Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats return home to face #5 Montana State
10/15/2013 5:07:00 PM | Football
Game #8 -- #5 Montana State (4-2, 2-0) at Weber State (1-6, 0-3)
Saturday, Oct. 19 • 3:40 p.m.
Ogden, UT • Stewart Stadium (17,500)
Radio: KLO 1430 AM/103.1 FM
TV: ROOT Sports
Online video: none
Live audio: WeberStateSports.com
Live stats: WeberStateSports.com
Twitter: @weberstate, @weberstatefb
Series: Montana State leads 28-20-1
Streak: Montana State 3 wins
In Ogden: Montana State leads 14-11
Last Meeting: 11/05/11 - Ogden - MSU 44, WSU 24
QUICK HITS
• After playing three of the last four games on the road Weber State returns home to face fifth ranked Montana State Saturday at Stewart Stadium.
• Weber State is 1-6 on the season and 0-3 in Big Sky play and is coming off a 47-0 loss at Cal Poly last week. The Wildcats have lost six straight games.
• Montana State is 4-2 overall and 2-0 in Big Sky play, tied for first in the league standings. The Bobcats were the preseason selection to win the Big Sky.
• The Wildcats played 26 freshmen or redshirt freshman in Saturday's game.
• WSU will have three of the final five games of the season at home.
• This will be the 50th meeting ever between Weber State and Montana State.
• The Bobcats have won 10 of the last 11 meetings overall and have won seven straight games over the Wildcats in Ogden. WSU's last home win in the series came in 1996.
MEDIA FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
Saturday's game with the Bobcats will kickoff at 3:40 p.m. from Stewart Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on KLO 1430 AM and 103.1 FM with Carl Arky and former Wildcat Ty Sparrow calling all the action. It can also be heard online at kloradio.com and WeberStateSports.com. There will be no online streaming of the game. Live stats are available at WeberStateSports.com.
The game will also be televised on ROOT Sports, as part of the Big Sky's TV package with ROOT. ROOT is available in Utah on Comcast Channel 52, DirecTV channel 683 and Dish Network Channel 414. The game will also be seen nationally on DirecTV Audience Channel 101.
Tom Glasgow, Robb Akey and Jen Mueller will call the action for ROOT. Akey is a former Weber State football player and assistant coach. He played four seasons with the Wildcats from 1984-87 under head coach Mike Price. He still ranks eighth in WSU history in career quarterback sacks with 15. After his playing career he spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Weber State under Price and Dave Arslanian. Akey was later an assistant coach at Northern Arizona and Washington State before spending six seasons (2007-12) as the head coach at Idaho.
PROMOTIONS FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
Saturday's game is Tackle Cancer Day at Weber State, part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. All fans wearing pink will receive 2 for 1 tickets to the game, courtesy of Ogden Regional Medical Center.
The game will also be Nurse Appreciation Day, honoring all nurses. Any nurse presenting a Nurses ID badge will receive up to four complimentary tickets to the game. In addition WSU will honor the Weber State Nursing program, celebrating its 60th Anniversary.
WILDCATS DROP SIXTH STRAIGHT WITH SHUTOUT AT CAL POLY
Weber State lost its sixth straight game Saturday, falling 47-0 at Cal Poly. The Mustangs rushed for 365 yards and totaled 580 yards of total offense in the game. Weber State rushed for just 53 yards and had 173 yards of total offense.
It was WSU's first time being shutout since the FCS Playoff game at William & Mary in November 2009. It was the first time being shutout in a Big Sky game since falling 34-0 at Idaho State in 2002.
'CATS GETTING BIG CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FRESHMEN
Weber State continues to get valuable contributions for freshmen. In Saturday's game at Cal Poly, 26 freshmen or red shirt freshmen saw action in the game for the Wildcats, including three starters.
TOUGH SCHEDULE CONTINUES
Weber State continues to play one of the toughest schedules in the nation as the Wildcats host fifth-ranked Montana State this Saturday. The Wildcats have four teams on the schedule that are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in this week's poll. WSU has already played fourth-ranked Eastern Washington and ninth ranked McNeese State. The 'Cats will play at No. 10 Montana on Nov. 16. Three of those four games are on the road with this week being the lone home game against ranked teams.
