Following two straight two-win seasons and the firing of former head coach Jody Sears, Weber State showed flashes of toughness and competitive spirit in Jay Hill’s first season at the helm.
The Wildcats went blow for blow with top-ranked North Dakota State, limiting NDSU to 3.8 yards per carry and keeping the game within a score until the fourth quarter in a 24-7 loss in Hill’s second game as the head coach for WSU in 2014. Losses of 10 points or less to Southern Utah, Cal Poly, No. 9 Montana State, and Northern Arizona precluded a two-game winning streak that served as Weber’s only two victories three seasons ago.
While the 2-10 record was not ideal, Weber showed flashes of the culture Hill is implementing in Ogden. Last season, the results came in the form of wins as WSU posted its first winning record since 2010, a 6-5 mark that included five Big Sky Conference victories and an overtime win in Missoula over Montana, Weber’s first at Washington-Grizzly Stadium since 1987. If not for a 14-13 loss to No. 5 Eastern Washington in Cheney, the Wildcats would’ve been on the bubble of the FCS playoffs.
At the midpoint of Hill’s third season, the Wildcats are suddenly surging. Weber State enters Saturday’s matchup against visiting Montana State on a three-game winning, it’s first under Hill and its first since October of 2010.
“Now finally everyone knows our team is capable of winning but we have to keep it up, keep grinding,” Weber State senior safety Josh Burton said earlier this week. “Sometimes, teams can get content whenever they start winning. They feel like they made it. You can’t ever feel like you made it. You always have to think you are at the bottom no matter how many wins you get.”
WSU quarterback Jadrian Clark (10)
Montana State enters the contest on a three-game losing streak. That string of losses coming by a total of 11 points. The Bobcats start to 2016 is starting to resemble Weber State’s 2014 in Hill’s first season as a Division I head coach, a similar circumstance Jeff Choate is trying to navigate.
MSU had chances late in losses to North Dakota (17-15), Sacramento State (41-38) and last week in a 20-14 loss to Northern Arizona in Bozeman, marking MSU’s second straight home loss. The Bobcats have tried junior quarterback Tyler Bruggman and true freshman Chris Murray in two-minute situations but have not been able to capitalize.
Weber State has seen its season take the opposite arc. After a lopsided 45-6 defeat in Logan to Utah State in which WSU gave up 428 yards rushing, the Wildcats have played four straight close affairs. Weber built a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 42-21 advantage in the final frame over South Dakota only to lose 52-49 in double overtime.
Since then, senior quarterback Jadrian Clark and the Wildcats have been clutch. Clark capped a 12-play, 87-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run with one minute, 42 seconds left to lift Weber to a 14-7 win over Sacramento State in a non-conference affair between two Big Sky teams.
In Weber’s Big Sky opener at UC Davis, the Wildcats had a 32-10 lead early in the third quarter only to see the Aggies come storming back. With the game tied at 35, UCD punt returner Isiah Olave muffed a kick, Weber recovered with 16 seconds left and true freshman kicker Taylor Hintze drilled a 35-yard game-winning field goal.
WSU head coach Jay Hill
With Portland State in town last week, Weber’s defense again rose to the occasion. A week after the Vikings piled up 531 yards rushing in a 45-20 win over Idaho State, the Wildcats held PSU to 3.2 yards per carry. Clark hit junior tight end Andrew Vollert, a transfer from San Jose State, for a 12-yard score with 8:44 left, the Weber defense held strong for more than six minutes as PSU ran 11 plays and the offense killed the last 2:24 of the fourth quarter as WSU moved to 2-0 in league with a 14-10 win.
“It’s a process and you do it one week but can you do it the next, that’s another question,” Hill said. “Each week is different. Week 2 this year, we had a 21-point lead with 12 minutes left in the game and the ball and we didn’t finish. The last three weeks have been different. They’ve all been different. We’ve had to come back and win, hold on to a lead and win. One thing I can say is our players are becoming more resilient and they are believing in the process. If we play good defense and don’t turn the ball over, we have a chance to win in the end of the game every week.”
Choate’s defense has made tremendous strides from the unit that gave up big plays prevalently in Rob Ash’s final two seasons. The Bobcats lead the league in scoring defense (20.4 points per game) and MSU has 16 takeaways.
But the offense has struggled, especially in key moments, for the duration of Choate’s first season. When he watches the Wildcats and their ability to finish, he sees a consistent factor.
“One thing that gives them an edge in close games is having a veteran quarterback and having a group in front of him that have played a lot of games,” Choate said. “What stands out is maturity and experience. And the other thing is they’ve been running this system for three years. There’s a higher level of familiarity. They have been in these situations more frequently, although by the time we get through this season, we might lead the country in two-minute opportunities.”
WSU running back Emmanuel Pooler (24)
Weber State has been without the services of stud junior running back Eric Wilkes, the team’s leading rusher a season ago. His status is up in the air for Saturday, as is the health of Treshawn Garrett, a sophomore who has rushed for more than 100 yards three times this season already.
The Weber run game has continued to produce regardless of who is carrying the mail. WSU is averaging 4.5 yards per pop as Garrett has 428 yards and three touchdowns. He had his ankle rolled up on against PSU after carrying the ball just nine times. Emmanuel Pooler stepped in and rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown in his absence.
“It’s just a motto we have for picking up the rifle,” WSU senior guard Cameron Young , a second-team All-Big Sky selection last season, said on Tuesday. “One guy goes down, the next guy is expected to be equally as productive. It’s been very cool to see those guys come in and produce just as much as Eric would.”
Choate called Weber State one of the most physical teams in the league on both sides of the ball. He compared the offensive front to that of North Dakota, but said WSU “probably stays on their double teams a little better than other units” in the league.
“They have a bunch of big, mature dudes up front,” Choate said. “Their offensive style, they are not quite as committed to running the ball as UND was but their offensive line is big and physical like that. I think they have better guys on the perimeter and they have a better guy at quarterback than North Dakota.”
WSU offensive lineman Cameron Young (74) and Calvin Steyn (73)
Weber State and Montana State have not played since 2014, a 23-13 win by No. 9 MSU at Bobcat Stadium. Montana State has not played in Ogden since 2013, a 34-16 MSU win behind 313 passing yards and three touchdown tosses by senior quarterback DeNarius McGhee.
“I think it’s a big difference just in terms of overall culture and a lot of young talent we’ve brought in, a lot of young talent we’ve developed,” Young said. “We are a completely different team. I’m excited for the outcome.”
“We had lot of hard workers, we just couldn’t come together as a team,” added Burton. “The last two years, our team chemistry has grown a lot. Besides us trusting our coaches, the team is way closer. Every position sticks together like glue no matter what.”
Photos by Weber State Athletics. All Rights Reserved.
