Weber State has scored 14 offensive touchdowns this season. But the Wildcats are halfway through a season that, if it ends in a third straight playoff push, will buck the notion that an explosive offense is a necessity to compete in the Big Sky Conference.
The Wildcats are second-to-last in the league in scoring offense at 24 points per game. Weber is throwing for only 45 yards per game more than Cal Poly, a triple option team that throws 10 passes a game on average. WSU is also second-to-last in the 13-team Big Sky in rushing offense.
Last weekend against Eastern Washington — one of the most explosive offenses in the country and the leading scoring team in the Big Sky — the Wildcats mustered just 16 first downs and 275 yards of total offense. Rashid Shaheed caught a 38-yard touchdown pass with six minutes, 24 seconds in the second quarter, WSU’s only offensive touchdown of the game. Weber did not score for the rest of the game.
And it didn’t matter. Weber State’s ridiculously athletic, hard-hitting and relentless defense held an EWU rushing attack averaging 312 yards per game against FCS competition to 62 yards on 36 carries and 247 total yards overall. EWU managed just a pair of second-half field goals in Weber’s 14-6 win over the No. 3 Eagles. The outcome marked the first time since 2008 Eastern was held without a touchdown.
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