2024 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team explained

Year:	2024
Team:	Western Illinois Leathernecks
Sport:	football
Conference:	Big South–OVC Football Association
Short Conf:	Big South–OVC
Record:	4–8
Conf Record:	3–5
Head Coach:	Joe Davis
Hc Year:	1st
Off Coach:	Brad Wilson
Oc Year:	1st
Def Coach:	Dan McKeown
Dc Year:	1st
Stadium:	Hanson Field

The 2024 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University as a member of the Big South–OVC Football Association during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Joe Davis. The Leathernecks will play home games at Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois. This was the team's first season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference after leaving the Missouri Valley Football Conference following the prior season. They finished the season 4–8, 3–5 in Big South–OVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

Preseason

Preseason poll

The Big South-OVC Conference released their preseason poll on July 17, 2024. The Leathernecks were picked to finish last in the conference.^[1]

1	UT Martin	61 (5)
2	Eastern Illinois	53 (2)
3	Southeast Missouri State	51 (2)
4	Tennessee State	41
5	Gardner-Webb	40
6	Charleston Southern	27
7	Tennessee Tech	24
8	Lindenwood	18
9	Western Illinois	9

Schedule

^{[2] [3]}

Game summaries

at Northern Illinois (FBS)

See also: 2024 Northern Illinois Huskies football team.

Statistics	WIU	NIU
First downs	17	30
Total yards	298	706
Rushing yards	94	312
Passing yards	204	394
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	28:26	31:34

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	17/29, 204 yards, TD
Rushing	Cameren Smith	14 rushes, 51 yards
Receiving	Tristin Duncan	5 receptions, 68 yards
Northern Illinois	Passing		18/20, 328 yards, 5 TD
Rushing		8 rushes, 69 yards
Receiving	Trayvon Rudolph	4 receptions, 104 yards, TD

at Indiana (FBS)

See also: 2024 Indiana Hoosiers football team.

Statistics	WIU	IU
First downs	8	33
Total yards	121	701
Rushing yards	12	323
Passing yards	109	378
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	13–26–2	19–21–0
Time of possession	25:29	34:31

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	13/25, 109 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	Torrance Farmer Jr.	5 carries, 20 yards
Receiving	Christian Anaya	5 receptions, 56 yards
Indiana	Passing		15/17, 268 yards, 2 TD
Rushing		9 carries, 117 yards, 2 TD
Receiving		6 receptions, 137 yards, TD

at No. 18 Illinois State

See also: 2024 Illinois State Redbirds football team.

Statistics	WIU	ILST
First downs	31	21
Total yards	503	390
Rushing yards	186	189
Passing yards	317	201
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	31–43–1	16–25–0
Time of possession	38:33	21:27

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	24/34, 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Cameren Smith	20 carries, 77 yards
Receiving	Matthew Henry	7 receptions, 124 yards
Illinois State	Passing	Tommy Rittenhouse	16/22, 201 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Wenkers Wright	16 carries, 106 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Xavier Loyd	4 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD

McKendree (DII)

See also: McKendree Bearcats.

Statistics	MCK	WIU
First downs	27	24
Total yards	402	495
Rushing yards	203	273
Passing yards	199	222
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	21–40–0	16–21–0
Time of possession	34:00	26:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
McKendree	Passing	Ty Michael	18/37, 176 yards
Rushing	Eddie Clark	20 carries, 139 yards, 3 TD
Receiving	Kendall Abdur-Rahman	4 receptions, 65 yards
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	14/19, 193 yards, 1 TD
Rushing	Cameren Smith	23 carries, 199 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Demari Davis	2 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD

at Charleston Southern

See also: 2024 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team.

Statistics	WIU	CHSO
First downs	17	21
Total yards	329	431
Rushing yards	132	325
Passing yards	197	106
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	17–23–1	9–17–2
Time of possession	23:28	36:32

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	17/23, 197 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Cameren Smith	25 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Elijah Aragon	10 receptions, 129 yards, 1 TD
Charleston Southern	Passing	Rob McCoy Jr	9/17, 106 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Autavius Ison	29 carries, 229 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Noah Jennings	4 receptions, 44 yards, 1 TD

UT Martin

See also: 2024 UT Martin Skyhawks football team.

