History of Weber State Football pt. 7
The 2020s (2020-2024)
With the 2024 season just wrapping up, I wanted to write about the first half of the 2020s (I’ll try to update as the years go on, no promises). This edition will be a lot more in depth and personal because this was actually the time I started watching Weber State football, so some of my personal feelings might seep in a few places (primarily in the last two years). After this, I will drop the supercut of the series, with all of the decades put together (with some updates).
*Note: Due to the fact that I actually witnessed/heard about most of these games, the season review paragraphs will be very long. I want to keep it the same layout as the other weeks, so now there’s just a massive paragraph for each year. I apologize in advance.
2019-20 Offseason
Coming off arguably the greatest season in program history, things were looking up for the Wildcats. Despite losing top players such as Jonah Williams, Adam Rodriguez to graduation and quarterback Jake Constantine to the transfer portal, the Wildcats had a few big names coming back. Leading rusher Josh Davis and leading tackler Conner Mortensen would be returning, but with the departure of Constantine at QB, there would be a QB battle brewing in Ogden. The two choices were Middle Tennessee State transfer Randall Johnson and true freshman Bronson Barron, an American Fork High School product who just returned home from his mission in Ghana. However, that all changed in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. With the season approaching, no one knew if it would be canceled or not, but on August 7, 2020, the Presidents of the respective Big Sky schools announced that the 2020 football season would be postponed until Spring 20211. Most of the other FCS conferences followed suit, so instead of the season beginning in August, it would begin in February.
2020*, 5-1 (5-0, 1st) [Pre: 4, High: 2, Playoff Seed: N/A, Final: 9]
*=Season was played in Spring of 2021
The spring season began on February 27, 2021 when the Wildcats headed up to Pocatello to play the Idaho State Bengals. Barron would get the start this game, and would have himself a day, throwing for 312 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, with the Wildcats dominating 49-21. The next game wouldn’t come until March 13, when #23 UC Davis would come to Ogden. This game would be a lot closer, with UC Davis taking a 10-0 lead at the half. In the third, Weber would get on the board with a two-yard touchdown run from freshman running back Dontae McMillan, followed by a successful two-point conversion try to make it 8-10. The Wildcats would then score again with a 10-yard touchdown run from Daniel Wright. Davis would get a field goal to make it 15-13 but Weber would also get a field goal to make it 18-13. Neither team would score the rest of the day and the ‘Cats would get the win. Two weeks later, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks would come to Ogden, in this game, Randall Johnson would get the surprise start and it would end up being a shootout. After a 44 yard bomb from Johnson to Rashid Shaheed and a big boy TD in the form of Noah Atagi getting a 5-yard receiving touchdown would give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. The Lumberjacks would get a field goal and a big run to make it 14-10 at half. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Shaheed would take it 100 yards for a kick return touchdown, which was followed by a Haze Hadley run for the two point conversion, making it a 22-10 game. NAU would hit two 45-yard field goals to make it 22-16 at the start of the fourth quarter. The WIldcats would get the ball and drive down to the NAU four-yard line, but Wright would fumble the ball, giving the Lumberjacks the ball with four minutes remaining. NAU would drive all the way down the field and score a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining, giving them the 23-28 lead. After an unsportsmanlike conduct call on NAU, the Lumberjacks would have to kick the ball from their 35-yard line. Their kicker would get it to the WSU 35. NAU would get another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, putting the ball at the 50. After two incomplete passes from Johnson, Weber would call a timeout with two-seconds remaining. On the final play of the game, Johnson would launch the ball to the endzone and it would be caught by tight end Justin Malone to win the game for the Wildcats. This play would then be known as the “Hail Malone”. The next game would come a week later, when the Wildcats would head down to Cedar City to face the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. After a 50-yard field goal from Kyle Thompson, the Thunderbirds would block a Wildcat punt and take it for a TD, but Weber would block their extra point attempt. The T-Birds would hit a 39-yard field goal at the half to make it a 3-9 ball game. Weber would score a TD but fail on the