Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Montana State
Game 7: Top-five national showdown Saturday at Montana State
10/18/2022 2:25:00 PM | Football
Weber State has the nation's longest winning streak at eight games and the Wildcats have won eight-straight road games. Montana State has won 16-straight home games.
It's a top-five national FCS showdown Saturday as No. 5 Weber State travels to No. 2 Montana State. The Wildcats are 6-0 and have the nation's longest road-winning streak. Montana State is 6-1 and has the nation's longest home-winning streak.
The Wildcats and Bobcats will kickoff at 1 p.m. Saturday from Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will be televised by Scripps Network with Ben Creighton, Ty Gregorak and Ashley Washburn calling the action. It will be televised in Utah on KJZZ TV and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Weber State radio coverage will be on KLO 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Steve Klauke and former Wildcat head coach and athletic director Jerry Graybeal on the call.
Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
Weber State dominates Portland State to improve to 6-0
Weber State improved to 6-0 to start the season with a dominating 42-7 win at Portland State Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats jumped out to a 21-0 lead at halftime and led 35-0 before the Vikings scored in the fourth quarter.
WSU totaled 555 yards of total offense in the win with 287 yards passing and 268 yards rushing. The Wildcat defense had five sacks and nine tackles for loss and held PSU to 167 yards passing and just 69 yards rushing.
At 6-0, Weber State is one of six undefeated teams in all of FCS football.
Wildcats up to fifth in national polls and begin three-game stretch of top 10 teams
With the win, Weber State improved to fifth in the country in both the AFCA Coaches poll and the Stats Perform poll. The Wildcats are one of four teams in the Big Sky in the top seven in the country and the other three are Weber State's next opponents.
This week's opponent Montana State is ranked second in the nation in the coaches poll and third in the Stats poll. Next week, the Wildcats host Montana who is ranked seventh in the polls. On November 5, Weber State will host Sacramento State, who is currently ranked second in the Stats poll and third in the coaches poll.
Naton's longest current winning streak at eight games
Dating back to the final two games of last season, Weber State has now won eight-straight games, which is the longest active winning streak in the country. It is also tied for the second longest winning streak in school history.
Road winning streak vs. home winning streak
Saturday's game will be a battle of winning streaks. Weber State has won eight-straight games overall, the nation's longest winning streak. The Wildcats have also won eight-straight road games, a school record, and tied for the longest active streak in the nation. Weber State has won 14 of its last 15 Big Sky Conference road games.
Meanwhile, Montana State has the nation's longest active home winning streak at 16 games, including 4-0 this year. The Bobcats have not lost at home since losing to Sacramento State in October 2019.
Jay Hill wins in 100th game at Weber State
Saturday's game at Portland State was the 100th career game for Jay Hill as the head coach at Weber State.
Hill is in his ninth season as head coach and is WSU's all-time leader in career wins with a record of 64-36. His .640 winning percentage is the second-highest in school history and he is 47-17 (.734) in Big Sky Conference games, the best overall winning percentage.
Hill has led the Wildcats to four Big Sky titles and five appearances in the FCS Playoffs. He has been named the Big Sky Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region Coach of the Year during his career at Weber State. Later this season he will coach his 100th career game at Weber State.
Saturday's game at Montana State will give Hill 101 games coached and move him past Dave Arslanian (1989-97) for the most games coached in Weber State history.
Offensive performance
In Saturday's win the Wildcat offense totaled 555 yards, the second-highest of the season. WSU also had a season-high 268 yards rushing and had 287 yards passing. Bronson Barron threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Dontae McMillan rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown. Ty MacPherson had four catches for 60 yards and Jacob Sharp had two receptions for 81 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown catch.
Defense posts five sacks
The Wildcat defense had another strong performance in Saturday's win at Portland State. The 'Cats held Portland State to just 236 total yards of offense, the lowest total against WSU by a Division I team this season. PSU had just 69 yards rushing and 167 yards passing.
WSU recorded five sacks for a loss of 39 yards and had nine tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one interception and four pass breakups.
