Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Sacramento State
Game 6: Wildcats host Hornets for Homecoming Saturday
10/7/2025 3:47:00 PM | Football
Weber State will host Sacramento State Saturday at 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium in the annual Homecoming game.
• It's Homecoming at Weber State and the Wildcats return to Stewart Stadium to host Sacramento State on Saturday night.
• After starting the season with four of the first five games on the road, the Wildcats will play three of the next four games at home beginning with Saturday's Homecoming game.
• Weber State is 2-3 overall on the season and 0-1 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats last lost at UC Davis on September 27 and are coming off a bye week last week.
• Sacramento State is also 2-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play and also had a bye last weekend.
• WSU starting quarterback Jackson Gilkey will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury.
• This is the last game scheduled between the two schools as Sacramento State will leave the Big Sky after this season.
• Weber State is 16-10 overall against the Hornets and 11-2 in Ogden.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will kickoff at 6:00 p.m. at Stewart Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Brandon Garside and Riley Jensen calling the action. The Weber State radio broadcast will be on 103.1 FM with Carl Arky 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 sit at 2-3 entering the Homecoming game
Weber State is 2-3 on the season. The Wildcats opened the season with back-to-back FBS road games at James Madison and Arizona, then won 42-41 at McNeese. The 'Cats beat Butler in the home opener on September 20, then opened Big Sky Conference play with a 34-12 loss at No. 8 UC Davis on September 27.
Quarterback change for the Wildcats
Weber State sophomore transfer Jackson Gilkey suffered a broken fibula in the game at UC Davis and will miss the rest of the season after surgery last week. Gilkey transferred to WSU from UTSA and started the first five games of the season. He threw for 693 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for 227 yards and another touchdown.
Redshirt freshman Cash McCollum, a transfer from UTSA, is also out indefinitely with a broken right hand.
This week, Weber State will turn to junior Dijon Jennings as the starting quarterback on the depth chart. Jennings, a native of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, began his career at the University of Akron, then transferred to Weber State prior to last season. He appeared in five games for the Wildcats in 2024. When he came in late in the UC Davis game, he was 2 for 2 for 37 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown to Marcus Chretien.
The other quarterback listed on the depth chart is true freshman Kingston Tisdell, from Inglewood High School in Los Angeles. Tisdell threw for 6,898 yards and 73 touchdowns in his high school career. He graduated early and participated with Weber State in this year's spring practice.
Offense
Through the first five games, sophomore Davion Godley ranks fifth in the Big Sky in rushing at 72.2 yards per game. He has run for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Jayleen Record leads the receivers with 13 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown, with Noah Bennee second with 11 catches for 144 yards.
Defense
On defense, senior Angel King is second in the Big Sky with two interceptions this season. King is also second on the team in tackles with 27. Mayson Hitchens leads the 'Cats with 32 tackles in five games, including 2.5 tackles for loss.
Montae Pate is fifth in the conference in pass breakups with five and also has 2.5 tackles for loss.
Josh Hardy has two sacks and Keahnist Thompson has 3.5 tackles for loss in four games played.
Special teams
Sloan Calder ranks third in the Big Sky and 11th in the country in field goals per game at 1.4. Calder is 7 of 9 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 51 yards. Bird Butler missed the UC Davis game with an injury, but is expected to return this week. Butler is eighth in the country in punt returns with an average of 13.9 yards per return.
As a team, WSU is seventh in the nation in punt return defense and 19th in kickoff return defense.
Home sweet home
After playing four of the first five games on the road, the Wildcats are home for Homecoming this week and will host three of the next four games at Stewart Stadium.
Weber State played its first four road games in four different time zones and traveled more than 5,000 miles in the first four road games.
Team captains
As selected by their teammates, Weber State has named four captains for the 2025 season. Wildcat senior fullback Colter May, senior offensive lineman Gavin Ortega, senior wide receiver Jayleen Record, and junior defensive tackle Keahnist Thompson will be the team captains for the 2025 season. Record is a captain for the second-straight season. May and Ortega were both selected as preseason All-Big Sky selections.
Head coach Mickey Mental returns for third season as head coach
Mickey Mental is in his third season as head coach and his fourth overall season at Weber State. He is also the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats.
Mental came to Weber State as the offensive coordinator under Jay Hill for the 2022 season and helped lead the Wildcats to the second round of the FCS Playoffs. He was named the 12th head coach in Weber State history in December 2022. In his third season as head coach, he has a 10-15 overall record and a 7-9 Big Sky record at Weber State.
Prior to coming to Weber State, 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. He is a native of Olmstead Falls, Ohio.
About Sacramento State
The Hornets of Sacramento State are also 2-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky play and are also coming off a bye week last week.
Sac State started the season with a 20-3 loss at No. 3 South Dakota State, then lost by three points at Nevada. They defeated Mercyhurst and Central Arkansas at home before a 32-24 home loss to Cal Poly on September 27 to start Big Sky Conference play.
This season, Sacramento State leads the nation in sacks and tackles for loss. The Hornets have 22 sacks and 46 tackles for loss through five games. They average 4.4 sacks and 9.2 tackles for loss per game.
Sac State is also second in the country in passing yards per completion and second in net punting. The Hornets lead the conference in rushing yards at 202 yards per game.
Individually, quarterback Cardell Williams is second in the nation in passing yards per completion at 17.3 and Ernest Campbell is second in the country in yards per reception at 29. Jayland McGlothen is fifth nationally in sacks and Dylan Hampsten is eighth in tackles for loss.
Sacramento State is under the direction of first-year head coach Brennan Marion who took over in Sacramento in December. Mario previously was the offensive coordinator at UNLV and was also an assistant coach at Texas, Pittsburgh, and Hawaii.
Series history
Weber State holds a 16-10 all-time series lead over Sacramento State, but this is the last game scheduled between the two schools. Sacramento State has announced it will leave the Big Sky Conference after this season. This will be the 29th meeting since Sacramento State joined the Big Sky in 1996.
The Hornets have won the last two meetings, including a 51-48 double overtime win in Sacramento last season.
Weber State is 11-2 all-time against the Hornets in Ogden, but Sacramento State won its last meeting at Stewart Stadium 33-30 on November 5, 2022, when both teams were nationally ranked in the top 10.
Quick hits
Weber State senior captain was married over the bye week. May married his wife Morgan last Friday...Saturday's game will be the final night game of the season as all the remaining games will be in the afternoon...Weber State has won seven of its last 10 Homecoming games and is 29-33 all-time on Homecoming.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's home game, it's back on the road for the Wildcats at Portland State on Saturday, October 18. After that WSU, hosts back-to-back home games against Eastern Washington and Montana.
