Chris Irvin (5) returns as the most experienced Western Illinois quarterback. Second-year head coach Joe Davis said the QB competition is still open as the Leathernecks enter summer. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Dan Verdun
MACOMB – Western Illinois is scheduled to open its 2025 season Aug. 30 at the University of Illinois. That leaves 132 days for head coach Joe Davis to choose a starting quarterback if need be.
Davis, in his second year at WIU, gave equal time in the 15 spring practices to the five candidates vying to replace departed senior Nate Lamb.
Foremost among the group is redshirt senior Chris Irvin, who served as Lamb’s backup last season.
“Chris earned the right to start it tonight,” Davis told Prairie State Pigskin following Friday’s Bruce Craddock Memorial Spring Game at Hanson Field.
The annual event, which honors the memory of the former Leatherneck head coach (1983-89) who passed away in 1990, used a unique scoring system that rewards teams for making various plays. In Friday night’s edition, the White team (offense) defeated the Gold team (defense), 84-69.
Irvin, who threw three touchdown passes among his 29 attempts last fall, was the lone WIU quarterback to wear a red jersey – meaning he could not be tackled – during the scrimmage.
“He knows our offense inside-out,” Davis said. “He’s one of the few quarterbacks I’ve had in 22 years (of coaching) who I don’t think threw an interception all spring. He’s really smart with where he goes with the football.”
Irvin, listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, walked on at FBS Washington State in 2021 and played at Ventura (Calif.) Junior College in 2023 prior to his transfer to Western last year.
“This spring was a huge growing opportunity for us,” Irvin said. “The first couple weeks (of practices) as a quarterback room, we kind of struggled. There weren’t a whole lot of footballs in the end zone, but these past two weeks we’ve really picked it up. You saw a lot of balls in the end zone tonight.”
The remaining quarterback candidates include T.C. Molk, a junior who transferred from Division II Walsh University; redshirt freshman Tanner Zolnosky, who played in two games last fall and led a scoring drive against Big South-Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri in November; redshirt freshman Antwon McKay Jr., who offers the dual threat of run and pass; and redshirt freshman Mills Dawson, who took part in his second spring at WIU.
“The young guys had really, really positive springs,” Davis said. “They just need a little bit more time with physical development.”
Junior receiver Tristin Duncan, who caught 20 passes last fall, likes what he sees from the quarterbacks.
“It’s really close. There are ones who could be the guy from that group on any given day,” he said. “It’s exciting and will be interesting to see who emerges.”
Junior wideout Joshua Nieves added, “I love ‘em all. I’m looking forward to seeing them get after it.”
Davis noted that Western “may still add a guy in that room to compete a little bit.”
Irvin is fully aware of the importance of quarterback play in Davis’s offense.
“This offense is only going to go as far as me and the other QBs are going to take us,” he said. “The offense is only going to be as good as we are.”
Leathernecks lose pair to portal
While WIU is likely to add from the transfer portal going forward, two key pieces announced they were leaving the Leathernecks via that path.
On Friday, Eli Aragon – Western’s leading returning receiver from last fall – posted on social media that he was entering the portal. Aragon, who has two years of eligibility remaining, also posted that he has offers from FBS Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana Tech.
Davis confirmed Saturday that Cameren Smith, the team’s leading rusher a year ago, was also entering the portal. Smith posted his entry Sunday morning on social media.
Smith earned Phil Steele Big South-OVC second-team honors after running for 802 yards on 188 carries and scoring 12 touchdowns last season. Smith sat out spring practices while recovering from a late-season toe injury.
Those subtractions follow the earlier offseason transfer of receiver Matthew Henry, who is now at FBS Western Kentucky. Henry led WIU with 64 receptions for 1,211 yards and six touchdowns in 2024.
A closer look at QB
Davis said “his command of the offense” is the area that Irvin has improved on the most since coming to Western as a junior college transfer in 2024.
“Last year we came out of this (spring) game as a staff and really thought we had something with Nate Lamb, but Chris wasn’t far away,” Davis said. “We did not award Nate (the starting job) until he beat Chris out again in fall camp. It was really close all the way through.”
Lamb wound up leading a Western unit that topped the Big South-OVC in six offensive categories. Lamb passed for more than 3,300 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Davis remains excited about the possibilities with Irvin as WIU prepares for summer workouts.
“Our staff brought up a great point. When Chris was in games last year, we scored points. Whether he came in because Nate was dinged up or he came in at the end of a blowout, he came in and scored points and got us in the end zone,” Davis said. “Chris has some of that ‘gamer’ mentality to him.”
Despite that, Davis won’t name a starter for the fall at this point in the calendar year.
“It keeps all the quarterbacks a little bit hungry,” he said. “To me, it’s hard to name a starter before he’s really been in the battle and the thick of games consistently. We’ve seen flashes of that from Chris, but I want to see a guy really go and take hold of that during fall camp and be the commander in chief.”
There’s also additions yet to come from the transfer portal at other offensive positions.
“The mark of a good quarterback – and I call it the Tom Brady Effect because a lot of receivers had their great seasons when they were with Tom Brady – is that he makes guys around him just a little bit better. That’s another evaluation tool,” Davis said. “We’ll let that competition keep going and see what happens this fall.”
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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