Weber State Opens 2010 Fall Football Camp This Coming Friday, August 6th

TO BEGIN..
    Weber State opens its 2010 Fall football camp this coming FRIDAY, AUGUST 5 as head coach Ron McBride begins his 6th season at the Wildcat helm.
     McBride and his staff will greet 90 players on Friday. The Wildcats return 34 lettermen (19 offense, 15 defense) and 11 starters (six offense, five defense) off a team which produced a 7-5 record overall and a 6-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play finishing in a tie for second with Eastern Washington.
     For the first time in school history, the Wildcats made a second straight appearance in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. It was only WSU's fourth ever playoff berth since FCS was established in 1978.
    In the 2010 Big Sky Conference pre-season polls by the league's coaches and media, the Wildcats were picked to finish fourth by both entities.
     “It's taken a while, but we are now getting more respect within our conference and we are where I envisioned us being when I took over this program in 2005,” said McBride. “We have been in the thick of the race for the past three seasons and there is no reason for us to take any steps backwards. We have a solid foundation of four and five year players who have been through the battles and they know what it takes to be on top. We've had some tremendous leadership from our upper class men this Spring and Summer and I am excited to hit the field and see how much we've improved.”

M E D I A   D A Y
    Weber State will hold “MEDIA DAY” this coming THURSDAY, AUGUST 5th on the field at Stewart Stadium.
4:30-4:45 - Team Photo taken in West Stands
4:45-5:05 - Position Photos (RBs, WRs, etc) with
   Position coach. New player individual photos
5:05-5:45 - Media interviews with coaches and players.
     Members of the WSU Media Relations staff will be on hand to assist in getting players and coaches for interviews.

CAMP INFORMATION

Per NCAA requirements, the first two practice days (Aug. 6 and 7) are helmet-only practices. ... Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 9 and 10) are helmet-shoulder pads. The first full padded practice is on Wednesday, August 11. ... The practice field is located on the southwest edge of campus, but there is no longer on entrance on 38th street. The best way to get to the field is to take a right off of Harrison Blvd. at the first “roundabout” light on the west side of campus, stay right (heading south) and circle back to the field in front of the high-rise Promontory Tower.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Below is a tentative practice schedule. Any severe or inclement weather may alter times. Players and coaches will be available BEFORE and AFTER each practice session. Please contact the WSU Media Relations Office (801) 626-6010 / 698-9548 at least ONE DAY prior to request specific players or coaches.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 6th (Groups are Random)
8:35-10:10am Group #1 Practice, Group #2 Lifting
10:30-11:50am Group #2 Practice, Group #1 Lifting

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7th
8:35-10:10am Group #1 Practice, Group #2 Lifting
10:30-11:50am Group #2 Practice, Group #1 Lifting

MONDAY, AUGUST 9th
8:35-10:10am Group #1 Practice, Group #2 Lifting
10:30-11:50am Group #2 Practice, Group #1 Lifting

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10th
8:30-11:30am Practice Session #4

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11th
8:30-11:30am Practice Session #5 - Full Pads Day

THURSDAY, AUGUST 12th
8:30-11:30am Practice Session #6

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13TH
8:30-11:30am Practice Session #7
4:00-6:00pm Practice Session #8

SATURDAY, AUGUST 14th
8:30-11:30am Practice #9 - Scrimmage

MONDAY, AUGUST 16th
8:30-11:30am Practice Session #10
4:00-6:00pm Practice Session #11

ALL-AMERICANS

Weber State offensive guard J.C. ORAM (6-4, 310 Jr. - Slaterville, Utah / Fremont HS) has been named to a couple of pre-season All-America teams as a Second Team member. He was named to the Phil Steele Football Review team and to The Sports Network team.
In 2009, Kyle Mutcher (6-3, 300 Sr. Center) became WSU's first “Consensus All-American” since 2005 by being named FIRST TEAM NCAA Division I FCS by: The American Football Coaches Association, The Associated Press, The Sports Network and The Walter Camp Foundation. ... Josh Morris (6-1, 190 Sr. CB) was named First Team by The Associated Press, The Sports Network and The Walter Camp Foundation. ... Tim Toone (5-10, 175 Sr. WR) was named First Team by The Sports Network and Bo Bolen (5-9, 200 Fr. RB) was named Second Team by The Sports Network.

