3 Things to Know About Wisconsin Football's Week 2 Opponent Western Illinois

If you don't know anything about Western Illinois' football program, you're probably not alone.

The Leathernecks aren't an FCS darling like North Dakota State. They're not pushing for a move up to the FBS like Tarleton State. They're not well-funded like the now-MAC members Sacramento State.

Wisconsin football goes from playing one of the most recognizable brands in the sport to one of the least from Week 1 to Week 2. To get you caught up on Western Illinois, Badgers On SI breaks down a few key pieces of intel:

Western Illinois is a bad FCS program

That's putting it pretty bluntly, but it's true. The Leathernecks have gone 4-8 the past two seasons, but that's a step up from the two seasons before that in which they went 0-11. Their last winning season was 2017, when they went 8-4, and that was also the last time they made the FCS playoffs, where they lost in the second round.

The Leathernecks' strength of schedule increases dramatically in Weeks 1-3

Western Illinois faced Northwestern last fall. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Western Illinois got off to a good start in 2026, beating the Northwestern College Red Raiders 65-14. The private Christian liberal arts college in Orange City, Iowa isn't an NCAA DI school; they compete in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).

Then, they faced Illinois State, their first FCS opponent of the season. The Redbirds are a great program who made a run to the FCS title game before falling to Montana State last year, and they handled business against the Leathernecks, beating them 41-10.

Now, Western Illinois must face a Big Ten team. That's a pretty dramatic and comical leap in opponent difficulty from week to week to week.

Western Illinois has a quarterback controversey

In the opener against Northwestern College, the Leathernecks primarily used Kennedy McGill at quarterback. He was sensational, tossing for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-17 passing.

In Week 2 against Illinois State, both McGill and Cason Carswell got action. The former went 14-of-22 for 123 yards and a pick, while Carswell was 9-of-18 for 140 yards. Both players are captains on the 2026 Leathernecks.

"We're still working through that. We've got two good players there," Western Illinois head coach Joe Davis said this week. "They're both well respected players...what that rep count looks like on Saturday, we're still working through that, but we're gonna need both of these guys."

Having two quarterbacks whom you can't decide between is never actually as good of a problem as head coaches would like you to believe. Still, it'll be interesting to see what direction Western Illinois goes in Saturday night.

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