Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Montana
Game 6: 'Cats return to Big Sky play at Montana
10/1/2024 6:25:00 PM | Football
Weber State and Montana will kickoff Saturday at 1 p.m. in Missoula. Game will be televised in Utah on Utah 16 and streamed on ESPN+.
• Weber State heads back on the road and returns to Big Sky Conference play as the Wildcats take on longtime rival Montana Saturday afternoon in Missoula.
• Weber State 2-3 overall and 1-0 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats are coming off a 28-26 home loss to McNeese on Saturday, the third straight game against a team from the Southland Conference.
• Montana is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, following a wild 52-49 win at Eastern Washington last week. The Grizzlies are ranked eighth and ninth in the nation in this week's national polls.
• This will be the 58th all-time meeting between the two charter members of the Big Sky.
• It will be Weber State's first game in Missoula in five years.
• Weber State leads the nation in net punting.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will be televised by the Scripps Sports with Jay Kohn, Marty Mornhinweg, Kyle Hansen, and Meghan Robinson calling the action. In Utah, it will be televised on channel 16 (Utah 16). It will also be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
The Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM "The Wave" with Carl Arky and former WSU head coach and athletic director Jerry Graybeal calling the action.
Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
Wildcats drop home game to McNeese
Weber State is coming off a 28-2 loss at home to McNeese last Saturday night at Stewart Stadium. McNeese held a 7-6 lead at halftime before both teams scored 14 points in the third quarter. The Cowboys took a 28-20 lead before a Wildcat touchdown made it 28-26 with 9:15 to play. WSU's two-point conversion attempt failed and neither team scored the rest of the game.
Weber State had 416 yards of total offense, including 287 yards rushing, the second most in a game this season. WSU gave up 423 total yards to McNeese, the most the 'Cats have allowed in an FCS game this season.
Two touchdowns for Damon Bankston
Weber State junior running back Damon Bankston surpassed 100 rushing yards for the third time in five games this season as he finished with a season-high 142 rushing yards and had two touchdowns in Saturday's game against McNeese. He had touchdown runs of nine yards and one yard on Saturday and had along run of 44 yards.
Through five games, Bankston is third in the Big Sky and 14th in the nation in rushing, averaging 103.4 yards per game. He has 517 yards and five touchdowns on the season.
He also is moving up the career record list at Weber State and now ranks 14th in school history in career rushing yards with 1,737 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Richie Muñoz surpasses 2,000 career passing yards
Weber State sophomore Richie Muñoz threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's game. He also surpassed 2,000 career passing yards. Muñoz has played in just 10 games in his Wildcat career and has now thrown for 2,011 yards and 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He played the final five games of the season last year as a true freshman and led the Wildcats to wins in the final three games.
Through five games this year, Muñoz ranks third in the Big Sky in passing at 123.2 yards per game and is fifth in total offense at 212.8 yards per game.
Wildcats lead nation in net punting
As a team, Weber State is first in the country in net punting at 43.45 yards per punt. WSU has 22 punts through five games.
Individually, Oscar Doyle is second in the conference and 10th in the country in punting at 45.1 yards per punt.
National/Big Sky rankings
As a team, Weber State is fifth in the country in turnovers lost with just two. WSU has one interception and one fumble in the first five games. The Wildcats rank 15th in the country in scoring defense at 19.2 points per game and are also 15th in rushing offense, averaging 202.2 yards per game. The Wildcat defense is 22nd in the country in team tackles for loss at 6.6 per game. WSU had 17 tackles for loss in the win at Northwestern State, which is the most tackles for loss by any team in the country in a game this season.
Individually, Kemari Munier-Bailey is leads the Big Sky and is third in the nation in tackles for loss at 2.1 per game. He was named the National Defensive Player of the Week on September 23 after recorded six tackles for loss with three sacks in WSU's win over Northwestern State. He is also 13th in the country in sacks with five.
