Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Southern Utah
Wildcats earn first win 24-22 at Southern Utah
10/20/2012 10:56:00 PM | Football
CEDAR CITY, Utah - Weber State made a big stop on a two-point conversion attempt and the Wildcats hung on for a thrilling 24-22 win at Southern Utah Saturday, to earn their first win of the season.
After Shaun McClain tied his career-long with a 46-yard field goal attempt the Wildcats had a 24-16 lead with 3:43 remaining, Southern Utah drove down the field and scored with under 1:00 to play to cut the lead to 24-22. However the Wildcats stopped the Thunderbirds on a two-point attempt and then recovered the on sides kick to seal the victory.
Weber State improves to 1-7 on the season and 1-4 in Big Sky play and will head to a bye week on a positive note. WSU improved to 15-4 all-time over Southern Utah and faced the Thunderbirds for the first time as conference members after they joined the Big Sky this season.
"I'm so happy for the kids and how hard they have worked," said Weber State first year head coach Jody Sears who earned his first win of his career and will celebrate his 45th birthday on Sunday. "We made some big stops when we needed to today and it was a whole team effort. All season long the team has kept working hard and has not given up."
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring with a field goal but the Wildcats added two long scoring drives in the first half. WSU put together a 15-play 75-yard drive, capped off by a three-yard touchdown run by C.J. Tuckett to give WSU a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Near the end of the half the Wildcats posted a 10-yard, 71-yard drive with Mike Hoke rushing in for a three-yard touchdown to give Weber State a 14-3 lead at halftime, their first lead at the break all season.
Southern Utah opened the second half with a 32-yard field but on Weber State's first play of the half Hoke found Xavian Johnson for a 75-yard touchdown pass, Weber State's longest play of the season, and the Wildcats took a 21-6 lead with 11:05 to play in the third.
"It feels great and it's a lot of weight off our shoulders," Johnson said. "Everything finally clicked for us today on offense and defense and we all did what we were supposed to do."
Southern Utah finished with more total offense yards, 363-346, and the Thunderbirds had 320 passing yards but just 43 rushing yards. WSU had just one turnover on the game.
Senior quarterback Mike Hoke finished the day 16-28 passing for 206 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 56 yards and one touchdown. C.J. Tuckett finished with a season-high 90 rushing yards and the one touchdown. Xavian Johnson finished with six catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Tyler McNannay punted five times for an average of 51.6 yards per punt. That average of 51.6 per punt is the fourth best in WSU single-game history. Adam Padilla recorded eight tackles and a sack and Anthony Morales had seven tackles and half a sack.
Weber State will have a bye week next week and will be home for their next two games beginning Nov. 3 when they host Montana at Stewart Stadium.
