Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Southern Illinois
Game notes: Wildcats host Salukis in FCS Playoffs Saturday
4/21/2021 3:34:00 PM | Football
Weber State and Southern Illinois meet Saturday at 2:00 at Stewart Stadium in first round of FCS Playoffs.
• It's FCS Playoff time in April. After closing out the spring regular season with a fourth-straight Big Sky Conference title, Weber State is making its fifth-straight appearance in the FCS Playoffs. The Wildcats will host the Southern Illinois Salukis in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Stewart Stadium. The game will be televised and streamed on ESPN 3 as well as on WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app. Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave".
Limited number of tickets available
Due to COVID-19 protocols from the NCAA, all FCS Playoff games will be capped at 25 percent capacity. A limited number of tickets are available at WeberStateSports.com or by calling the WSU Ticket Office at 801-626-8500.
Weber State wins fourth straight Big Sky Conference title
WSU finished the spring season at 5-0 with a 20-15 comeback win over Idaho State on April 10. The win clinched a fourth straight Big Sky Conference title for the Wildcats and was the first outright conference title in school history. WSU became just the second team to ever win four straight Big Sky titles.
The Wildcats are ranked third in the nation in the latest Stats Perform media and AFCA Coaches polls.
Fifth straight appearance in the FCS Playoffs
Weber State is making its ninth trip to the NCAA FCS Playoffs and is competing in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, a school record. The Wildcats have advanced to the quarterfinals in each of the past three seasons and advanced to the semifinals in 2019. The five straight FCS appearances is the fourth longest active streak in the nation.
This is also the fourth straight season for Weber State to host a playoff game at Stewart Stadium. The Wildcats never hosted a playoff game before the 2017 season.
Home winning streak
With the win over Idaho State to clinch the conference title, Weber State also set a new school record for consecutive home wins. The Wildcats won their 11th straight home game, now the longest in school history. WSU's last home loss was in the quarterfinals of the 2018 FCS Playoffs against Maine. The Wildcats currently have the third longest home winning streak in the nation.
Overall, the Wildcats have won 20 of their last 21 home games.
Jay Hill wins second straight AFCA Region Coach of the Year honors
For the second-straight year, Weber State head coach Jay Hill has been named the Region 5 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. Hill also earned the honor in 2019.
In his seventh season with the Wildcats, Hill has led Weber State to four-straight Big Sky titles and five straight appearances in the FCS Playoffs. The Wildcats were ranked second in the nation in the AFCA Coaches poll for much of the season, the highest ranking in school history.
Hill, 46, enters the FCS Playoffs with a 52-30 all-time record and is 39-14 in Big Sky games. He is second in WSU history in overall winning percentage and first in Big Sky winning percentage.
Hill was also named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as the National Coach of the Year.
13 Wildcats earn Big Sky All-Conference honors; Mortensen named Defensive MVP
Weber State led all schools with 13 players named to the Big Sky All-Conference team, the league announced on Wednesday. In addition, senior linebacker Conner Mortensen was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year and running back Dontae McMillan was honored as the co-Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
The Wildcats had nine players named to the all-conference first team and four named to the second team. It is the third-straight year Weber State has led all teams in all-conference selections.
Conner Mortensen is the sixth player in Weber State history to be named the conference Defensive Player of the Year. During the five-game spring season, Mortensen leads the Big Sky in tackles for loss with 9.5, is sixth in passes defended and is 10th in the league in tackles at 8.8 per game. Mortensen was also selected to the all-conference first team.
Running back Dontae McMillan is just the second player in Weber State history to be honored as the Big Sky Freshman of the Year, joining teammate Josh Davis. He shared this year's award with Chubba Ma'ae from UC Davis. In five games this spring season, McMillan is seventh in the conference in rushing and leads the league with five rushing touchdowns. He has 308 yards on the season for an average of 61.6 yards per game.
Weber State had nine players that earned first team all-conference honors with five selected as unanimous picks and three earning the honor for the third time in their career.
Junior running back Josh Davis was named to the first team for the third time in his career. The two-time All-American leads the Big Sky in rushing this season with an average of 96.5 yards per game in four spring games played this season.
Senior kick returner Rashid Shaheed earned first team honors as a punt returner and kickoff returner and earned first team honors for the third time in his career. Shaheed is fourth in the nation in kickoff returns at 29.4 yards per return. He had a 100-yard return for a touchdown in the win over Northern Arizona and is tied for the FCS career record with five career kickoff returns for touchdown.
Senior offensive guard Ty Whitworth also earned first team honors for the third time in his career.
Davis, Shaheed and Whitworth join Scott Shields, Treyn Smith and Brady Fosmark as the only players in Weber State history to earn first team All-Big Sky honors at least three times in a career. Shields and Smith both earned the honor four times.