ERIK WALKER WITH ANOTHER BIG RECEIVING DAY
Weber State senior Erik Walker continued his strong play for the Wildcats Saturday at Cal Poly. The Park City, Utah native had a career-high eight receptions, finishing with 55 yards.
On the year Walker has been Weber State's top receiver with 32 receptions for 343 yards and one touchdown. He is averaging 10.7 yards per reception and 49 yards receiving per game. Walker has appeared in 37 career games at Weber State and has 873 career receiving yards with seven career touchdowns.
THREE WILDCAT DEFENDERS RECORD CAREER HIGHS
WSU played Saturday's game without three of its top four tacklers, as Anthony Morales, Luke King and Chris Wheeler all missed the game because of injuries. However, three Wildcat defenders responded with career highs in tackles in Saturday's game at Cal Poly. Sophomore Roman Valenzuela, sophomore Adam Padilla and junior Chris Jones each recorded 13 total tackles in the game, all career highs. Valenzuela is now WSU's top tackler with 61 total tackles in seven games, an average of 8.7 per game, currently ninth best in the Big Sky. He is averaging 12.5 tackles per game in the last two games.
ANOTHER BIG PUNTING DAY FOR TONY EPPERSON
Weber State senior Tony Epperson had another big punting day for the Wildcats Saturday at Cal Poly. The Park City, Utah native finished with 10 punts for 415 yards, an average of 41.5 per punt. Epperson is currently 10th in the Big Sky in punting average at 41.6 per punt. He has 68 punts for 2,830 yards this season, the most of any punter in the nation through seven games.
Epperson is currently second in school history in career punting average at 43.0 per punt. He has 107 career punts for 4,601 yards.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
The Big Sky Conference has four teams ranked in the top 25 in the Sports Network national poll, with three teams ranked in the top 10. Eastern Washington is fourth in the polls, followed by WSU's opponent this week, Montana State. Montana comes in 10th and Northern Arizona is 19th.
Eastern Washington, Montana State and Cal Poly are all on top of the conference standings at 2-0 in league play. Montana, Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and UC Davis are all 2-1. Cal Poly plays at Montana this Saturday in the marquee game of the week.
INJURY REPORT
Weber State played without senior linebacker and captain Anthony Morales for the second straight game. Morales, who is averaging 8.4 tackles per game, suffered a hamstring injury in the Sept. 28 game against Sacramento State and has missed the last two games. He is still listed as questionable for this week's game.
Another WSU starting linebacker, Luke King, missed last week's game due to a knee sprain suffered Oct. 5 at Eastern Washington. King is still expected to miss two to three more weeks of action.
Senior Chris Wheeler also missed Saturday's game due to a concussion. He is listed as questionable for this week's game.
WSU junior wide receiver Shaydon Kehano remains out with a leg injury suffered during fall camp and is still expected to miss another two weeks of action. Kehano suffered a similar injury to the same leg last season in the third game of the year and missed the rest of the season.
WSU senior wide receiver Kela Marciel (patella tendon) and freshman Ryan Tuiasoa (ankle) will both miss the rest of the season with injuries.
TEAM CAPTAINS
Coach Sears has selected four team captains for the season. Bo Bolen, Anthony Morales, Connor Myers and Shelton Robinson will serve as the Wildcat team captains for the year. Morales is serving as captain for the third straight season. Combined the four players have appeared in 122 games for Weber State.
ABOUT #5 MONTANA STATE
The Bobcats come into Saturday's game ranked fifth in the nation in the latest Sports Network and FCS Coaches polls. MSU is 4-2 overall on the season and 2-0 in Big Sky play, tied for first in the league standings. Montana State has won both Big Sky games big, winning 63-20 at North Dakota and 36-7 at home over Northern Arizona. Their two losses this year are a one-point loss at SMU and a 52-38 loss at Stephen F. Austin, the team WSU beat 50-40 in the season opener in Ogden.
This season Montana State is second in the Big Sky in scoring offense and third in scoring defense. The Bobcats are also third in the league in rushing defense and fourth in rushing offense. They lead the Big Sky in sacks and kickoff return average.
