Yes, two losses in a row counts as a skid when, like the Montana Grizzlies, you have aspirations to be the national champion at the end of the season. Montana’s second-straight one-touchdown loss, this one against Sacramento State in overtime, dropped the Grizzlies out of the top 10 in the national media poll for the first time all season.
If two losses is a skid, three is a streak, but to break it Montana will have to go to Weber State, which remained in the top five despite losing for the first time all season. The Wildcats fell 43-38 to Montana State in a crazy game in Bozeman. That was by far their most points given up all season. The Griz gave up a new season-high last week as well. It’s still two great defenses going against each other.
NICKNAME: Wildcats
LOCATION: Ogden, Utah
FOUNDED: 1889
ENROLLMENT: 26,681
FAMOUS ALUMNI: Damian Lillard, point guard; Ben Howland, basketball coach; David Kennedy, former Secretary of the Treasury
LAST MEETING: In their second matchup of the 2019 season, Weber State bludgeoned the Griz 17-10 in a cold, snowy FCS quarterfinal to avenge a 35-16 regular-season loss from the month before.
THE COACH
Jay Hill (ninth year at Weber State, 64-37)
Over nearly a decade at Weber State, Hill has engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in the FCS. The Wildcats were 2-10 in his first season and haven’t been under .500 since. The rebuild peaked with three-straight double-digit win seasons from 2017 to 2019 and an FCS semifinal appearance in the latter of those.
Weber State was 5-1 in the COVID spring season to claim a fourth Big Sky title in five years, but lost in the first round of the playoffs, and slipped to 6-5 against a tough schedule in 2021. Hill has brought the Wildcats back to the very top of the FCS again in 2022, with an eye-opening blowout of FBS Utah State in non-conference and three straight conference wins before the setback at Montana State. Hill’s teams, this year as always, start with great defense and special teams.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE
QB Bronson Barron (6-3, 215, So.)
Barron has a great arm and has stepped forward this year, already surpassing his yardage total from eight games a season ago.
RB Dontae McMillan (5-11, 190, So.)
The Wildcats have plenty of backs in the stable with leading rusher Damon Bankston and previous All-American Josh Davis. McMillan is the home-run hitter with 7.4 yards per carry.
WR Ty McPherson (6-0, 190, Sr.)
McPherson is fourth in the league with 81 receiving yards per game and second with seven touchdowns.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE
CB Maxwell Anderson (5-11, 170, Jr.)
I think Anderson is a low-key Buck Buchanan Award candidate with five interceptions, five other pass breakups and two blocked kicks.
CB Eddie Heckard, 5-10, 195, Jr.
The demonstrative Heckard is a two-time returning first-team all-Big Sky player.
LB Winston Reid, 6-1, 230, Jr.
Reid leads the Wildcats with 52 tackles and has added 4 1/2 TFLs.
