmage.

7. Score prediction?

Just a guess here, but I'd say Indiana takes advantage of some defensive breakdowns and wins 37-13.