Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
North Dakota State
Wildcats fall 24-7 to #1 NDSU in home opener
9/7/2014 4:53:00 AM | Football
OGDEN – The Wildcat football team welcomed the top team in the nation for their home opener Saturday night at Stewart Stadium and number one North Dakota State knocked off the Wildcats 24-7 to win its 26th consecutive game.
The Bison opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run by John Crockett midway through the first quarter. The Wildcats responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 27-yard touchdown run by freshman Eric Wilkes to tie the game at 7-7.
The only scoring in the second quarter came on a fumble recovery by North Dakota State after WSU was sacked and fumbled the ball on their own three-yard line.
The Bison tacked on a touchdown run by King Frazier late in the third quarter to make it a 21-7 lead. Adam Keller added a 38-yard field goal late in the game.
Offensively the Wildcats posted 304 yards of total offense, compared to 369 for the Bison. WSU had just 64 yards rushing. The 'Cats were just 4 of 16 on third down conversions.
Sophomore quarterback Billy Green finished the night 26-of-43 passing for 240 yards. Shaydon Kehano had nine catches for 88 yards. Kamana Kaimikaua had six catches for 42 yards and Cameron Livingston recorded five catches for 85 yards.
Wilkes led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 50 yards and Bo Bolen had five carries for 25 yards.
Defensively, senior Luke King had a career-high 17 tackles and Felix Woods had 11 tackles. Deon'tae Florence and Josh Burton each had an interception for the Wildcats.
“I'm really proud of our team and how they fought tonight,” said WSU head coach Jay Hill. “There is a lot of toughness and resiliency in this team. We made some mistakes tonight that you just can't make if you want to beat a great team. There were some costly mistakes that and we couldn't take advantage of some opportunities. I was really pleased with our defense for giving us a chance to stay in the game. There were a lot of positives tonight that we can build on. We can't get used to losing and I don't foresee that with our team. We just need to keep improving.”
The win marked the 26th straight victory for North Dakota State. The Bison have also won 17 straight road games and are the three-time defending FCS national champions.
A crowd of 14,577 attended the game Saturday night, the largest crowd at Stewart Stadium in nine years.
WSU falls to 0-2 on the season and will now face three straight road games. The 'Cats will face Sacramento State next Saturday night in a non-conference game in Sacramento.
