Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Iowa
Game 2: Top-25 matchup at Northern Iowa Saturday
9/5/2023 4:06:00 PM | Football
Ninth-ranked Weber State plays at 20th-ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central time in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
After a season-opening win on a new field with a new head coach, the Weber State football team hits the road for a top-25 FCS matchup Saturday. The Wildcats will take on the Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central time (3 p.m. Mountain time) from the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Weber State is ranked ninth in the nation in this week's AFCA Coaches poll and 12th in the Stats Perform media poll. Northern Iowa is 20th in the coaches poll and 21st in the Stats Perform poll. The Panthers opened the season with a 30-9 loss at Iowa State.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will be televised 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 WSU head coach and athletic director Jerry Graybeal on the call.
Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
Wildcats open a new era with 35-10 home win
Weber State began the 2023 season under first-year head coach Mickey Mental with a 35-10 home win over Central Washington on Thursday night in the season opener at Stewart Stadium. The game was tied 7-7 early and the Wildcats led 14-10 at halftime before shutting out Central Washington 21-0 in the second half.
Top 25 FCS showdown Saturday
Saturday's game will feature two nationally ranked opponents as Weber State is ranked ninth in the nation in this week's AFCA Coaches poll and 12th in the Stats Perform media poll. Northern Iowa is 20th in the coaches poll and 21st in the Stats Perform poll.
The Wildcats opened the preseason ranked 10th in the country in the AFCA Coaches preseason poll and 13th in the Stats Perform media preseason poll, marking the seventh-straight season Weber State has been ranked in a preseason national poll. Weber State is one of six teams from the Big Sky in the preseason rankings.
Abraham Williams with another 100-yard kickoff return touchdown
Wildcat junior All-American kick returner Abraham Williams picked up right where he left off from last season. In the second quarter of the season-opening win, with the game tied 7-7, Williams returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his fifth career kickoff return touchdown and all five returns have been 100 yards. For his performance he was honored as the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week.
Last season, Williams was a consensus All-American after returning four kickoffs for 100 yards. He led the country in kickoff return yards last year at 37.4 per return. He was the only player in all divisions of the NCAA to have more than two kickoff returns in a season last year.
He now ranks seventh in Weber State history in career kickoff returns at 39.0 yards per return. He is second in WSU history with five touchdowns, behind Rashid Shaheed, now with the New Orleans Saints, who holds the FCS record with seven touchdowns.
Damon Bankston with two touchdowns in season opener
Wildcat junior running back Damon Bankston ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns in Thursday's season-opening win. He had a 1-yard touchdown and a 66-yard touchdown, both in third quarter. He had 13 carries for an average of 9.2 yards per carry and also had three catches for 18 yards.
It was his third time surpassing 100 yards in a game.
The Katy, Texas native is also nearing a milestone. He now has 951 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns in 23 games in his three seasons at Weber State. He needs 49 more yards to become the 33rd player in Weber State history with 1,000 career rushing yards.
Winston Reid with strong performance in season debut
Weber State senior All-American linebacker had a strong performance in the season opening win. Reid finished with 12 tackles, including seven solo tackles. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in the win.
Prior to the season, Reid was named the Big Sky Preseason Defensive MVP. He earned first-team All-Big Sky honors and earned All-America honors last season as he started all 13 games and finished sixth in the Big Sky in tackles with 112 for an average of 8.6 per game. He had 68 solo tackles, the sixth-most in a season in WSU history, and had 10 or more tackles in a game five times. He also finished in a tie for first in the conference with five forced fumbles.
In addition, Reid has been named to the watch list for the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl, the prestigious pre-draft game next February. He is one of five players from the Big Sky on the preseason watch list.
Four All-Americans and eight All-Big Sky performers returning
Weber State has four returning All-Americans from last year's squad. In addition to Abraham Williams and Winston Reid, Maxwell Anderson and Noah Atagi also return as All-Americans. Atagi was an All-American last year and earned first-team All-Big Sky honors for the third-straight year.
Also returning are four other players that earned All-Big Sky honors in 2022. Haze Hadley (punt returner) and Jordan Lutui (offensive line) earned second-team honors, Ethan Atagi (offensive line) earned third-team honors and Damon Bankston (running back) earned honorable mention honors in 2022.
Mickey Mental takes over as new Wildcat head coach
Weber State is under the direction of first year head coach Mickey Mental who was named the 12th head coach in Weber State history in December. Mental served as the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats in 2022 before being named head coach. He took over for Jay Hill who left for BYU in December after nine seasons as head coach. Hill is Weber State's all-time leader in coaching wins with 68 and led the Wildcats to four Big Sky titles and six trips to the FCS Playoffs.
