West Central Reporter

The Western Illinois University football team delivered a strong performance on the road against nationally-ranked Illinois State, despite ultimately falling short with a 51-34 loss. The Leathernecks (0-3) managed to challenge the No. 18/19 Redbirds throughout all four quarters of Saturday's game in Normal, IL.

Western Illinois now heads into its bye week before their home opener against McKendree on September 28.

"Before you learn how to win, you have to learn how to compete," said Western Illinois football coach Joe Davis. "We saw with Illinois State for the most part, we were competing well in all three facets for all four quarters of the game. We had points in that game where we were very competitive in all three phases but not consistently enough to win that game. We're looking for that consistent competition for four quarters is a step we need to take as a program."

Quarterback Nathan Lamb led the Leathernecks with an impressive performance, completing his first ten passes and finishing 24-33 passing for 269 yards and a touchdown. Lamb also contributed significantly on the ground, rushing for three touchdowns and gaining 59 yards on 15 carries. He connected with nine different receivers during the game, with Matthew Henry leading the team by catching seven passes for 124 yards.

Eli Aragon, Brandon Lanier, and Christian Anaya each had five receptions; Aragon accumulated 71 yards while Anaya had 28 and Lanier added 27.

Despite falling behind early at 14-0, Western Illinois fought back with Lamb scoring his first touchdown on a six-yard run and later tying the game by connecting with Christian Anaya on a three-yard pass. The Redbirds regained the lead but another rushing touchdown from Lamb tied it again at 21-21 late in the first half.

Illinois State went ahead with a field goal just before halftime, making it 24-21. In the second half, a blocked field goal attempt returned for a touchdown gave Illinois State a decisive lead at 31-21. Though Western Illinois cut the deficit to three points following another Lamb touchdown run, Illinois State scored three consecutive touchdowns to secure their victory.

Chris Irvin added one more score for Western Illinois with his first touchdown pass as a Leatherneck, hitting Eli Aragon just before time expired.

Defensively, Michael Newman led WIU with a career-high of 14 tackles. Tre Henry contributed seven tackles while Jordan Anderson added six. Cameren Smith led WIU's ground attack with 77 yards on 20 carries as part of an overall team effort that amassed 186 rushing yards over 51 attempts—the highest since their season finale against Illinois State in 2022.

Notable achievements included Nathan Lamb's tie of a program record by completing ten straight passes at the start of the game and Matt Henry’s surpassing of 100 receiving yards in one half—the first since Jaylin Jackson achieved this feat last year.

Western Illinois compiled a total of 503 offensive yards during this matchup; it was their first time exceeding over five hundred yards since facing Eastern Washington in 2021.

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