Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
Game 10: Wildcats closeout homestand with Idaho State Saturday
11/8/2022 3:48:00 PM | Football
The 7th ranked Wildcats host the Bengals at 1 p.m. for Senior Day at Stewart Stadium.
Weber State is back home for the third of three-straight home games and the Wildcats will celebrate Senior Day when Weber State hosts Idaho State Saturday at Stewart Stadium. The two longtime rivals will kickoff at 1 p.m.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will be televised throughout Utah on KJZZ TV with Dave Fox, Frank Dolce and Tony Parks on the call. It will also be streamed on ESPN+ and on the ESPN app.
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.
Wildcats fall to Sacramento State in national showdown
Weber State is coming off a 33-30 loss to No. 2 Sacramento State last Saturday at Stewart Stadium in a national showdown of two top-five ranked teams. The Hornets totaled 431 yards of offense, including 204 yards rushing and forced two Wildcat turnovers.
Wildcats ranked seventh in nation with two regular season games remaining
Weber State is ranked seventh in the country in the latest Stats Perform poll. The Wildcats are now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky play and have just two regular season games remaining. Weber State will host Idaho State Saturday and close out the regular season at Northern Arizona next week.
The Wildcats are one of three teams from the Big Sky in the Stats poll with three teams in the top seven. Weber State's two losses this season are to No. 2 Sacramento State and No. 3 Montana State by a total of eight points.
Senior Day Saturday
Saturday's game will be Senior Day for 15 Wildcat seniors and other players who will be playing their final regular season home game at Stewart Stadium and will be honored prior to the game.
History for Abraham Williams with his third 100-yard kickoff return touchdown
During the fourth quarter of Saturday's game, Weber State sophomore Abraham Williams returned his third kickoff for a touchdown this season and all three touchdowns have been 100 yards. All three games have come in Big Sky play, against Eastern Washington, Montana and Sacramento State.
Williams is the only player in the country in all levels of NCAA football with three kickoff return touchdowns this season. Three of his 10 returns have been 100-yard touchdowns. He is averaging 49.2 yards per return which is also by far the best average in all of NCAA football.
Williams is the first player in Weber State history and just the third in Big Sky history with three kickoff return touchdowns in a season, and already ranks third in school history in career touchdowns, behind only Rashid Shaheed who is the FCS all-time leader with seven.
There's no place like home
Saturday's game will be the third of three-straight home games at Stewart Stadium, marking the first time in 33 years the Wildcats will play three-straight Big Sky Conference games at home.
Under coach Jay Hill, Weber State is 36-14 at home and 28-10 against Big Sky schools at Stewart Stadium. The Wildcats have won 18 of the last 22 home games against Big Sky opponents.
Career-high in tackles for Desmond Williams
Senior captain Desmond Williams posted a career-high 13 tackles in Saturday's game against the Hornets. He finished with seven solo tackles and six assisted tackles and forced a Hornet fumble.
On the season, Williams is second on the Wildcat team in tackles with 59, an average of 6.6 per game. He also has one interception touchdown, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and a blocked kick.
National rankings
The Wildcats rank high in the nation in several statistical categories. Weber State leads the nation in kickoff returns and ranks third in the country in third down conversion defense and team pass efficiency defense.
Weber State is fourth in the nation in red zone defense, sixth in interceptions, seventh in passing defense, 10th in scoring defense and 11th in total defense.
Bronson Barron makes top-10 in career passing
Wildcat sophomore Bronson Barron became the 10th player in Weber State history to surpass 4,500 career passing yards. He has 4,508 yards and 31 touchdowns in his 22 games over three seasons at Weber State.
In addition, he needs 41 more yards to move into the top 10 in career total offense yards.
On the season, Barron is sixth in the Big Sky in passing at 210.1 yards per game and is eighth in total offense at 226.9 yards per game.
More records watch
Josh Davis returned to action Saturday against Sacramento State after missing three games due to an ankle injury. Davis had 12 carries for 60 yards. He is now just 31 yards away from passing Nick Chournos (2001-04) and moving into second place on the WSU all-time rushing list. Davis has the third most career rushing yards of any active player in FCS football. He also needs only seven all-purpose yards to pass Tim Toone (2006-09) for fifth on that all-time list.
Ty MacPherson continued his strong season with 89 receiving yards on Saturday and moved into the top 10 in career receiving yards, with 2,132 for his career. He also has 132 career receptions, the 17th most in WSU history in his 54 career games...MacPherson has 743 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
Eddie Heckard is second in career pass breakups with 30, trailing only former Big Sky MVP and current Buffalo Bill Taron Johnson at 42, and Kyle Thompson is now eighth in career field goals.
Justin Malone became the 30th player in Weber State history to reach 100 career receptions. He now has 102 catches for 1,076 yards and has played in 52 career games at Weber State.
Quick hits
Saturday's game was the first game this season Weber State did not lead after the first quarter. WSU was tied 7-7 after the first quarter in Saturday's game and has not trailed after the first 15 minutes in any game. The 'Cats are 39-6 under Jay Hill when leading after the first quarter. Weber State has outscored its opponents 114-45 in the first quarter this season. WSU is also 7-0 this season when leading after three quarters and 0-2 when trailing after three periods.
The 'Cats are also 6-0 when leading their opponent in rushing yards and 1-2 when trailing. And WSU is 6-1 when leading the opponent in passing yards and 1-1 when trailing.
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 Idaho State
Idaho State enters Saturday's game with a 1-8 overall record and a 1-5 mark in Big Sky play. The Bengals started the season with back-to-back FBS games at UNLV and San Diego State, followed by a home loss to Central Arkansas.
In Big Sky play, Idaho State lost to Northern Colorado, Montana and Montana State, before the only win so far this season, a 40-31 win over Cal Poly.
The Bengal are coming off a loss to Northern Arizona and a 43-3 loss at UC Davis last Saturday.
Head coach Charlie Ragle
The Bengals are coached by Clarie Ragle who is in his first season as head coach. He was named the head coach at Idaho State in December 2021.
Ragle came to ISU after spending five seasons at Cal where he was the special teams coordinator. He also coaches at Arizona and Arizona State, as well as several years as a high school coach.
Series history
This will be the 63rd game between the two longtime rivals and charter members of the Big Sky. The Wildcats hold a 47-15 all-time series lead over Idaho State.
Weber State has won eight straight, 19 of the last 20 and 25 of the last 27 games against Idaho State. ISU has won just two games in the series since 1996.
The Wildcats have also won 18-straight games against Idaho State at Stewart Stadium, with the last Bengal win in Ogden coming in 1984. WSU is 24-5 all-time against Idaho State in Ogden.
Up next
Weber State's final regular season game will be at Northern Arizona on Saturday, November 19 in Flagstaff. The NCAA FCS Playoff selections will be on Sunday, November 20, with the first round beginning on November 26. The top eight seeds in the playoffs will receive a bye until December 3.
