Quarterback Cason Carswell returns this season for Western Illinois after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year award in 2025. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Barry Bottino
MACOMB — Over the last month of the 2025 season, Western Illinois was riding high.
Three wins in its final four games. Two wins on the road. A season-ending win at Gardner-Webb that knocked the Bulldogs out of playoff contention.
That momentum is what the Leathernecks carried throughout the off-season and will bring into Thursday’s 2026 season opener.
“That generated a lot of positivity for our program,” head coach Joe Davis said.
“It’s given us a little spark,” quarterback Cason Carswell said.
“We started to play really good football,” said defensive coordinator Landon Fox. “There’s a belief that goes with that success.”
“That kind of springboards you into the off-season,” offensive coordinator Brad Wilson said. “It’s confidence.”
On Thursday, the Leathernecks (4-8 last season) will host Northwestern (Iowa) College (6-4), which was ranked No. 24 in this week’s preseason NAIA Top 25 poll.
WIU will showcase two quarterbacks against Northwestern. Carswell, who won the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year award, will start. Davis said Kennedy McGill, a transfer from Central Washington University, also will play. McGill was a finalist for the Harlan Hill Trophy last season, which is awarded to the top player in Division II.
Davis praised Carswell for a productive off-season and a fall camp that flustered the WIU defense.
“I think he only turned it over twice all of fall camp,” Davis said. “That’s in 400-some pass attempts.”
Carswell said his biggest growth has been in the mental side of the game.
“What separates good quarterbacks from others is being able to read coverages and knowing the system,” he said. “As a freshman, it’s hard to pick up the system that fast.”
Defensively, Fox said players are more comfortable now in the second year of his scheme and that coaches are working to put the right players in the right spots more quickly.
“We’ve got to start faster,” Fox said of WIU, which began 1-7 last fall.
Kickoff: 6 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: Q981fm.com
Key matchup to watch
WIU defense vs. QB Colby Duncan: Last season, the Northwestern QB passed for nearly 1,800 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also ran for a team-high 529 yards and five TDs. WIU’s defense will have to pay special attention to the dual-threat Duncan.
What’s at stake?
A victory Thursday would be the first win for Western in a season opener since 2017, when the Leathernecks beat Tennessee Tech, 41-14.
Quick hits
The Leathernecks return plenty of experience on the offensive line, with four players who started the 2025 season finale back. “I’m excited about our offensive line,” Davis said. Senior James Durand (12 starts) and sophomore Tyler Sulsberger (9 starts) will play “swing tackles” with senior Dorian Arguelles (10 games) playing one guard spot and senior Michael Forney (12 games) at center. Sophomore Ryan McCombs, who redshirted after appearing in two games last season, will likely start at guard opposite of Arguelles. … Western will start the season with two home games for the first time since 2013. After Northwestern’s visit, WIU will host Illinois State on Sept.5. … A previous NCAA ruling allowing players to receive a fifth year of eligibility allowed linebacker Kevin Washington (70 tackles, 11 TFLs in 2025) to return to Macomb. Last week, that decision was put on hold in the courts, leaving WIU and Washington “in limbo,” Davis said. “I really feel for him. He was going to go be a firefighter. We presented him with the opportunity and got him up here (to campus). All parties knew there could be a shift. If something shifts again, we will welcome him back with open arms.” … Fox said he has high expectations for the team’s outside linebacker group, which will feature sophomore starters Aa’zoriyon Bonner (39 tackles, six tackles for loss) and Justin Buckner (33 tackles, four sacks) and key reserves Lebron Morgan and Joe Edwards. “Those are all guys who play so hard,” he 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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