Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
McNeese
Game 3: Wildcats head to McNeese Saturday
9/9/2025 3:36:00 PM | Football
Weber State and McNeese meet Saturday in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
• It's on the road again for the Weber State Wildcats as the 'Cats continue their three game road trip to start the season this Saturday night in Louisiana.
• Weber State will play at McNeese Saturday night in Lake Charles.
• The Wildcats opened the season with a loss at James Madison and are coming off a 48-3 loss at Arizona last Saturday night.
• McNeese is 1-1 on the season with a home win over Louisiana Christian and a loss at Louisiana.
• 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.
• McNeese was 6-6 last season and is led by new and previous head coach Matt Viator.
• Mickey Mental is back for his third season as head coach of the Wildcats. WSU also welcomes four new assistant coaches to the staff.
• Weber State will travel nearly 9,000 miles in the first three games of the season.
• This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two schools with McNeese holding a 4-1 series lead. The Cowboys beat the Wildcats last season at Stewart Stadium.
Media coverage
Saturday's game will kickoff at 6 p.m. Central time (5 p.m. Mountain time) from Louis Bonnette Field at Navarre Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with Jeff Palermo, Chaston Tavares, and Rylee Eyster 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.
Wildcats drop two FBS openers
Weber State opened the season with a 45-10 loss at James Madison and is coming off a 48-3 loss to Arizona on Saturday night in Tucson.
The game was delayed by lightning in the area for more than two hours. Arizona jumped off to a quick start with 24 points in the first quarter.
Arizona totaled 556 yards of total offense and held Weber State to 184. Arizona also had two interceptions and 31 first downs.
Three game journey to start the season
Saturday's game at McNeese will be the third game of a three-game road trip to start the season. The Wildcats will travel nearly 9,000 miles in the first three games and all three games are being played in different time zones.
Weber State is one of 12 schools in FCS football to start the season with three straight road games and one of 10 to start with four of the first five on the road.
WSU 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).
Offense
Through the first two games, new Weber State sophomore quarterback Jackson Gilkey has thrown for 152 yards and one touchdown. Gilkey transferred to WSU from UTSA. Gilkey has also rushed for 61 yards.
Sam Houston senior transfer Zach Hrbacek leads the rushing attack with 63 yards and sophomore Davion Godley has 49 yards.
Jayleen Record has five receptions for 21 yards to lead the receivers.
Defense
Junior linebacker Sione Hala played for the first time in Saturday's game at Arizona. The transfer from Boston College led Weber State with seven tackles in his first game and had a half tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
BJ Carey also had seven tackles and Keahnist Thompson added six tackles with 1.5 sacks.
Through two games, Thompson is third in the Big Sky with 1.5 sacks and is seventh in the conference in tackles for loss.
Angel King leads the Wildcats in total tackles with 14, followed by Carey and Hitchens. WSU has 12 tackles for loss in the first two games with four sacks. As a team, Weber State is third in the conference in sacks and third in team tackles for loss.
Special teams
After two games, Weber State is fourth in the nation in punt return defense.
Individually, sophomore Henry Way ranks fifth in the Big Sky in punting. Way has 13 punts for an average of 40.5 yards per punt.
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 in 2024.
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 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.
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.
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.
About McNeese
The McNeese Cowboys enter Saturday's game at 1-1. They opened the season with a 54-9 home win over Louisiana Christian, then lost 34-10 at Louisiana Lafayette last Saturday.
McNeese was 6-6 overall last season and finished tied for fifth in the Southland Conference at 3-4. The Cowboys were picked to finish sixth in the preseason polls this season.
The Cowboys are coached by Matt Viator, a McNeese alum. Viator was the head coach at McNeese for 10 seasons from 2006-15, then returned as head coach this season. He has a record of 79-34 at McNeese and has taken the Cowboys to the FCS Playoffs five times, and won four Southland titles. He was the head coach at Louisiana Monroe from 2016-20.
Series history
This will be the sixth all-time meeting between Weber State and McNeese, with the Cowboys holding a 4-1 series lead. Weber State won the first meeting in November 1990 in Lake Charles, when Jamie Martin threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Later that season, Martin won the Walter Payton Trophy.
The Cowboys have won the last four games, including last season.
The two teams played a series in 2012 and 2013, with the Cowboys winning both, including a 43-6 win Lake Charles in 2013, WSU's last game at McNeese.
The Cowboys beat Weber State 28-26 at Stewart Stadium last September. The Wildcats had a 20-13 lead late in the third quarter before back-to-back touchdowns by McNeese gave the Cowboys a 28-20 leads. Weber State added a touchdown but couldn't score in the final minutes. Both teams had over 400 yards of offense.
Quick hits
McNeese faces back-to-back weeks against teams from Utah as the Cowboys will travel to Utah next Saturday to play Utah State in Logan...According to the Massey Ratings, Weber State has the second most difficult strength of schedule in FCS this season...Weber State has 32 players from the state of Utah, followed by 28 from California, and 16 from Texas.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's game, Weber State will finally host a game at Stewart Stadium as the Wildcats take on the Butler Bulldogs on September 20 in the final non-conference home game.
The game time has been moved back to a 7 p.m. kickoff as Weber State University will light the new "W" on the mountain behind Stewart Stadium.
