Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
James Madison
Game 1: Wildcats open the 2025 season at JMU Saturday
8/26/2025 4:54:00 PM | Football
Weber State and James Madison kickoff Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern time (4 MT) in Harrisonburg, VA.
• Weber State begins its 64th season of football as a four-year institution as the Wildcats open the season Saturday night at James Madison in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
• Weber State is coming off a 4-8 season in 2024. The Wildcats return 12 starters off last year's team and welcome several new players, including 10 Division I transfers.
• James Madison was 9-4 last season, including a win in the Boca Raton Bowl.
• The Dukes were picked to win the Sun Belt Conference this season.
• Mickey Mental is back for his third season as head coach of the Wildcats. WSU also welcomed four new assistant coaches to the staff.
• This will be the fourth ever matchup between the two schools and the first against the Dukes as an FBS program.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will kickoff at 6 p.m. Eastern time (4 p.m. Mountain time) from Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Curt Dudley, Delvin Joyce, and David Hulvey 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 on the call.
Live stats available at WeberStateSports.com and the Weber State Wildcats app.
A look at the 2025 Wildcats
A new year means several returning faces and several new additions to the Wildcat roster. The 'Cats return 67 players that were on the roster last season. The 'Cats have 12 starters returning from the end of last season.
Several players joined Weber State in the transfer portal, including 10 FBS or FCS transfers. The Wildcats have two new quarterbacks who are both FBS transfers. Jackson Gilkey, a sophomore transfer from UTSA is listed first on the week one depth chart. Cash McCollum, a redshirt sophomore transfer from North Texas, is listed second.
Other new Wildcat transfers include linebacker Sione Hala (Boston College), defensive end Josh Hardy (North Carolina A&T), running back Zach Hrbacek (Sam Houston), and BYU transfers Porter Small, and Boyd Sorensen.
WSU was picked eighth in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll.
Two Wildcats earn preseason honors
Weber State senior offensive lineman Gavin Ortega was selected as a preseason All-American prior to the 2025 season. He was named to the preseason All-America second team by Stats Perform.
Ortega earned All-Big Sky second team honors in 2024 after starting all 12 games for the Wildcats. He is the only returning Wildcat who earned All-Big Sky honors last season.
The native of Bellingham, Washington, enters his senior season having played in 29 career games at Weber State. He also earned Academic All-District honors in 2024.
Ortega also earned preseason All-Big Sky honors, as did WSU senior fullback Colter May. May enters his senior season at Weber State having played in 31 career games. He has been part of the Wildcat program since the spring 2021 season, one of three players from that season still on the roster.
May, a native of Heyburn, Idaho, played in all 12 games with the Wildcats in 2024.
Other returners
Other returners include running back Davion Godley who rushed for 630 yards and four touchdowns as a true freshman last season. Multiple wide receivers return, including Marcus Chretien, Jayleen Record, and Noah Kjar who were all in the top five of receiving yards last season.
All 10 players listed on the depth chart on the offensive line were part of the roster last season.
On defense, the 'Cats have five returning starters on defense, along with multiple players that saw significant action. Keahnist Thompson, Matt Herron, and Easton Payne all return on the defensive line, along with linebackers Mayson Hitchens and Aizik Mahuka. Hitchens was second on the Wildcat team in tackles last season.
Trevian Tribble was fifth in tackles and returns along with other secondary returners including Angel King, BJ Carey, Montae Pate, and Kao Hansen.
On special teams, kick returners Kjar, Record, and Bird Butler are all returning, and kicker Sloan Calder.
'Cats begin three game road stretch to start the season
Weber State will start the season with three straight road games and will play four of the first five games on the road. In addition, the first four road games will be played in four different time zones.
The Wildcats are one of 11 schools in FCS football to start the season with four of the first five games on the road, and one of 10 to start the season with four of the first five games on the road.
Weber State is the only school in all of Division I football to have the first four road games played in four different time zones (not including games in Hawaii).
This season, Weber State will travel nearly 13,000 miles for the seven road games, with nearly 9,000 miles in the first three games.
A look back at 2024
Weber State was 4-8 in 2024 and had multiple close losses. The Wildcats lost six games by a total of 25 points in 2024, all one possession losses, including four losses by a total of 10 points. WSU lost by one point at Lamar, two points to McNeese, three points in double overtime to Sacramento State, four points to Northern Colorado, seven points to Idaho, and eight points to Idaho State.
After a loss at Washington, Weber State began Big Sky play with a win over Portland State, followed by the loss at Lamar. The Wildcats shutout Northwestern State 39-0 on September 21.
The highlight of the season was a thrilling 55-48 overtime win at No. 8 ranked Montana on October 5 in Missoula. The 'Cats had six touchdown passes in the game and passed for 364 yards.
