Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats Host Idaho State In Annual "Border War" Game
10/30/2007 6:00:00 AM | Football
IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY
"Bengals"
HEAD COACH
JOHN ZAMBERLIN is in his first season as head coach of the Bengals. Zamberlin came to ISU after spending the past eight seasons as the head coach at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. He posted an overall record of 63-41-0 and a 32-15 mark in Great Northwest Conference play. His teams captured conference titles in 2002 (11-1 overall), 2004 (7-4) and 2005 (8-2). ... Zamberlin was an assistant coach at Massachusetts from 1987-1990, then came back West to serve as an assistant coach at Eastern Washington in 1992, 1993 and 1994. While at EWU, he served on the same staff with former WSU head coach and current WSU athletic director, Jerry Graybeal.
SERIES HISTORY
Idaho State, along with Montana, is Weber State's oldest continual football rival. The series has been continuous since the 1962 season when WSU became a four-year school. In 1963, both schools became charter members of the Big Sky Conference. .. . The Wildcats have dominated the series leading 32-14-0. The Wildcats have won 20 of the last 22 games played in the series. ISU's only victories over the Wildcats since 1985 were 35-25 in Pocatello (1995) and a 34-0 blanking of the Wildcats in Pocatello (2002). ... The Wildcats have won the last 10 meetings vs. ISU IN OGDEN. The last Bengal victory in Stewart Stadium came in 1984 (26-22). The Wildcats are 16-5-0 overall vs. ISU when playing in Ogden. The Wildcats have NEVER shutout the Bengals. WSU's 6-3 win in 1998 in Pocatello is as close as the Wildcats have come. ISU's has two shutouts. They won 34-0 in 2002 and 31-0 in 1964. ... There have been TWO OVERTIME games played in the series. In 1981 the Bengals won 33-30 in TRIPLE OVERTIME at Holt Arena. In 1990 the Wildcats won 45-38 in DOUBLE OVERTIME at Stewart Stadium. ... In 1991, the Wildcats won 60-41 in Pocatello. In that game Weber State amassed 876 YARDS OF TOTAL OFFENSE which is still a WSU, Big Sky and Division FCS single game record. WSU quarterback JAMIE MARTIN threw for a WSU school and Big Sky single game record 624 yards and had 643 yards of total offense.
LAST YEAR vs. ISU - Nov. 18, 2006 @ISU
A 37-yard field goal by ISU's BRANDEN JONES with no time remaining, sailed wide left and the Wildcats escaped with a 30-27 win. A 40-yard field goal by CONOR FOLEY with 1:42 left in the game gave the Wildcats the final 30-27 winning margin.
LAST TIME IN OGDEN - Oct. 29, 2005
IAN PIZARRO completed 18-33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns leading the Wildcats to a 30-21 win on an overcast afternoon before 7,654 in Stewart Stadium. ... PIZARRO threw touchdown passes of 47 and 28 yards to WILEY KING and a nine-yard scoring pass to tight end B.A. HARRELL. The 47-yarder to King came on the last play of the first half in which King jumped amongst three ISU defenders in the end zone to make the catch. KING ended the game with six receptions for 119 yards. ... ISU quarterback MATT HAGLER had a solid afternoon completing 17-33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He tossed a 15-yard TD pass to SHEDRICK OKOEBOR and a 63-yard TD strike to AKILAH LACEY with 7:11 remaining in the game cutting WSU's lead to 27-21. ... The Wildcats put the game in the hopper with 2:56 left on a 30-yard field goal by JOE JOHNSON.
SCOUTING THE BENGALS
Idaho State comes into Ogden with a 3-5 record overall and a 2-3 mark in Big Sky Conference play. The Bengals are coming of a 48-28 loss at home last Saturday to Cal Poly in a non-conference game. All three ISU wins have come at home vs. Southern Oregon (37-11), Northern Colorado (26-14) and Portland State (38-20). ... ISU's JOSH BARNETT (5-11, 180 Sr.) is the Big Sky's second leading ground gainer this season. Barnett is averaging 100.5 yards per game. Weber State's Trevyn Smith is the current league leader at 115.6. ... RUSSELL HILL (6-0, 195) is a red-shirt freshman quarterback who has played well in his first season of collegiate competition. He has thrown for 1,378 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has completed nearly 59 percent of his passes. His favorite receiver is EDDIE THOMPSON (5-11, 185 Jr.) who has 57 receptions this season for 613 yards and four touchdowns. He's also a threat as a punt return specialist with 17 returns for 181 yards and one touchdown. He is averaging 10.6 yards per return and ranks third in the Big Sky just ahead of WSU's Bryant Eteuati (9.7). ... Defensively, RYAN PHIPPS (6-0, 225 Jr.) the starting middle linebacker, has a team high 76 total tackles this season, 37 unassisted. He comes into Saturday's game ranked fourth in the Big Sky in Tackles Per Game at 9.5. Phipps is part of a defense which has recorded 22 quarterback sacks this season including NINE two weeks ago at home vs. Portland State. ISU ranks second in the Big Sky in quarterback sacks.