Statistics	UTM	WIU
First downs	27	18
Total yards	541	294
Rushing yards	306	40
Passing yards	235	254
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	20–28–1	27–49–0
Time of possession	32:09	27:51

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UT Martin	Passing	Kinkead Dent	16/21, 194 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Patrick Smith	17 carries, 145 yards, TD
Receiving	Max Dowling	3 receptions, 88 yards, 2 TD
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	20/33, 158 yards
Rushing	Cameren Smith	13 carries, 27 yards, TD
Receiving	Tristin Duncan	4 receptions, 45 yards

Tennessee Tech

See also: 2024 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team.

Statistics	TNTC	WIU
First downs	17	26
Total yards	330	446
Rushing yards	68	186
Passing yards	262	260
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	23–34–2	15–24–0
Time of possession	22:13	37:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tennessee Tech	Passing	Dylan Laible	23/33, 262 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Jalen Mitchell	7 carries, 86 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	D.J. Linkins	7 receptions, 84 yards
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	15/24, 260 yds, 2 TD
Rushing	Nathan Lamb	17 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Matthew Henry	6 receptions, 181 yards, 1 TD

at Lindenwood

See also: 2024 Lindenwood Lions football team.

Statistics	WIU	LIN
First downs	37	24
Total yards	713	572
Rushing yards	149	389
Passing yards	564	183
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	42–55–0	11–16–0
Time of possession	36:06	23:54

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	42/55, 564 yards, 5 TD
Rushing	Cameren Smith	17 carries, 67 yards
Receiving	Matthew Henry	15 receptions, 226 yards, 1 TD
Lindenwood	Passing	Nate Glantz	11/16, 183 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Steve Hall	13 carries, 259 yards, 4 TD
Receiving	Abe Haerr	1 reception, 57 yards

at Eastern Illinois

See also: 2024 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team.

Statistics	WIU	EIU
First downs	24	22
Total yards	395	534
Rushing yards	86	196
Passing yards	309	338
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	29–43–0	19–27–0
Time of possession	30:30	29:30

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	29/43, 309 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Cameren Smith	17 carries, 66 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Elijah Aragon	9 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Eastern Illinois	Passing	Pierce Holley	19/27, 338 yards, 5 TD
Rushing	MJ Flowers	27 carries, 194 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Alex Ginnever	6 receptions, 100 yards, 2 TD

Tennessee State

See also: 2024 Tennessee State Tigers football team.

Statistics	TNST	WIU
First downs	23	27
Total yards	376	432
Rushing yards	188	148
Passing yards	188	284
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–19–1	27–50–1
Time of possession	27:02	27:16

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tennessee State	Passing	Draylen Ellis	12/19, 188 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Tevin Carter	8 carries, 51 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Bryant Williams	3 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	24/45, 266 yds, 1 TD
Rushing	Nathan Lamb	13 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Demari Davis	2 receptions, 62 yards

at No. 12 Southeast Missouri State

See also: 2024 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team.

Statistics	WIU	SEMO
First downs	25	33
Total yards	593	559
Rushing yards	93	192
Passing yards	500	367
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	27–42–3	24–39–1
Time of possession	26:09	33:51

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	24/39, 449 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Cameren Smith	17 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Matthew Henry	7 receptions, 183 yards, 1 TD
Southeast Missouri State	Passing	Paxton DeLaurent	24/39, 367 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Brandon Epton Jr.	22 carries, 126 yards, 1 TD
Receiving	Dorian Anderson	5 receptions, 116 yards, 1 TD

Gardner–Webb

See also: 2024 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team.

Statistics	GWEB	WIU
First downs	25	21
Total yards	348	511
Rushing yards	55	81
Passing yards	293	430
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	28–47–0	24–34–1
Time of possession	30:56	29:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Gardner–Webb	Passing	Tyler Ridell	23/35, 234 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Quasean Holmes	9 carries, 24 yards
Receiving	Anthony Lowe	5 receptions, 84 yards
Western Illinois	Passing	Nathan Lamb	23/33, 352 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing	Torrance Farmer Jr.	16 carries, 58 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Matthew Henry	6 receptions, 210 yards, 2 TD

Notes and References

1. Web site: UT Martin Voted 2024 Preseason Big South-OVC Football Association Favorite . www.bigsouthovcfootball.com . July 17, 2024 . 20 November 2024 . en.
2. Web site: 2024 Western Illinois Football Schedule. fbschedules.com. FBSchedules. May 31, 2024.
3. Web site: 2024 Football Schedule. goleathernecks.com. Western Illinois Leathernecks. May 31, 2024.