Five other players joined Davis, Shaheed, Whitworth and Mortensen on the first team. Senior defensive tackle earned the honor for the second time in his career. Sophomore offensive lineman Noah Atagi earned the honor for the first time in his career.
Three players on the Wildcat secondary also earned first team honors in Eddie Heckard, Preston Smith and Desmond Williams. Heckard leads the conference in passes defended with nine this season and Smith leads the league with three interceptions. Williams is second in the Big Sky in forced fumbles and fumble recoveries and is second on the Wildcat team in tackles. Davis, Mortensen, Schiess, Shaheed and Whitworth were all unanimous first team selections.
Four Wildcats were named to the second team, including McMillan. Senior defensive tackle Sione Lapuaho, junior defensive end George Tarlas and linebacker Sherwin Lavaka all earned all-conference honors.
Bronson Barron named a finalist for Jerry Rice Award
Weber State freshman quarterback Jerry Rice was one of 16 players named as a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, given annually to the nation's top freshman. A true freshman, Barron has started four games for the Wildcats this season at quarterback and ranks sixth in the Big Sky in passing at 211.8 yards per game. He has thrown for 847 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions.
Season trends
Weber State's last four games have all been decided by five points for less...The Wildcats are 29-4 under coach Hill when leading after the first quarter...WSU is 4-0 this season and 44-4 under coach Hill when leading after three quarters...Weber State is also 35-6 under coach Hill when leading in turnover margin, including 3-0 this season...The Wildcats are 20-1 under coach Hill when rushing for more than 200 yards in a game....WSU has allowed opponents to score on 9 of 9 attempts in the red zone this season with five touchdowns.
Records watch
Rashid Shaheed needs 58 more yards receiving to become the 22nd player in Weber State history with 1,500 career yards...In the last game he became the 28th player all-time to reach 100 career receptions...Shaheed also has five career kickoff returns for touchdowns, which is tied for the most in FCS history...Josh Davis needs 116 yards to become just the fourth player in WSU history to reach 3,000 career yards...Those two players rank seventh and eighth respectively in career all-purpose yards...George Tarlas, currently with 14, needs one more sack to move into the WSU all-time top 10.
Team captains
Weber State has named six captains for the 2021 spring season, as voted on by the Wildcat players. This year's captains are sophomore offensive lineman Noah Atagi, junior running back Josh Davis, junior wide receiver Ty MacPherson, senior linebacker Conner Mortensen, senior wide receiver Rashid Shaheed and senior defensive lineman Jared Schiess.
About Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is making its first appearance in the FCS Playoffs since 2009. The Salukis posted a 5-3 overall record and a 3-3 record in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Salukis are currently ranked 14th in the nation and have faced five teams that were nationally ranked when they played them and were 4-1 in those games. One of the wins came on February 27 when the Salukis beat then No. 1 North Dakota State 38-14, which snapped the Bison's record 39-game winning streak.
They played one game last fall, beating No. 25 SEMO on Oct. 30. They also beat No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana 55-48 on April 17 in the final regular season game.
SIU is fourth in the nation in third down conversions, converting on 52.7 percent of third down attempts. The Salukis are also 17th in the country in total offense and 18th in rushing offense.
Individually,
Head coach Nick Hill
It will be a battle of head coaches named Hill in Saturday's game. Weber State head coach Jay Hill will go up against Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill. Nick Hill is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Salukis and his seventh season coaching at his alma mater. Hill, 36, enters Saturday's game with a 22-31 career record and is 13-25 in Missouri Valley Conference games. Hill was a quarterback for three seasons at SIU from 2005-07. As a senior, he guided the Salukis to the semifinals of the 2007 FCS Playoffs.
He went on to play six seasons of professional football, mostly in the Arena League where he played for head coach Jay Gruden. Prior to becoming head coach, Hill coached the quarterbacks in 2014 and was the co-Offensive Coordinator in 2015.
The defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois is Jason Petrino, who is the cousin to Bobby Petrino, a former Weber State assistant coach, who has had a long coaching career, and is currently the head coach at Missouri State. Jason Petrino is also the cousin to current Idaho head coach Paul Petrino.
Series history
This is the first ever meeting between Weber State and Southern Illinois. The Wildcats have played six teams that are currently in the Missouri Valley Conference and are 11-12-1 all-time in those games. It's also the third playoff game ever against a Missouri Valley team. The Wildcats lost to Northern Iowa in 1991 and beat Western Illinois in the first round of the 2017 playoffs, the first ever home playoff game in Ogden.
Up next
The winner of Saturday's game will take on the winner of No. 1 South Dakota State and Holy Cross in the quarterfinals. There will be two quarterfinals on Saturday, May 1 and two on Sunday, May 2.
