2024 At First Glance: Week Two Western Illinois Leathernecks
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Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
Written by: Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Week Two: Western Illinois Leathernecks
Date & Time: Friday, September 6th at 7:00pm
Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
TV: BTN
Leathernecks at a Glance
Head Coach: Joe Davis
Record at WIU: 0-0 First Season
Overall Record: 0-0 First Season as Head Coach
Last Season: 0-11 (0-8 in MVC)
Leathernecks Returning Leaders
Passing: Nathan Lamb – 2-of-6 (33.3%), 20 Yards 0 Touchdowns 0 Interceptions
Rushing: Torrance Farmer –125 Yards on 37 Carries 0 Touchdowns
Receiving:Dallas Parker– 6 Catches for 37 Yards
Tackles:– Bradyn Smith (DB) 73 Tackles (44 solo), 1 Interception, 2 Forced Fumbles
Leathernecks Preseason Predictions
Athlon:N/A
Lindy’s: N/A
Phil Steele: Not Published
SP+: N/A
Impact Newcomers for the Leathernecks
Shawn Shipman, RB, Transfer from St. Thomas
Chris Irvin, QB, Transfer from Ventura College
Isaiah Foote, OL, Transfer from East Carolina
Biggest Questions Facing the Leathernecks
Can they break a 24-game losing streak in 2024?
Will Joe Davis Revive WIU Football?
What’s the future of this program?
Program Preview
Western Illinois football is in a bad spot. The program has not won a game since 2021 and has just four wins since 2019. WIU is making the move from the Missouri Valley Conference to the less daunting Ohio Valley Conference this season.
With a new conference also comes a new head coach in Joe Davis who is coming to WIU after a successful run as Eastern Illinois’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He also helped set 21 school records on offense when he was the offensive coordinator at University of Albany. Davis should help improve a dreadful WIU offense and inject some energy into a program that has not won a game since 2021.
Western Illinois is a program who could be on the endangered list with the new developments in college football. They are not nearly as successful as other in-state FCS programs like Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Illinois State. They have some decent history, but they need to win games to survive as a program.
Offensive Preview
The Leathernecks were awful on offense in 2023 as they averaged 12.4 points per game and a woeful 234.5 total yards per game. Opponents scored 50, yes 50, more touchdowns than WIU in 2023.
In all starts up front on offense and WIU had terrible offensive line play in 2023. While they gained 1,023 yards rushing, they also lost 499 for a net of 524 yards and an average of 1.5 yards per attempt. The Leathernecks also gave up 50 sacks for a loss of 372 yards. The good news for WIU is that it does not get worse than that and Davis has brought in some reinforcements from the transfer portal like ECU transfer Isaiah Foote, 6’3” 329 pounds, who has 23 games of FBS experience including double digit-starts. Jeremiah Banks-Well, 6’4” and 295 pounds, is back after starting 10 games in 2023 at left tackle. Ryan Merklinger, 6’4” 315 pounds, can play center or left tackle giving WIU three experienced and good sized offensive linemen. Izaya Vimahi, 6’6”, 369 pounds and Dagan Miller, 6’5”, 340 pounds, should round out the starting five. WIU also added FIU transfer Cole Smith in the portal.
The Leathernecks will likely have a new quarterback in 2023 and could be a two man battle. Chris Irvin is the experienced quarterback and comes to WIU from Ventura College. In 12 games last season Irvin threw for 2,282 yards and 18 touchdowns en route to a playoff berth. WIU also brings in an interesting freshman, Antwon McKay Jr out of Cardinal Ritter , who was the 54th best player in Missouri according to 247Sports. McKay was in for spring practice as well. At Cardinal Ritter, McKay Jr. threw for 1792 yards and 22 touchdowns at Cardinal Ritter. McKay is a winner too, he was unbeaten (28-0), leading his team to back-to-back state championships.
WIU loses much of their offensive production from 2023, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In the running game WIU will try to build through the portal through transfers Cameran Smith (Missouri S&T) who ran for 707 yards and 12 touchdowns last year and Shawn Shipman (St. Thomas) who was an All-Conference performer in 2023 after running for 785 yards. Both have to be upgrades for what WIU had in 2023.
The most productive part of the Leatherneck offense, if you can call it that, was the passing game. However, not a lot of production returns. The Leathernecks will again look to revamp through the transfer portal as they bring in Ventura College receiver Elijah Aragon who caught 62 passes for 785 yards. He already has familiarity with quarterback Chris Irvin who also transferred in from Ventura. Also joining the group is former Illinois and Northern Illinois wide receiver Keion Battle who has not seen much action at the FBS level, but could add to the room.
The tight end room gets a boost from transfer Dylan Drake (Heidelberg) who caught 13 passes in 2023.
Defensive Preview
Any time a team loses 24-straight games and 47 out of 51 games, there will not be many bright spots. The Leatherneck defense allowed 46.3 points per game and over 478 yards per contest. The defense took the ball away 11 times in 11 games, well below average. WIU also allowed conversions 51.3-percent of the time on third down and 66.7-percent of the time on fourth down. They did not create much havoc either with just six sacks and 44 tackles for loss. Davis and the defensive staff went to the portal again to help at all three levels of the defense.
The linebacker corps welcomes in two players with significant playing experience in Deigo Neri (Bowling Green) and Dawson Chapman (New Mexico Military Institute). Neri could find his way into a starting role while Chapman should get plenty of playing time as well. Ryan Crandle, the team’s second-leading tackler is back at linebacker as well. Missouri transfer Aiden Harrison returns after not playing in 2023. There is depth and a little bit of talent in the linebacker room for an FCS program.
In the secondary, WIU returns 2023 leading tackler Bradyn Smith and Cordell Wilson. They also went heavy on DBs in the portal bringing in Mike Barber III (Loras College), Edward Clark (Minnesota State) and Lee-John Majors (Chabot College). This unit had just three interceptions and 24 pass breakups.
Along the defensive line, the Leathernecks will have to replace nearly all of their production from 2023. They hit the portal again bringing in Jalen Riven (Toledo) and Darryl Taylor (Lenoir-Rhyne).
Special Teams Preview
Western Illinois returns punter Jared Campbell who is the owner of the second-longest punt in WIU history at 86 yards. He has a big leg, but averaged just 39.2 yards per punt. He had six punts over 50 yards and pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 10 times and forced 21 fair catches on 58 punts.
Kicker Owen Valek took over the field goal kicking after the first game. He hit six-of-nine of his field goals with a long of 49 yards. Those are solid numbers for a freshman. He also handled the Leatherneck’s kickoff duties with just three touchbacks on 35 kickoffs.
WIU lost both kick and punt returners and will have to figure that out during fall camp. There are some decent options with Torino Tate and Dallas Parker returning.
2024 FIRST GLANCE PREVIEWS