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
"WILDCATS"
HEAD COACH RON McBRIDE Weber State head coach, RON McBRIDE, is in his 3rd season as head coach the Wildcats. In 2005 he guided the Wildcats to a 6-5 (.545) record overall and a 4-3 (.571) mark in Big Sky Conference play. Last year the Wildcats were 4-7 overall and 3-5 in Big Sky play. MAC is now 13-17 at WSU (.433) and 101-80 (.558) overall in his 16th season as a head coach. McBRIDE picked up his 100th career coaching victory in the 23-0 shutout of Northern Colorado last Saturday. McBride was 88-63 in 13 seasons as the head coach at the University of Utah from 1990-2002. ... McBride is 10-11 (.476) overall in Big Sky Conference games and is 3-0 lifetime vs. Idaho State. He was 1-0 vs. the Bengals while at Utah and 2-0 vs. ISU at Weber State. HIGGINS, ETEUATI EARN P.O.W. Weber State quarterback CAMERON HIGGINS (6-2, 190 RsFr. / Honolulu, Hawai'i) and BRYANT ETEUATI (5-7, 160 Jr. / Layton, Utah) were named Co-Big Sky Conference Players of the Week. Higgins was the co-offensive player and Eteuati the co-special teams player. ... Higgins had a career day completing 22-36-2 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed nine times for 106 yards and three touchdowns giving him 440 total offense yards and seven TDs accounted for in the 73-68 win at Portland State. ... Eteuati amassed 341 yards of all-purpose yards. He had seven kickoff returns for 211 yards including an 84-yard return to the PSU eight setting up a WSU touchdown. He had six punt returns for 97 yards, one of which went 77 yards for a touchdown. He had two pass receptions for 28 yards and one touchdown and a five-yard rush off of a fake field goal. MORE HIGGINS... The 440 yards of TOTAL OFFENSE by Higgins is the 10th best single game effort in Weber State football history and the seven total touchdowns ties the school record in a single game. Jamie Martin accounted for seven touchdowns (all passing) in WSU's 63-59 win at home in 1991 vs. Eastern Washington. The 440 yards is the second best in WSU history by a FRESHMAN. Brad Otton had 536 at home vs. Northern Arizona in 1993. ... His 106 rushing yards is a single game career mark. HIGGINS has rushed for 169 yards (56.33 pg) in WSU's last three games.
MORE ETEUATI... The 211 Kickoff Return Yards by Eteuati vs. Portland State set a WSU single game record. It broke his own mark of 203 set this season at Boise State. The seven returns ties him with three other Wildcats for the most in a game. He now has 34 KICKOFF RETURNS this season for 948 yards. Those are both new WSU single season records. The old return record was 31 by Fine Unga in 1987. The old season return yards mark was 767 by Wiley King in 2004. .... Eteuati is already the WSU career leader in PUNT RETURNS with a mind boggling 82 already in his career, 28 ahead of Pokey Eckford (54). He had his first career touchdown on a punt return last Saturday with a 77-yarder and now has a school record 802 yards. ... The 341 All-Purpose Yards vs. Portland State is the second best single game total in WSU history and ties him for 9th in Big Sky Conference history. ... The big game last Saturday now puts Eteuati RANKED NUMBER ONE IN NCAA DIVISION-FCS IN ALL-PURPOSE RUNNINGYARDS PER GAME AT 210.90. ... In his CAREER, Eteuati now has 3,282 ALL-PURPOSE YARDS which is currently 6th on the WSU career charts. He has 16 yards rushing; 687 receiving yards and five touchdowns; 1,777 kickoff return yards and two touchdowns; 802 punt return yards and one touchdown. ... His 1,687 all-purpose yards in 2007 is currently the 7th best single season effort in WSU football history TREVYN SMITH COMES UP BIG Lost in all the scoring, passing, and all-purpose yards was the individual rushing game by TREVYN SMITH (5-9, 210 Soph. / Springville, Utah). ... Smith had a WSU career high 38 carries for a career high 225 yards on Saturday. He scored one touchdown. Those 225 yards is the 10th best individual rushing game in WSU football. ... He now leads the Big Sky this season in RUSHING at 115.6 yards per game and needs 75 more yards to reach the 1,000 yard plateau for the second straight season. ... Those 225 yards also propelled him over the 2,000 yard career mark. He became just the 8th player in Wildcat football history to rush for over 2,000 yards. He now has 2,054 on 389 carries (5.28 ypc) and has averaged 108.10 yards per game in his career. OTHERS HAD CAREER BESTS A couple of other Wildcats had a career day last Saturday as well. ... TIM TOONE (5-10, 175 Soph. WR / Peoria, Arizona) had a career high eight receptions for a career high 135 yards. ... MIKE PHILLIPS (6-1, 175 RsFr. WR / Seaside, California) came into last Saturday's game with eight total receptions for the season for 141 yards but had EIGHT catches for 131 and two touchdowns vs. the Vikings. ... MIKE SNOY (6-2, 170 Soph. P/K / Layton, Utah) tied the school record for Most PAT's in a game going a perfect 10-10. He also had a field goal giving him 13 points.
