Way Too Early Wisconsin Football Opponent Preview: Western Illinois
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As mentioned in the first installment of this series previewing each Wisconsin opponent for the 2026 season. In today's edition, I'll dive into the first of your classic early-season opponents that the Badgers should defeat soundly at Camp Randall.
It's very possible Wisconsin enters this game in search of its first win of the season, and it should be able to do so, barring an unforgettable upset effort from the Leathernecks.
How 2025 ended
The start of the 2025 season was unkind to Western Illinois, but the program rallied for a solid finish to the campaign, winning three of its final four games. The late rally, however, was not enough to overcome the rocky start, as the Leathernecks finished the season 4-8, with a 3-5 record in conference play.
Games played in the Ohio Valley-Big South conference hold little significance for Wisconsin, but of note on the 2025 Western Illinois schedule was the first two games of the season, each against Big Ten opponents.
In week one, the Leathernecks played at Illinois and lost 52-3. The next week, they headed to Evanston to face Northwestern and were once again trounced, losing 42-7. With the matchup in Madison coming more than a year after these two games, the results are essentially meaningless given how rosters change, but they serve as examples of how the Badgers should handle business in week two.
Key losses
One player on each side of the ball for Western Illinois earned first-team all-conference honors in 2025, and both of them entered the transfer portal in the offseason.
Offensively, Markell Holman was the star. The running back was the Ohio Valley-Big South rushing champion, rushing for 1,064 yards on 231 carries, finding the endzone seven times. He'll finish his college career out west after transferring to Wyoming.
Defensively, senior linebacker Christian Pierce earned first-team all-conference honors with 100 total tackles and 13.5 tackles for loss. His departure leaves Western Illinois in need of a new leader on that side of the ball.
Key additions
Hopefully, the Western Illinois defense doesn't offer too much resistance for Jeff Grimes' crew, but there will still be lessons to learn from this matchup.
In the secondary, Christian Garrett is in his first year at Western Illinois after transferring from Delaware State. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound defensive back will at the very least impose size on Wisconsin's receivers. To be determined whether Garrett can cause real problems, but for a group that is full of new faces, facing size early on could reveal some things to make real assessments of the room.
With big shoes to fill in the Leathernecks' backfield, Ihson Jackson-Anderson headlines Western Illinois' transfer additions offensively, transferring from Wofford. The back rushed for nearly 700 yards on 132 carries. He offers upside for big plays out of the backfield.
2026 outlook
At the FCS level, it's so hard to predict what teams will look like after an offseason. Many of the newcomers are coming from Non-Division I ranks, so how they transition to the FCS level is a bit of a question mark.
Four of Western Illinois' five losses in conference action were by one score in 2025, so it's not unreasonable to say that the program is likely looking to finish in the upper half of the Ohio Valley-Big South.
Prediction
Wisconsin 45, Western Illinois 7
It's hard to predict the score for a game like this. I don't anticipate a scenario where Wisconsin doesn't dominate, but if it would like to score in the fifties or sixties and pitch a shutout, I'm all for it.
Whether it's a scripted drive to start a half, a trick play that catches the Badgers off guard or a garbage time score, I'll give the Leathernecks a touchdown, but I think this is a game Wisconsin dominates from start-to-finish.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Way Too Early Wisconsin Football Opponent Preview: Western Illinois.
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