The Bobcats have been led by defending Big Sky MVP quarterback DeNarius McGhee who was the preseason pick for conference MVP this season. McGhee, a senior from Euless, Texas is a two-time Big Sky Offensive MVP. He enters Saturday's game with 9,840 career passing yards and needs just 160 more yards to become the third player in Big Sky history to reach 10,000 career passing yards and rush for 1,000 career yards. He is currently 10th in career all-purpose yards in Big Sky history. McGhee is seeking his 34th win as a starter, which would put him in second place in Big Sky history. This season McGhee is on the Walter Payton Award Watch list and a preseason All-American. He is currently ninth in the conference in total offense and 10th in passing.
MSU senior Cody Kirk is fifth in the conference in rushing at 83.3 yards per game and Shawn Johnson is ninth at 69 yards per game. Johnson also leads the Big Sky in punting and kickoff return average and is second in all purpose yards. Senior Tanner Bleskin is first in the Big Sky in receptions per game at 6.8 and is second in receiving yards at 102.3 per game. Senior Brad Daly leads the defense and ranks first in the conference in sacks at 1.5 per game.
HEAD COACH ROB ASH
The Bobcats are coached by Rob Ash who is in his seventh season at Montana State. He has led the Bobcats to Big Sky titles and trips to the FCS Playoffs in each of the last three seasons. He is MSU's all-time leader in career coaching victories and enters Saturday's game with a 54-24 all-time record and is 37-13 in Big Sky games. Ash spent 19 seasons as head coach at Drake before coming to Montana State. He is 4-1 in his career against Weber State.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 50th meeting ever between Weber State and Montana State. The Bobcats hold a 28-20-1 all-time series edge over the Wildcats and have won the last three and 10 of the last 11 games in the series. The two teams did not play last year, the first year not playing since the series began in 1963 when both teams became charter members of the Big Sky Conference.
The Bobcats have dominated the series lately in Ogden, winning the last seven games at Stewart Stadium. WSU's last home win over Montana State came in 1996. MSU leads the all-time series 14-11 in games played at Stewart Stadium.
LAST MEETING - 11/05/11 - OGDEN - #2 MSU 44, WSU 24
In the last meeting on Nov. 5, 2011 in Ogden, Montana State scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to beat Weber State 44-24 on a snowy Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium. The Bobcats came into the game ranked second in the nation.
Weber State got off to a great start as the Wildcats scored first on a C.J. Tuckett five-yard rush. Montana State came back to take a 10-7 lead before WSU sophomore Josh Booker had back-to-back touchdown runs to give Weber State a 21-17 lead. The Wildcats led 24-20 at halftime.
The second half was all Montana State as the Bobcats scored 10 points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth to seal the victory.
Booker had a career-high 121 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries to lead the Wildcats. Mike Hoke finished the day 13-26 for 143 yards and one interception. Shaydon Kehano led the receivers with six catches for 83 yards. Anthony Morales led the 'Cats with 13 tackles, including a sack.
Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee finished the day 21-32 for 310 yards and three touchdowns but also threw two interceptions.
WILDCATS COME FROM ALL OVER
Weber State's roster this season includes players from 13 states and Canada. A total of 25 of WSU's roster come from the state of Utah. The 'Cats have 14 players coming from the state of Florida and 12 from California. Eight players come from Idaho, six from Hawaii, five from Oklahoma and four from Texas. The 'Cats also have players from Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, and Washington, as well as one from Alberta, Canada.
COACHING STAFF CHANGES
The Wildcats made several key changes to the coaching staff in the offseason. Steve Morton returns for his second season with the Wildcats and was elevated to the position of Associate Head Coach. He also continues to coach the offensive line.
Robin Pflugrad, a former head coach at Montana, joined the program in February as the new offensive coordinator. Pflugrad brings nearly 30 years of coaching experience to Weber State, including several years coaching in the Big Sky. Pflugrad has brought a new up-tempo offense to the Wildcats this season.
Eric Lewis is the new defensive coordinator for the Wildcats. Lewis is in his second season as an assistant at Weber State and also coaches the secondary.
LOOKING AHEAD
After this week's game the Wildcats will have a bye next week. The 'Cats will return to action Nov. 2 at Portland State. The next home game will be Nov. 9 against in-state rival Southern Utah.
