Defensive end Peyton Bradford, a returning captain, is returning for his third season at Western Illinois. (Photo by GoLeathernecks.com)
By Barry Bottino
Call it a rebirth, a revival or a reawakening. Whatever term you use for the Western Illinois offense in 2024, it applies.
The Leathernecks (4-8) won the most games in a season since 2018 – and broke a 28-game losing streak – last fall thanks to a big-play offense that scored 31 points a game, more than the previous two seasons combined.
Quarterback Nate Lamb put up the second-best season in WIU history in passing yards (3,332) and total offense (3,674).
When Western takes the field at 6 p.m. Friday in Macomb for the Bruce Craddock Memorial Spring Game, the team’s defense is determined to begin its own revival.
“Now it’s our turn to step up to the plate,” defensive end Peyton Bradford said. “We need to help them out so they can be successful and not feel so much pressure because we can’t do our job.”
While allowing 43.4 points and nearly 493 yards a game last fall, the Leathernecks lost three games by only 11 or fewer points. The last time a Western defense gave up fewer than 30 points and 400 yards a game was 2018.
“You can’t give up 700 yards in a game or 300 rushing yards and expect to be successful,” Bradford said.
Defensive tackle Mayo Bola also returns for WIU. He and Bradford gained another year of eligibility based on the NCAA’s ruling in the Diego Pavia case.
Bola’s goal is simple.
“We have to stop the run,” he said of Western, which gave up nearly 230 yards a game on the ground last season, which ranked in the bottom 10 nationally. “For me personally, that’s the No. 1 thing that I’m trying to make sure happens.”
Bola isn’t the only player focused on a turnaround. Thanks to multiple additions from the transfer portal, a new defensive coordinator (former Valparaiso head coach Landon Fox) and the development of several young defenders, the signs are obvious this spring.
“If you see it in person, you can tell that people want it,” he said. “Everybody is fighting for a spot. Everybody wants to play. Everybody wants to be on a winning team.”
Having Bradford and Bola back has provided a foundation up front.
“Those two guys were a priority for us as a staff,” WIU head coach Joe Davis said. “It’s a very big positive. I anticipate both of them being a very big part of our defense.
“Payton is a do-everything guy for us. He plays the game the way it should be played, which is 100 miles an hour. Mayo is a really solid presence for us on the inside. He’s a great worker in the weight room. He’s a great mentor to a very talented group of young defensive tackles,” Davis said.
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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