This is not the first time for Mental as a head coach. The Olmstead Falls, Ohio native spent two seasons as head coach at Division II Notre Dame College in Ohio, prior to coming to Weber State. In two seasons as head coach he posted a 16-2 overall record and a 13-1 record in conference play. In the spring 2021 season, he led the Falcons to a conference championship.
Coaching staff
The Wildcats have a new head coach but the majority of the coaching staff is returning from last season and the previous seasons. Nine other full-time coaches are remaining with the Wildcats. Zach Larson was promoted from a graduate assistant coach to a full-time assistant coach where he coaches the quarterbacks.
Brent Myers returns for his 10th seasons as the Associate Head coach. Joe Dale and Grant Duff both return as co-Defensive Coordinators for the Wildcats. Duff coaches the defensive line and Dale coaches the safeties. Matty Ah You (linebackers), Robert Conley (running backs), Andre Dyson (cornerbacks), David Fiefia (tight ends), and Skyler Ridley (wide receivers) are all back as assistant coaches.
New this year is Jaylen Johnson who was hired in February as an assistant coach, coaching the defensive tackles.
Jace Campbell is a graduate assistant with the defense and former Wildcat player Isiah Jackson is a graduate assistant with the offense. Derrick Luken returns as the Director of Football Operations.
Wildcats fourth in Big Sky preseason polls
The Wildcats were also ranked fourth in the Big Sky preseason media and coaches polls for the second-straight year. Montana State was selected as the preseason favorite in both polls with UC Davis second and Sacramento State third in the coaches poll and Idaho second and Montana third in the media poll.
Team captains
As selected by their teammates, Weber State has named four captains for the 2023 season. This year's captains are senior offensive lineman Noah Atagi, senior cornerback Maxwell Anderson, senior cornerback Marque Collins, and senior linebacker Winston Reid. This is the third-straight year for Atagi as a captain and Reid was also a captain in 2022.
Oh brother
This year's Wildcat squad includes six sets of brothers. LJ and Maxwell Anderson, Ethan and Noah Atagi, Garrett and Trevor Beck, Bronson and Jagger Childs, Ishaan and Rishi Daniels, and Jordan and Masi Lutui are all on the Wildcat team this season.
A look back at 2022
The Wildcats posted a 10-win season in 2022 and advanced to the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Weber State has now been to the FCS Playoffs in six of the last seven seasons. The Wildcats were 10-3 overall and finished 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. Weber State defeated North Dakota at home in the first round of the playoffs before falling at Montana State in the second round.
The Wildcats ended the season ranked ninth in the country.
Weber State football history
This marks the 62nd season of football at Weber State, since the school became a four-year institution. The Wildcats are charter members of the Big Sky Conference and have won eight Big Sky titles and advanced to the FCS Playoffs 10 times, including six of the last seven seasons.
About Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa opened the season with 30-9 loss at Iowa State on Saturday. The Panthers have eight returning All-Conference performers and 17 returning starters off last year's squad.
UNI was 6-5 overall last season and finished in a tie for third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference at 5-3. The Panthers were picked to finish third this season in the preseason polls.
UNI is coached by Mark Farley who is in his 23rd season as head coach at UNI, which is also his alma mater. He has a career record of 174-99 and is the all-time leader in coaching wins in UNI history and MVFC history.
Series history
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Weber State and Northern Iowa. The two teams met in 2019 in Ogden, a 29-17 Weber State win. The return game from that trip was scheduled for September 2020, but was postponed to this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The series is tied 2-2 all-time. Weber State won in Ogden in 1978, followed by a Northern Iowa win in Cedar Falls in 1980.
This will be Weber State's first visit to Cedar Falls since 1991 when the two teams met in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. The Panthers won that game 38-21. The Wildcats were led by Jamie Martin who that season won the Walter Payton Trophy as the National Player of the Year.
Quick hits
WSU senior punter returner Haze Hadley had four punt returns for 58 yards in the opening win. He moved past Tim Tone and Rashid Shaheed into second place on the all-time career punt list. He now has 54 punt returns for 609 yards, which ranks second in school history...Weber State junior placekicker Kyle Thompson has been named to the preseason watch list for the Fred Mitchell Award, given annually to the top place-kicker in FCS football. He is one of 13 on the FCS preseason watch list. Thompson is seventh in career field goals made with 35 and is eighth in career scoring...Weber State has 39 players on this years roster from the state of Utah. California is next with 21 followed by Texas with 12 and Idaho with 10.
Up next
After Saturday the Wildcats will face another tough road test, this time playing at the University of Utah in Rice-Eccles Stadium next Saturday, September 16 at 12 p.m.. The Utes are ranked 12th in the country in this week's FBS national polls.
Following that game, Weber State will return home to open Big Sky play against Montana State on September 23.
Players Mentioned