BIG SKY CONFERENCE
The 2010 season begins the 48th year of play in the Big Sky Conference. ... Weber State is a charter member of the league which began operation in 1963-64. ... WSU from 1963 through 1976, Weber State and the rest of the Big Sky were classified as NCAA Division II members. In 1978, NCAA Division I-AA was created. That was changed to NCAA Division I FCS in 2009. ... Weber State has never won an “out right” Big Sky football title, but were tri-champions in 1965, co-champions in 1968 and 2008.
Four players were named to the 2010 Big Sky Conference pre-season All-Conference squad. Named to the Offense were: Zac Eldridge, FB (6-1 235 Sr. - Salt Lake City, Utah / Cottonwood HS), J.C. Oram, OG (6-4, 310 Jr. - Slaterville, Utah / Fremont HS) and Mike Phillips, WR (6-1, 195 Sr. - Seaside, California / Monterey HS). The only Wildcat named on Defense was Taylor Sedillo (5-11, 230 Sr. - Salt Lake City, Utah / Skyline HS)

CAMERON HIGGINS
    The 2008 Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore, looks to return to those gaudy numbers he put up that season when he threw for 4,447 yards and 36 touchdowns in 14 games.
     In 12 games last year, Higgins was 299-454 for 3,326 yards and 30 touchdowns, but suffered 20 of his 42 career interceptions.
     Higgins comes into his senior season with 9,762 career passing yards and 83 career touchdown passes. He needs 2,446 more passing yards, and five more touchdown passes, to move past Jamie Martin as WSU's career passing leader, and needs 2,855 yards to become the all-time passing leader in the Big Sky Conference as well. ... Higgins has played din 37 career games, 33 as a starter and is 725-1,152-42 passing and has a career efficiency rating of 150.60.
DEFENSE
    In 2009, the Wildcats ranked 3rd in Total Defense in the Big Sky Conference and 2nd (21.67) in Scoring Defense to Montana (19.00). The 'Cats were 2nd in the Big Sky in Passing Efficiency Defense at 120.78 and 2nd in Pass Defense allowing just 220.17 yards per game.

EAST
.. As in the far northeastern United States where the Wildcats open up the 2010 season with a visit to Boston College on September 4. It marks the first time a Weber State football team has ever played that far north and east. Last November's FCS playoff game at William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia) was the farthest East the Wildcats has ever played.

F C S
    Changed last year, it is no longer NCAA Division I-AA but NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). There are 124 schools in the FCS classification for the 2010 season.
     The 2010 season marks a big change in the FCS playoffs. The playoff has now been expanded to 20 teams. The Big South and Northeast Conference regular season winners will be awarded automatic berths and there will be 10 At-Large teams selected.
     There will be four First Round games (Nov. 27) involving eight teams. Five teams will be seeded into the second round on December 4. ... The quarterfinals are set for Dec. 10 / 11, the semifinals on December 17 / 18.
     The two semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on FRIDAY, JANUARY 7 at PIZZA HUT PARK in Frisco, Texas. The championship game has been played in Chattanooga, Tennessee since 1997.

GRADES

The Wildcats had 14 players named to the 2009 Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team. ... Beau Hadley made the list for a fourth time and ended his career with a perfect 4.00 gpa in Technical Sales. ... For a second year in a row, Hadley was named First Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine.

HAWAI'I
The Wildcats have 12 players on their roster from the state of Hawai'i.

INTERCEPTIONS
Weber State had 11 of them in 2009, down eight from the 19 they picked off in 2008. ... JORDAN BROWN (6-2, 185 Sr. S) led the team with three.

JERSEY'S

The Wildcats will have a new look at HOME this season, sporting BLACK jerseys and pants with PURPLE stripes and numbers. The HELMETS will remain purple.

JOE COLLINS

The 6-3, 190 senior wide receiver from Seaside, California was granted another year by the NCAA. He played just three games as a junior in 2008 and appealed for another year. Collins had 48 catches for 455 yards and four touchdowns last season.

KICKER

The Wildcats need to find one in Fall camp as Mike Snoy graduated and Jon Williams elected not to return. ... Freshmen Josh Kealamakia from near by Syracuse High and Shaun McClain from Redlands, California will battle it out.

LOSSES

The Wildcats haven't had many in the past two seasons (Nine overall, three in Big Sky Conference play).

McBRIDE

Head Coach Ron McBride begins his 6th season as head coach of the Wildcats and his 19th season as a head coach on the NCAA Division I level. ... Coach Mac is 120-90 (.571) overall, 32-27 (.542) at Weber State and 254-15 (.615) in Big Sky Conference games. ... On October 14, 2010, McBride will turn 71. He is one of only six head coaches in NCAA Division I who are over 70. The others are: Joe Paterno (Penn State), Bob Ford (University of Albany), Bill Snyder (Kansas State), Howard Schnellenberger (Florida Atlantic) and Jerry Moore (Appalachian State).

NEW COACHES

The coaching staff at Weber State shuffled a couple of times since December. Gone are offensive line coach, Tom Freeman; wide receiver coach Steve Cox and defensive line coach Inoke Breckterfield. Freeman is now coaching for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL. Cox is on the staff at Cal Poly and Breckterfield joined the staff at Portland State in December, then left in January to join the staff at Montana.
New to the WSU staff are: CECIL THOMAS (Offensive Line). JASON KAUFUSI (Defensive Line) and BRIAN ZECHES (Running Backs). ... Thomas comes to WSU after serving as the head coach at Cottonwood High in Salt Lake City. ... Kaufusi, who coached with Thomas at Cottonwood from 2004-08, joined the staff after serving as an Administrative Assistant at his alma mater, Utah, for Coach Kyle Whittingham. ... Zeches come from UTEP where he was on the staff of former Weber State head coach, Mike Price. Zeches' father, Jim, was a Weber State assistant in 1987 and 1988.