Freshman defensive end Jack Kelly had a career day with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Through six games, Kelly has nine total tackles but leads the team with four sacks and five tackles for loss.
Winston Reid had an interception and a forced fumble in the win.
Defensive rankings
Through six games, the Wildcat defense continues to rank high nationally in several statistical categories.
Weber State leads the nation in red zone defense at 53.8 percent. The 'Cats have allowed opponents in the red zone just 13 times in six games and the opponents have scored seven times with four touchdowns.
WSU is also second in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 11 points per game. The opponents have been held to seven or few points in three of the six games.
Weber State is also second in team interceptions with 12 and second in team passing efficiency defense. The Wildcats are fourth in the nation in turnovers gained with 16 and eighth in total defense.
Individually, Maxwell Anderson leads the nation in interceptions with five.
Quarter scoring
Weber State hadn't given up a point in the fourth quarter of any game until the Vikings scored on Saturday. Through six games, WSU is outscoring its opponents 107-23 in the second half and 45-7 in the fourth quarter.
In addition, Weber State is getting off to a fast start. The Wildcats are outscoring their opponents 83-26 in the first quarter of games this season.
In the nine years under Jay Hill, Weber State is 3-5 when leading after the first quarter, 49-8 when leading at halftime and 55-5 when leading after three quarters.
Records watch
With Saturday's performance, Bronson Barron became the 14th player in Weber State history to surpass 4,000 career passing yards. He now ranks 13th in school history with 4,051 yards and has 26 touchdowns.
Eddie Heckard is second in career pass breakups with 29, trailing only former Big Sky MVP and current Buffalo Bill Taron Johnson at 42. Josh Davis did not play in Saturday's game at Portland State due to an ankle injury. Davis needs 91 yards to pass Nick Chournos for second in all-time rushing yards. He also needs 67 all-purpose yards to pass Tim Toone for fifth all-time.
Kyle Thompson ranks 10th in school history with 25 career field goals.
Team captains
As selected by their teammates, Weber State has five captains for the 2022 season. This year's captains are junior offensive lineman Noah Atagi, junior cornerback Eddie Heckard, senior wide receiver Ty MacPherson, junior linebacker Winston Reid and senior safety Desmond Williams. MacPherson also served as a team captain during the spring 2021 and the 2021 seasons.
About No. 2/3 Montana State
Montana State enters Saturday's game with a 6-1 overall record, a 4-0 Big Sky record, and is ranks second in the country in the coaches poll and third in the media poll.
The Bobcats are second in the nation in rushing offense at 281.1 yards per game, facing Weber State who is 10th in the country in rushing defense
Montana State is also first in the nation in kickoff returns, seventh in offensive first downs, seventh in interceptions, seventh in scoring offense, eighth in total offense and eighth in turnovers gained.
Individually, Sean Chambers leads the nation in touchdowns with 16 and is first in scoring at 13.7 points per game.
Montana State was 13 overall last season and 7-1 in the Big Sky and advanced to the title game of the FCS Playoffs.
Head coach Brent Vigen
The Bobcats are coached by Brent Vigen who is in his second season at Montana State. In his second season, Vigen boasts a record of 18-4 and is 11-1 in Big Sky games. In his first season, he led the Bobcats to the championship game of the FCS Playoffs.
Vigen played football at North Dakota State and then coached with the Bison and Wyoming before going to Montana State.
Series history
This will be the 56th all-time meeting between the two schools with Montana State holding a 31-23-1 series lead. The two teams last met in Ogden last fall with the Bobcats winning 13-7. That loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Wildcats over the Bobcats.
In games in Bozeman, MSU holds a 15-10-1 series lead. Weber State is making its first trip to Bozeman in five years. The Wildcats beat the Bobcats 25-17 on Sept. 30, 2017, in the last game at Montana State.
Up next
After Saturday, Weber State will play the next three games at home with two games against top-10 ranked teams. The 'Cats will host Montana on October 29, Sacramento State on November 5 and Idaho State on November 12.
