What Western Illinois Head Coach Joe Davis Said About Wisconsin Football

The Badgers are coming off a disappointing loss in Week 1 at the hands of No. 4 Notre Dame, one that re-affirmed to them just how far away they are from taking down a national title favorite.

Now, Wisconsin must face an opponent of significantly lower caliber. FCS Western Illinois hails from a lower level of the sport, and the Leathernecks haven't been particularly good at that level. Head coach Joe Davis, hired ahead of the 2024 season, had led them to back-to-back 4-8 campaigns. That's certainly not great, but it's better than the back-to-back 0-11 seasons Western Illinois suffered though before hiring Davis as skipper.

Speaking of Davis, he had plenty of praise for Wisconsin at his weekly press conference.

"Have a lot of respect for Coach Fickell and his staff. They’ve done an excellent job of rebuilding their roster this offseason with a lot of transfer additions and creating some more depth," he said.

Transfers are the main force driving this team, and that was readily apparent Sunday night with the nation watching. Players like quarterback Colton Joseph, wide receiver Malachi Coleman and tailback Abu Sama have clearly raised the bar for what this team can be offensively.

Davis spoke highly of Joseph in particular.

Joe Davis praises Colton Joseph

University of Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

"Very impressed with the quarterback they signed from Old Dominion. Very very athletic player, very very accurate. Certainly, you’re not the Offensive Player of the Year in your league for nothing. So we’ll have our hands full, there’s no doubt about it.”

It's interesting Davis mentions accuracy, because that's not one of the top four or five traits I would assign to Joseph. Still, even though they're just an FCS team, it's safe to say the nation has taken notice: Wisconsin finally has a quarterback that elicits at least moderate concern from opposing coaches.

It's also interesting to hear how Davis perceives this game. This is obviously a buy game, in which Wisconsin forks over a pretty penny for Western Illinois to come to Madison where they're expected to get destroyed. The Leathernecks get national exposure, a paycheck, and the slightest chance at a program-defining win. Wisconsin gets a tune-up game.

“All due respect to Wisconsin, this is the most important game of the season for us because it’s the next game. And that’s how we treat it," Davis said.

Western Illinois certainly isn't just going to cash the check and let Wisconsin walk all over them. Davis and his team will treat the Badgers like any other opponent. But he's not naive to the talent disparity or the parallels between his team playing an FBS squad and Wisconsin opening against a national title favorite.

“Probably a little similar situation to us in their opener, playing the No. 4 team in FBS. But man, we’ll have our hands full. They don’t have a lot of weaknesses on that football team. They’re big, they’re physical, they’re fast. We’ll have to come with a great plan Saturday night," he said.

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