Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Cal Poly
Game 12: Wildcats close out season at home Saturday
11/19/2024 4:59:00 PM | Football
Weber State hosts Cal Poly at 1 p.m. at Stewart Stadium. WSU will honor its seven seniors prior to kickoff.
• Weber State closes out the 2024 season with a home game against Cal Poly Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium.
• The Wildcats enter Saturday's game with a 3-8 overall and a 2-5 mark in Big Sky play. The Wildcats are coming off a 31-24 loss at No. 8 Idaho last Saturday in Moscow.
• Cal Poly is also 2-5 in Big Sky play and is 3-7 overall.
• Saturday's game will be Senior Day for seven Wildcat seniors.
• This will be Cal Poly's first game in Ogden in five years.
• It will be the 18th all-time meeting in the series and Weber State has won six straight games against the Mustangs.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will kickoff at 1 p.m. at Stewart Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Tony Parks and Riley Jensen calling the action.
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.
Senior Day for seven Wildcat seniors
Prior to Saturday's game, Weber State will honor its seven seniors who are playing their final games as Wildcats. It will be the final game for 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. The seven seniors is the fewest of any team in the Big Sky Conference this season.
More on Wildcat seniors
Garrett Beck is a captain with the Wildcats this season and is in his fifth season at WSU. He has played in 44 career games at Weber State and has 178 total tackles with 12 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions.
Zeke Birch has been with Weber State since the 2019 season and has been a part of two teams that won Big Sky titles and three trips to the FCS Playoffs. He has played in 42 career games with the 'Cats and has 11.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Steven Bryant is also serving as a team captain this season. He has spent the last three seasons at Weber State and has appeared in 23 career games. He has 39 total tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Kemari Munier-Bailey has been at Weber State just one season but has been a leader on the Wildcat defense this year. He leads the Big Sky and rank 11th in the nation in tackles for loss with 14.5. He is also second in the conference with 7.5 sacks.
Grant Sands has been a part of the Wildcat program for the last four years as a long snapper. He has appeared in 46 career games in his Wildcat career.
Jacob Sharp has been at Weber State since 2019 and has been a part of two teams that won Big Sky titles and three trips to the FCS Playoffs. He has played in 33 games during his Wildcat career and currently ranks 20th in career receiving yards with 112 yards and 17 touchdowns. He is also 25th in WSU history in career receptions with 112.
Kyle Thompson has been at Weber State for the last four seasons and has played in 51 career games. He is Weber State's all-time leader in career points scored with 354. He also ranks second in school history in career field goals made with 62. He ranks 11th in the nation in field goals per game this season.
Three more touchdowns Richie Muñoz
In Saturday's game at No. 8 Idaho, Weber State sophomore quarterback Richie Muñoz threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another touchdown. He has passed for at least 200 yards in six games this season and has thrown a touchdown in nine of the 11 games for the Wildcats.
Muñoz is third in the Big Sky and 12th in the country in passing touchdowns this season with 23. He is also fourth in the league in passing yards with 2,377 yards.
He is now ranked 16th in Weber State career passing yards with 3,431 in just 16 career games in two seasons as a Wildcat.
Defensive performances
Weber State also had several key defensive performances in Saturday's game. Mayson Hitchens led the Wildcats with a career-high 10 tackles in the game. Brayden Wilson and Garrett Beck each added six tackles and Zeke Birch had five. Kemari Munier-Bailey had four tackles with one tackle for loss. Matt Herron also had 1.5 tackles for loss. Ishaan Daniels also had his first career interception in the third quarter.
National/Big Sky rankings
As a team, Weber State ranks fourth in the country in net punting. WSU is also 17th in the nation in rushing offense at 198.5 yards per game, and ranks 24th in total offense at 415.5 yards per game. WSU is also 18th in the nation in sacks allowed with 13 this year.
Individually, Damon Bankston is 12th in the country in total rushing yards with 1,104 yards, which is the 13th most in a single season in WSU history. Senior Jacob Sharp is 11th in the nation in receiving touchdowns with nine and Oscar Doyle ranks 14th in the country in punting at 44.2 yards per punt.
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 Cal Poly
Cal Poly is tied with Weber State with a 2-5 record in Big Sky play, heading into Saturday's matchup. The Mustangs are 3-7 overall.
Cal Poly played three non-conference games and started the season with losses at San Diego and Stanford, then a home win over Western Oregon.
In Big Sky play, the Mustangs started the year with a 28-7 win at Northern Colorado, then lost five straight games, before winning in their last outing. Cal Poly beat Sacramento State 26-23 on Saturday in San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly was 3-8 overall last year and 1-7 in conference play.
The Mustangs are coached by veteran coach Paul Wulff who is in his second seasons as head coach at Cal Poly. He enters Saturday's record with a 6-15 record at Cal Poly. Wulff spent eight seasons as head coach at Eastern Washington where he led the Eagles to two Big Sky titles and three trips to the FCS Playoffs. He also spent four years as head coach at Washington State.
Two members of the staff at Cal Poly were also once at Weber State. Offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach was briefly the offensive coordinator at Weber State in 2012 under Jody Sears before leaving for UNLV. Kevin Clune coaches inside linebackers at Cal Poly and spent three seasons (2005-08) as the defensive coordinator at Weber State under Ron McBride.
Series history
It will be the 18th all-time game in the series with Weber State holding an 11-6 series lead over Cal Poly. The Wildcats have also won six straight games in the series with the last loss to the Mustangs coming in 2014. The two teams first met in 1995 and have played nine times since Cal Poly joined the Big Sky Conference in 2012.
This will be Cal Poly's first visit to Ogden in five years, since the Wildcats beat the Mustangs 41-24 in September 2019. That game was played as a non-conference game between the two teams, meaning the last conference games played in Ogden was in 2016. Weber State is 5-3 all-time against the Mustangs at Stewart Stadium. Four of the last five games in the series have been played in San Luis Obispo.
Last game - 11/18/23 - Weber State 48-21
Weber State closed out the season with a 48-21 win at Cal Poly last November 18 in the season finale. The Wildcats totaled 449 yards of offense and had seven tackles on defense. Richie Muñoz threw for 329 yards and five touchdowns, and rushed for another touchdown and was named Big Sky Player of the Week. Jacob Sharp had three receiving touchdowns. On defense, Brayden Wilson had three sacks and Jack Kelly had two sacks, a forced fumble and an interception, and was also named Big Sky Player of the Week.
Quick hits
WSU was without kick returner Bird Butler in Saturday's game, but freshman Noah Kjar had a strong game with a 47-yard kickoff return and a 43-yard punt return...Kemari Munier-Bailey needs one more sack and one more tackle for loss to move into the WSU single-season top 10 in both categories.
