Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Eastern Washington
WSU Comeback Falls Short in 27-21 Loss to Eagles
10/2/2011 1:12:00 AM | Football
CHENEY, Wash. - A late turnover by Weber State gave Eastern Washington its first win of the season, beating the Wildcats 27-21 Saturday at the "Inferno" at Roos Field, Weber State's first visit to the red field of the defending national champions.
Eastern Washington jumped out early with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Bo Levi Mitchell to Nicholas Edwards just five minutes into the game. It was the first of three touchdown passes by Mitchell.
The Wildcats came back with a one-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Mike Hoke to tie the game but the Eagles scored quickly again on a 51-yard touchdown pass to Greg Herd and held a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.
The Eagles scored twice in the second quarter, connecting on a 46-yard field goal and then Mitchell found Edwards for a five-yard touchdown with just 19 seconds left in the half and the Eagles led 24-7 at halftime.
Hoke started the third quarter with another one -yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 24-14. The Eagles posted a 32-yard field goal late in the quarter and held a 27-14 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter Hoke found Austin Raught for a 40-yard touchdown pass with under 13:00 to play to cut the lead to six. After the defense stopped the Eagles with 2:24 to play the Wildcats got the ball back down six.
Facing a 4th-and-23 on their own 32 yard line with just 47 seconds to play Hoke found Shaydon Kehano for a 51-yard pass to bring the 'Cats to the Eastern Washington 17-yard line. But just two plays later Hoke was sacked and fumbled the ball away, giving the Eagles the win.
Both teams were close on the stats as the Wildcats put up 377 yards of total offense with Eastern Washington totaling 359. The 'Cats had 142 yards on the ground and 235 yards in the air.
"We got down in the first half and we fought back but we didn't finish the job," said Weber State head coach Ron McBride. "We didn't handle the adversity and we let this one slip away from us. Now we have to learn from it and try to move on."
Hoke finished the day 21-32 for 235 yards and one touchdown, with two touchdowns on the ground. Despite the fumble late in the game, Hoke continued his streak without an interception. He has now thrown 192 straight passes without an interception, which is now the longest active streak in the nation.
"We didn't play a full game today and this is what happens when we don't play a full game," Hoke said. "We didn't execute like we needed to. This will make us refocus and more hungry to move on to the next one."
Kehano had four catches for a team-high 91 yards. Freshman Xavian Johnson had seven catches for 48 yards. Jordan Clemente had three catches for 32 yards and Raught finished with one catch for the 40-yard touchdown.
On the ground sophomore Josh Booker led Weber State with 13 carries for 84 yards. Tanner Hinds had seven carries for 28 yards and Barrinton Collins rushed six times for 22 yards.
On defense senior Nick Webb led the way with nine tackles, including one for a loss and a pass breakup. Tony Epperson and Anthony Morales each had seven tackles. Caldwell Taylor recorded his first career interception and Devin Pugh had his second of the season in the fourth quarter to keep the Wildcats alive. Taylor and Willie Harris each recorded a sack and Weber State had 12 tackles for loss.
Mitchell finished the day 22-29 for 281 yards and three touchdowns while Edwards had 10 catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Eagles who improve to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in Big Sky action heading into a bye next week. After starting the season with four of five games on te4h road Weber State will now have four of the next five at home. Next home game is set for Oct. 15 when the 'Cats host rival Idaho State for Homecoming.