Weber State closed out the season with a 28-17 home win over Cal Poly, as the 'Cats posted 456 yards of total offense.
Weber State lost only seven seniors off last year's team, but also lost multiple players to the transfer portal.
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 back for 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. Entering his third season as head coach, he has a 10-13 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.
Milestone game for coach Brent Myers
Associate head coach Brent Myers is back for his 14th season at Weber State. Coach Myers joined the WSU staff in 2014, the first season of Jay Hill with the Wildcats and is the longest tenured coach on the staff.
Myers is entering his 42nd season as a college coach and this Saturday's game at James Madison will mark his 500th game as a coach. He has coached in 130 games at Weber State over the last 13 seasons. He has spent time as an assistant coach at Eastern Washington, Southern Illinois, Northern Arizona, Boise State, Washington, Utah, Arizona State, Louisville, and UNLV.
Four new assistant coaches join the Wildcats
Weber State welcomed four new coaches to the staff this season, including two former Wildcat football players. Keilan Benjamin (cornerbacks), Brady Daigh (defensive tackles), Justin "Ace" Mullgrav (linebackers), and Daniel Wright Jr. (running backs), are all new to the Wildcat staff this season. Benjamin and Wright are former Wildcat players. Benjamin was a standout cornerback with the Wildcats in 2017 and 2018 and earned first-team All-Big Sky honors, while helping the Wildcats to back-to-back Big Sky titles. Wright was a running back at Weber State from 2019 to the spring 2021 season. He was also part of two Big Sky Championship teams.
Former Wildcat all-time great joins the coaching staff
Coach Mental also added one more Wildcat great to the coaching staff as Weber State Hall of Famer Jamie Martin was added as an Offensive Analyst. Martin is one of the best players in Weber State and Big Sky Conference history. He played quarterback at Weber State from 1989-92 and was a two-time All-American and a two-time Big Sky MVP. He won the Walter Payton Award in 1991 as the top player in the country, the only Wildcat to ever do so. He is a member of the Weber State Hall of Fame and the Big Sky Hall of Fame and he is the only player in WSU history to have his jersey retired. Following his Weber State career, Martin played 16 years in the NFL and was a part of seven different teams.
About James Madison
James Madison enters the 2025 season as the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes have nine returning starters from last season and welcome 55 new players, including 31 transfers.
The Dukes are coming off a 9-4 record last season and finished 4-4 in Sun Belt games. The Dukes ended the season with a 27-17 win over Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl.
JMU is entering its fourth season at the FBS level after many years of tremendous success at the FCS level. The Dukes won two FCS national championships in 2004 and 2016, and competed in the championship game in 2017 and 2019.
Bob Chesney is in his second season as head coach of the Dukes and guided JMU to a 9-4 record and a bowl win last season.
Series history
This will be the fourth ever meeting between Weber State and James Madison, with the Dukes holding a 3-0 series lead. The two teams met twice in the FCS Playoffs in Harrisonburg and also met once in Ogden.
In December 2017, No. 1 seed James Madison beat Weber State 31-28 in an epic game in Harrisonburg. The Wildcats led 28-20 with 3:14 to play, before 11 unanswered points by the Dukes, including a 46-yard field goal as time expired to seal the win. That season was the first of four-straight Big Sky Championships for Weber State under head coach Jay Hill.
In December 2019, the two teams met again in Harrisonburg with the No. 2 seed Dukes beating the Wildcats 30-14.
In September 2021, James Madison traveled out to Ogden, Utah to play at Weber State for the first time and the Dukes beat the Wildcats 37-24.
Only a few Wildcats are still on the roster that were part of the 2021 season when James Madison last played Weber State and Colter May was the only player still on the team that played in that game.
Associate Head Coach Brent Myers was on the Wildcat staff for the 2017 and 2019 games. Defensive coordinator Joe Dale and special teams coordinator Skyler Ridley were also on the coaching staff in the 2019 season.
Quick hits
According to the Massey Ratings, Weber State has the second most difficult strength of schedule in FCS this season...This will be just the 11th game Weber State will play in the Eastern time zone and three will be at James Madison...Weber State has 32 players from the state of Utah, followed by 28 from California, and 16 from Texas.
Weber State football history
This marks the 64th 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. WSU won four Big Sky titles and advanced to the FCS Playoffs six times under Jay Hill who was the head coach from 2014-22, now the defensive coordinator at BYU. Veteran college football coaches Mike Price (1981-89) and Ron McBride (2005-11) were also head coaches at Weber State and led the Wildcats to Big Sky titles.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's season opener at James Madison, Weber State will return to the west for another FBS road game at Arizona next Saturday night in Tucson. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two Wildcats.
