ST. LOUIS - Coaches, administrators and players from each of the seven Gateway Football Conference schools convened in St. Louis Tuesday for the league's annual media day. Preseason all-conference picks Herb Donaldson and Jerome Bennett joined Western Illinois head coach Don Patterson as the group met with members of the media throughout the day. Below are several notes, quotes and highlights from the event.

SIX LAND ON PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Two offensive players and two defensive players earned spots on the Gateway Preseason All-Conference Team, while two others landed on the honorable mention list. Running back Herb Donaldson and wide receiver Carl Sims, both juniors, joined senior linebacker Jerome Bennett and sophomore defensive back Patrick Stoudamire on the preseason team, while juniors Taylor Rowan (PK) and Jason Williams (LB) earned honorable mention.

WIU ON NATIONAL TV TWICE IN 2007
The Leathernecks will play twice on live television this fall - once as part of the Big Ten Network (Sept. 8 at Illinois, 6 p.m. CT) and once as part of the Gateway Network's four-game package (Oct. 20 vs. UNI, 6:30 p.m. CT). Each of the four Gateway games will be aired on FSN Midwest and Fox College Sports. Both Bennett and Donaldson taped interviews today that will air during the broadcast of the UNI game.

LEATHERNECKS PICKED FIFTH IN GATEWAY PRESEASON POLL
Western Illinois was picked to finish fifth in the league race according to the Gateway Conference Preseason Poll. In the closest preseason vote in league history, UNI was picked first (166 points), followed by Illinois State (160 points), Youngstown State (159 points) and Southern Illinois (127 points). The Leathernecks received 82 points, and were followed by Missouri State (55 points) and Indiana State (35 points).

Western has been picked fifth only one other time - in 2000 when it won an outright title.

2007 SCHEDULE FEATURES SIX RANKED TEAMS
The four Gateway schools picked ahead of Western Illinois in the league's preseason poll also rank among the nation's top 12 teams according to the College Sporting News preseason FCS poll. In addition, two more opponents of Western Illinois - North Dakota State and South Dakota State - are ranked third and 22nd, respectively. In all, six of Western's nine FCS opponents are ranked in the country's top-25.

NEW FCS COACHES POLL
A new top-25 weekly poll based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) will be launched in August under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

The FCS Coaches Poll will be determined by the balloting of 28 head coaches from 14 FCS conferences. Western Illinois' Don Patterson and Illinois State's Denver Johnson will be the two delegates from the Gateway Conference. The first poll will be released August 20.

Coach Patterson on who will play quarterback this fall:
"The quarterback position is up for grabs. All three of our top returning quarterbacks have a chance to be outstanding players for us. Zack Wells showed us a slight edge after spring ball, but Will Ducey also had a very outstanding spring and Matt Barr is an exceptional athlete with a perfect 4.0 GPA and four years left to play. We will feel comfortable with any one of those three, but don't know which one quite yet. We may not know until just before week one."

Coach Patterson on North Dakota State and South Dakota State joining the Gateway in 2008:
"There is no doubt who will have the strongest conference in the nation after the expansion. Right now we have a very strong conference and you can debate that it is the toughest in the country, but there will be no doubt in 2008. If you can survive the Gateway Conference schedule, you will be in very, very good shape for the playoffs."

Coach Patterson on the defense:
"Last season we had a good team, but just not good enough in the long run. We had a lot of close losses and there is a fine line between winning and losing. I have said a lot this off-season that we have to work our way across that line. I'm confident we can get it done, primarily because of the returning players we have on defense. We have a lot of starters that are older and wiser and have two years of experience in Coach (Tom) Casey's system. On paper, we are definitely stronger on defense than on offense. We're going to put to the test the old saying that offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. This year could be shaping up a lot like our 2000 team which had an outstanding defense and an adequate offense and we were able to win an outright title."

Coach Patterson on the preseason poll:
"We don't get too concerned over it. With such a competitive conference, we have to win the close games, stay healthy and get a few lucky bounces. The team that does those things will end up on top once it all plays out."

Bennett on how the 2006 season ended:
"Winning against Northern Iowa was definitely positive, but losing against Missouri was also positive. It was positive in showing us that we had not arrived and we could still get a lot better. Losing was a positive turn that we used all during spring ball."

Bennett on the preseason poll:
"I'm sorry, I'm not aware of where we were ranked. (Fifth) Perfect. That is something I will take back to the team that will motivate us to work that much harder. We have a great strength and conditioning coach that has made a lot of changes and our team has been working out and conditioning all summer. I transferred to Western Illinois from Miami because Western Illinois is a school of great tradition of getting a ring and getting to the playoffs. We aren't satisfied with being average or shooting for a winning record at the end of the season. It's time to get over the hump and get back into the playoffs."

Bennett on starting the third season with defensive coordinator Thomas Casey:
"Going back to the history of his defense at Oregon State and at New Mexico, the first years there were rough, they made some good strides in the second year, then in the third year they made great strides. I definitely think this third year is Coach Casey's charm because he has used every player and put them in positions to help the team in a positive way. It's coming together."