ALL-TIME NCAA RECORDS The 141 combined points and 20 combined touchdowns are both all-time NCAA all-division single game records. ... The 68 points by Portland State is the MOST BY A LOSING TEAM in NCAA history. That record was set just two weeks ago when Nevada lost at Boise State 69-67 in four overtimes. ... It marks the second time in WSU school history the Wildcats have been involved in a game where the losing team set an NCAA record. In 1991 the ?Cats beat Eastern Washington 63-59 in Ogden. ...The Wildcats also hold the all-time, all-division record for MOST FIRST DOWNS in a game with 46 vs. IDAHO STATE in 1991 (31 passing, 12 rushing, 3 penalty). WSU O-LINE FACES STERN TEST Weber State's offensive line - aka "The Wasatch Front" - has allowed a league LOW seven quarterbacks sacks this season for -57 yards. The line has NOT ALLOWED in the last four games. ... The "Front" faces a stern test this week. Idaho State's defensive ranks SECOND in the Big Sky in Quarterback Sacks this season. The Bengals have recorded 22 this season for a minus 139 yards ODDS AND ENDS... Going into last Saturday's game at Portland State, the most points the Wildcats had scored in a game this season was 26 (26-7) at home vs. Sacramento State. The Wildcats scored 35 points IN THE SECOND QUARTER vs. the Vikings to take a 38-27 halftime lead. . . . In that second quarter the two teams combined to score 55 points and combined to score 42 points in the third quarter. ... Weber State had a SEASON HIGH 38:17 IN POSSESSION TIME in last Saturday's game. Portland State scored 68 points in just over 21 minutes. That figures out a 3.2 points per minute. The Wildcats averaged 1.8 points per minute. ... After playing the season's shortest game (2:34) two weeks ago at Northern Colorado, the 3:38 game last Saturday was the longest for the Wildcats.
RADIO / TV Saturday's game will be carried LIVE on Ogden radio station KLO (1430 AM) with CARL ARKY calling the action, WSU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, BRAD LARSEN and JUSTIN DeFOUR providing color analysis along with sideline reporter NATE MARTINEZ. ... The Pre-Game Show begins at 1:00 p.m. (MDT). ... The game is being televised LIVE on ALTITUDE TV out of Denver, Colorado. BILL RILEY is handling the play-by-play duties with TOBY CHRISTENSEN providing color commentary. MONDAY COACHES SHOW This year's Monday radio show featuring COACH RON McBRIDE will be held at THE JUNCTION in downtown Ogden. ... Beginning at 7:00 p.m. the show, hosted by WSU play-by-play announcer CARL ARKY, will feature players and coaches. Coach McBride will give an analysis of the previous game and a preview of the up coming contest. All Wildcat fans are invited to come down and join in the fun as the show will be interactive with the audience.
"THE COACHES CORNER" Back again this season is the weekly WSU "COACHES CORNER" show produced by Power Media Group of Ogden. The show is hosted by former Salt Lake City TV personality and long time voice of the Utah Utes, BILL MARCROFT. The 30-minute production will feature Coach Ron McBride plus two featured players each week. ... The first show airs on SEPTEMBER 6. .... The show can be found on several different mediums and sites. The FOX COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK on CHANNEL 262 will carry the show each THURSDAY from 8:00-8:30 and on SATURDAY at 6:30 a.m. ... ALTITUDE TV out of Denver, Colorado will carry the show each FRIDAY at 4:00 pm on CHANNEL 61. ... COMCAST-ON-DEMAND will have the show available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (CHANNEL 111). ... It will be ON-LINE at www.tvogden.com as well.
WEEKLY POLLS There will be TWO major weekly polls for NCAA Division I-FCS this season. The SPORTS NETWORK poll is voted upon by selected media members and sports information directors from throughout the country. The FCS Coaches Poll is just that. It a poll of selected coaches from throughout the country. Both polls will be released on Monday afternoon of each week. TEAM CAPTAINS The team elected five captains for the 2007 season. ... The DEFENSIVE CAPTAINS will be DEREK JOHNSON (6-2, 290 Sr. DT) and BRAD STEWART (6-2, 240 Sr. SLB). ... The OFFENSIVE CAPTAINS are ADRIAN CONWAY (5-11, 215 Sr. RB) and DAVID HALE (6-6, 305 Sr. OT). ... BRYAN ETEUATI (5-7, 160 Jr.) will be the SPECIAL TEAMS captain. 46TH SEASON OF FOOTBALL Thursday's game marks the 46th season of Weber State University football on the four-year level and the 45th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. ... In 1962, Weber State attained four-year status and played as an NCAA Division II member until 1978 when they moved up to the newly created NCAA Division I-AA level (now I-FCS). ... Weber State's ALL-TIME RECORD in football is 231-253-3 (.474)
R O N M c B R I D E Q U O T E S ON IDAHO STATE "Number one they are well coached. They are playing some sound football right now. Defensively they come out you from a lot of different angles and they are difficult to block. Offensively they are balanced and have some really good athletes at they key positions."
ON THE WILDCATS "We need to get last Saturday's game out of our minds, but remember what we did right to keep our momentum going. Our younger players on both sides of the ball are starting to fully understand what is going on and are becoming impact contributors."
