Western Illinois wide receiver Jaylin Jackson has made seven receptions in three straight games this season. (Photo courtesy Jaylin Jackson)
By Barry Bottino
When Jaylin Jackson’s phone blows up with text messages, there’s a good possibility it’s a discussion about the Western Illinois offense.
Jackson is part of a group chat with fellow wide receiver Jay Parker and quarterback Matt Morrissey, which has become quite active.
“We text often about how we can make our routes better and get open quicker,” Jackson said. “We do a lot of that.”
The group, which also watches film together regularly, has helped the Leathernecks pump up their passing game this season.
WIU (0-5 overall, 0-2 Missouri Valley Football Conference) is producing 258.8 passing yards a game, which is nearly 75 more yards per game than last season. That has translated into 21.2 points per game, a rise of more than seven points from 2022.
“We knew a big strength of ours was an ability to throw the ball out to playmakers,” WIU head coach Myers Hendrickson said. “Matt Morrissey’s been doing that and Jaylin, in particular, has been a great leader in making plays.”
Western will seek to keep its offensive momentum going at 3 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Missouri State (1-4, 0-2) for Homecoming in Macomb.
Jackson has seven receptions in each of the last three games for WIU and now has the third-most catches (28) of any player in the MVFC. His reception, receiving yardage (312) and touchdown (three) totals this season are all career highs.
“I’m just trusting the coaching that I’ve been getting,” Jackson said. “I’m trusting my quarterback and trusting that I need to be in the right place that we repped day in and day out over the summer. There’s been a hard work (ethic) that’s been instilled.”
Working with a new quarterback like Morrissey takes time, according to Jackson, but communication and hundreds of repetitions in practice have helped.
“It’s like gaining another friend,” he said. “You come in and trust that new player and build a relationship with the quarterback. That’s the big thing we did this off-season.
“We’re getting the ball to our playmakers out on the perimeter, which gives us opportunities to make big plays. That’s been a big thing,” he said.
While mainly working out of the slot this season, Jackson said he has several favorite routes, most notably option routes, in which a receiver reads a specific area of the field and adjusts to the coverage.
“There’s a lot of detail that goes into those routes,” Hendrickson said. “Matt and Jaylin are really getting on the same page. In the North Dakota game, we had a really long drive. We count on Jaylin to catch those balls and he made those plays several times from the slot.”
On Western’s 19-play, 63-yard drive in the second quarter that produced a field goal, Jackson made one third-down reception and two catches on fourth down, all of which kept the drive going.
“He’s been a very reliable player for us, works hard and makes the right reads,” Hendrickson said. “He’s a really smart player who made those plays on critical downs.”
This week’s opponent
Like WIU, a new quarterback has been a plus for Missouri State. For the Bears, that’s 6-foot-5 Jacob Clark, a Minnesota transfer who was Missouri State’s backup last season. He has thrown for 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions while completing 63% of his passes. However, Clark missed last week’s game against North Dakota State with a shoulder injury and may not be available this week either. Junior Jordan Pachot passed for 269 yards and a TD last weekend in a 38-10 loss to North Dakota State. He also threw three interceptions. … Missouri State has had difficulty generating a pass rush, with only five sacks in five games. … Sophomore safety Todric McGee leads the conference with 10.6 tackles per game. … The Bears are allowing nearly 225 rushing yards a game and have given up 12 touchdowns on the ground. Running the football, however, has been a struggle for WIU. The Leathernecks are averaging 29.6 yards per game, which has been impacted by 175 yards in losses on 23 sacks.
(Kickoff: 3 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: Q981FM.com)
Key matchup to watch
WIU pass offense vs. Missouri State defense: With Morrissey running the show, WIU’s passing game has taken big strides forward. The team also has two receivers in the top eight in catches in the Missouri Valley. Missouri State’s defense, however, has been strongest against the pass. The Bears have allowed only five passing TDs this season, despite giving up more than 33 points a game.
What’s at stake?
Western and Missouri State have combined for one win this season, so a victory would do plenty to establish confidence in either team.
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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