West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University’s football team will open its 2025 season on August 29 with a matchup against the University of Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Several Leathernecks players have received preseason recognition ahead of the new campaign. Demari Davis and Christian Anaya earned third-team offensive honors on the 2025 Phil Steele Preseason All-OVC/Big South Teams, while senior linebacker Christian Pierce was named to the second team for defense. Kicker Antonio Chadha advanced to first-team honors after being selected for the third team in 2024.

Chadha has also been named to the Fred Mitchell Award Preseason Watch List, which highlights placekickers for their performance on the field and contributions off it. In the previous season, Chadha appeared in all 12 games, made 15 field goals, and had a long kick of 50 yards.

The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), along with the Big South, recognized seven Western Illinois players as preseason offensive players to watch and six as defensive players to watch. The conference’s preseason poll placed WIU fifth overall. Tennessee Tech was predicted to finish first with 57 points and five first-place votes; UT Martin and SEMO each received two first-place votes as well. Last season saw a four-way tie for first place in the OVC/Big South standings.

At quarterback, Chris Irvin moves into a starting role after backing up Nate Lamb last year. Irvin played in seven games during his previous season, completing 17 of 29 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

Illinois enters this contest with its highest preseason ranking since being ranked #11 in the Preseason AP Top 25 in 1990. The Illini return sixteen starters from last year's ten-win season.

The history between these teams shows Illinois leading Western Illinois by three wins to none. Their most recent meeting took place in 2018 when Illinois secured a victory by a score of 34-14. There are several coaching connections between both programs: Thad Ward, currently assistant head coach and running backs coach at Illinois, previously served as running backs coach at Western Illinois from 2005 through 2010; Myers Hendrickson, now an analyst at Illinois, played football at Western Illinois from 2008–2011 and was WIU's head coach from 2022–2023.

For updates on Leatherneck Football throughout the season, fans can visit GoLeathernecks.com or follow team accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.