Clarence "Bird" Butler is 17th in the nation in punt returns at 10.8 per return, is 12th in combined kick returns, and 19th in kickoff returns. Senior Jacob Sharp is fourth in the Big Sky in receiving yards at 67.6 yards per game.
Seven seniors on the Wildcat team
Weber State begins the 2024 season with just seven seniors on the roster. The seven seniors are linebacker Garrett Beck, defensive tackle Zeke Birch, defensive tackle Steven Bryant, defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey, long snapper Grant Sands, wide receiver Jacob Sharp, and kicker Kyle Thompson. Sharp is the only senior on the current depth chart on offense.
Seven seniors is the fewest of any school in the Big Sky Conference.
Head coach Mickey Mental in his second season as head coach
Mickey Mental is in his second season as head coach at Weber State and his third season as the offensive coordinator with the Wildcats. Prior to coming to Weber State in 2022, Mental was the head coach at Notre Dame College in Ohio for two seasons where 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.
A native of Olmstead Falls, Ohio, Mental came to WSU for the 2022 season as the offensive coordinator under Jay Hill and helped lead the Wildcats to a 10-3 overall record and a trip to the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
Team captains
As selected by their teammates, Weber State has named five captains for the 2024 season. The five captains are junior running back Damon Bankston, senior linebacker Garrett Beck, senior defensive end Steven Bryant, junior wide receiver Jayleen Record, and junior cornerback Jalon Rock.
About Montana
The Montana Grizzlies enter Saturday's game with a 4-1 overall record and a 1-0 mark in Big Sky play. Montana is eighth in the Stats Perform poll and ninth in the AFCA Coaches poll.
The Grizzlies are coming off a wild 52-49 at Eastern Washington last Saturday where Montana totaled 701 yards of offense, the second-most in program history.
Montana opened the season with a home win over Missouri State, then lost 27-24 at #20 North Dakota. Since then, the Grizzlies have wins over Morehead State and Western Carolina, before Saturday's win at Eastern Washington.
Through five games, Montana has more first downs (132), than any school in the country. The Grizzlies are third in the nation in total offense at 499.2 yards per game, and rank third in rushing offense and fourth in scoring offense at 42 points per game.
Montana is coming off a 13-2 record last season and a 7-1 record in the Big Sky. The Griz advanced to the championship game of the FCS Playoffs and were picked first in the Big Sky preseason media and coaches polls this season.
Longtime head coach Bobby Hauck is in his second stint as head coach of the Griz. He is in his 13th year overall and the sixth year of his second stint at Montana since taking over in December 2017. Hauck is the winningest coach in Big Sky Conference history with 133 career wins. He was also head coach at UNLV for five years.
Montana has won 15-straight games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Series history
This will the 58th all-time meeting between Weber State and Montana, two charter members of the Big Sky Conference. Montana holds a 40-17 all-time series lead over Weber State, but the Wildcats have won the last two games and four of the last five games. The two teams have only played once since the 2019 season.
This will be Weber State's first game in Missoula in five years. In games at Montana, the Grizzlies are 22-7 all-time. Montana won 35-16 in 2019, in a matchup that featured tow teams in the top five in the country. Weber State then beat the Grizzlies 17-10 in December 2019 in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs in Ogden.
WSU's last win in Missoula game in 2015, a 24-21 overtime win, that was the first victory in Missoula in 28 years.
Quick hits
Jacob Sharp is the only player that was on the roster in 2019, the last time Weber State played at Montana, but he did not play in that game, meaning no current Wildcat has played in Missoula...Weber State played without senior kicker Kyle Thompson and junior cornerback Jalon Rock against McNeese as both players were out in concussion protocol...McNeese was the first team to score a touchdown against the Wildcats in the first quarter of a game. WSU has allowed just 10 total points in the first quarter of the first five games of the season.
Looking ahead
After Saturday, the Wildcats will return to Stewart Stadium to host Northern Colorado on October 12, which will be the annual Homecoming game at Weber State.