OFFENSE
Weber State ranked 19th (398.25) in Total Offense in NCAA Division I FCS for the 2009 season and 4th in the Big Sky. ... The Wildcats averaged 28.17 points per game and 282.92 (8th in FCS, 3rd in the Big Sky) in Passing Offense. ... Cameron Higgins averaged 266.6 Total Offense Yards per game and was 3rd in the Big Sky.

PROFESSIONALS

Weber State is well represented on the 2010 NFL rosters. Paul McQuistan (OT) was traded from Oakland to Jacksonville during the off season. His twin brother, Pat McQuistan (OT) is with the Dallas Cowboys. ... J.D. Folsom (LB) and Dimitri Tsoumpas (OG) are with the Miami Dolphins. Bo Smith (CB) is with the New York Jets. Josh Morris (CB) is with the Philadelphia Eagles. Marcus Mailei plays for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, and Tim Toone is with the Detroit Lions. ... Kyle Mutcher (OC), signed with the Buffalo Bills and participated in Spring drills but was released in June.

PUNTING AND PUNT RETURNS

Mike Snoy was the starting punter for four straight seasons. Snoy averaged 41.5 yards per kick in 2009. Weber State led the Big Sky in Net Punting at 39.68 yards per kick and ranked 2nd in NCAA Division I FCS. Kealamakia and McClain are expected to battle for this spot as well.
In 2009, WSU's Tim Toone (5-10, 175 Sr.) was the NCAA Division I FCS leader in Punt Returns at 19.9 yards a return. Toone set a Big Sky Conference record with a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown at home vs. Sacramento State, and had a 90-yard return for a touchdown at home vs. Northern Arizona.

QUESTIONS

Contact the WSU Media Relations office at (801) 626-6010, 6012

RECORD

Weber State is 17-9 overall the last two seasons and 13-4 in Big Sky Conference games, counting the FCS playoffs. Losses have come to Eastern Washington (33-26), Montana (24-13, 31-10) and Montana State (26-21).

SMITH
Trevyn Smith (5-9, 210 Sr. - Springville, Utah) leaves Weber State as the school's career Rushing leader with 997 carries for 5,029 yards and 43 touchdowns. ... He became just the 2nd runner in Big Sky Conference history to lead the league in Average Rushing Yards Per Game for three straight seasons (2006, 2007, 2008), and became the first player in Big Sky Conference history to have four straight 1,000 yard Rushing seasons. ... He was named First Team All-Big Sky each year as well, becoming just the third player in Conference history to achieve that status (Charvez Foger: Nevada and Scott Shields: Weber State). ... Smith also had 118 receptions for 1,349 yards and nine touchdowns. ... He is the 2nd all-time leading Scorer (316 pts) at Weber State just behind Shields (325).

TOONE

Tim Toone (5-10, 175 Sr. - Peoria, Arizona) leaves as WSU's career leader in Pass Receptions (206, tied with Trevor Shaw), Receiving Yards (3,607) and Touchdown Receptions (29). ... Toone was the final pick (Detroit Lions) of the 2010 NFL Draft, making him “Mr. Irrelevant”. He is the 2nd WSU player to achieve that status. In 1997, tight end Cam Quayle was the last pick (Baltimore Ravens).

The Wildcats play on ALTITUDE TV at home on September 11 vs. Northern Colorado (6:05) and on October 3 vs. Eastern Washington (1:35). ... The October 30 game at home vs. Montana (1:05) will be carried on KPAX-TV out of Missoula.

UNIVERSITY
Weber State University was founded in 1889 and became a four-year school in 1962-63. ... The 2010 season will be the 49th year of football on the four-year level at WSU. ... The enrollment is 23,200. Dr. Ann Millner serves as President and is a member of the prestigious NCAA President's Council.

VICTORIES

The Wildcats are 253-264-3 overall and 153-93-2 when playing in Ogden.

Former WSU defensive back, Fredrick Smith, officially changed his name to “X” back in the early 1990s. He is still the only player in NCAA football history with that last name. He is still ranked 8th on the WSU career Pass Break Up list with 13.

..Because here at Weber State - we like YOU!

Z ..AS IN RED ZONE

In 2009, the Wildcats got inside the “Red Zone” (opponents' 20-yardline to the goal line) 55 times and scored 41 times (.745). ... The 'Cats had 30 touchdowns, (9 rushing, 21 passing) and kicked 11 field goals. ... They lost the ball on Downs four times; had three interceptions, lost three fumbles and were stopped by the clock at the end of one first half.

Weber State University Athletics

Weber State Opens 2010 Fall Football Camp This Coming Friday, August 6th

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Players Mentioned

Bo Bolen

Zac Eldridge

Beau Hadley

Cameron Higgins

Josh Kealamakia

Shaun McClain

Josh Morris

Kyle Mutcher

J.C. Oram

Mike Phillips

Taylor Sedillo

Trevyn Smith

Mike Snoy

Tim Toone

Jon Williams

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