two-point conversion. SUU would drive down the field and score to make it 9-16 but Weber would score on a 43 yard TD run from McMillan, tying the game at 16. A few minutes later, Thompson would hit a chip shot field goal to give the Wildcats the 19-16 lead with 10 minutes left, the score would hold and Weber would get the win. The next week, the Wildcats would face Idaho State for the second time this season (the first and only time the teams ever played twice in a season). The game wold go back an forth, with the teams trading scores throughout the game. The Bengals would hit a 23 yard field goal to take a 14-15 lead with five minutes remaining. The Wildcats would then drive down the field on the following drive, finishing with a Daniel Wright TD run. On ISU’s next drive, Marque Collins would intercept the ball and seal the game. This win gave Weber its fourth straight Big Sky Title. The following game at Cal Poly would be canceled however, and with that the Wildcats would have their first and only undefeated Big Sky slate, undefeated regular season and outright Big Sky title (although with an asterisk). Weirdly enough, despite being ranked 3rd in the nation, the Wildcats would get screwed by the committee, being unseeded and having to play Southern Illinois in the first round (and would have to play #1 seed South Dakota State in the quarters). The first round game was a shootout, leading to a 24-24 game at the beginning of the fourth. SIU would get a 44 yard field goal to take a 24-27 lead with six minutes remaining, followed by the Wildcats driving down to a three-yard Barron rushing touchdown to make it 31-27 with three minutes left. SIU would drive down to the Weber 13 yard line, but Weber would hold them to a fourth down. On fourth down, SIU quarterback Sto Labanowitz would be rushed out of the pocket and would throw a prayer to the endzone, finding Branson Combs for the TD to make it 31-34. Weber would drive down to the SIU 37, but after a false start would be pushed back to the 42, putting them out of field goal range. After incomplete passes on second and third down, Barron would be sacked, giving the Salukis the upset win.
Bronson Barron led the team in passing yards with 1,071 yards, 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Josh Davis led the team in rushing again with 397 rushing yards and 1 touchdown (Dontae McMillan had 5 touchdowns). Ty MacPherson led the team in receiving yards with 395 yards and 0 touchdowns (Rashid Shaheed and Justin Malone had 3 touchdowns each). George Tarlas led the team in sacks with 2.5. Conner Mortensen led the team in tackles with 52. Preston Smith led the team in interceptions with 3.
Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year
Conner Mortensen, LB
Big Sky Freshman of the Year
Dontae McMillan, RB
Big Sky Coach of the Year
Jay Hill
First Team All-American
Conner Mortensen, LB
Ty Whitworth, OL
Second Team All-American
Rashid Shaheed, RS
Preston Smith, S
First Team All-Big Sky
Noah Atagi, OL
Josh Davis, RB
Rashid Shaheed, RS
Ty Whitworth, OL
Eddie Heckard, CB
Conner Mortensen, LB
Preston Smith, S
Desmond Williams, S
Second Team All-Big Sky
Dontae McMillan, RB
Sione Lapuaho, DT
Sherwin Lavaka, LB
George Tarlas, DE
Results
[#4] at Idaho State (W 49-21)*
[#2] vs #23 UC Davis (W 18-13)*
[#3] vs Northern Arizona (W 28-23)*
[#3] at Southern Utah (W 19-16)*
[#3] vs Idaho State (W 20-15)*
[US] vs [US] Southern Illinois (L 31-34)#
2021, 6-5 (5-3, t5th) [Pre: 6, High: 6, Final: N/A]
Despite the tough ending to the previous season, the Wildcats would come back (albeit just a few short months later) the next season with high expectations, being ranked 6th in the preseason poll. In the opening game of the season, the Wildcats would fall 40-17 to #24 (FBS) Utah before coming back and dominating (then) Dixie State in St. George, but unfortunately Bronson Barron would injure his MCL during the game. The following week, the ‘Cats would fall to #2 James Madison at home, splitting QB reps between Randall Johnson and Kylan Weisser, to end the non-conference slate 1-2. To open the Big Sky slate up, Weber would face #12 UC Davis, with Weisser getting the nod at QB. Weber would have the lead throughout the game until the Aggies scored with 30 seconds remaining. On the next Wildcat drive, Weisser’s pass would be picked off to seal the UC Davis win. After decimating Cal Poly 38-7 in SLO, the Wildcats would return home for the homecoming game against #9 Montana State, including the return of Barron from injury. This game would be a snoozer, with both offenses not getting much done, and the Bobcats would get the 13-7 win. The next game, the Wildcats would head up to Cheney to face the #2 Eastern Washington Eagles on the Inferno. This game would be an absolute shootout, with the teams trading blows until the Wildcats took a 35-21 lead after a 13-yard run from Kris Jackson, followed by a 2PC pass thrown by TE Hayden Meacham. The Eagles would respond with a 30-yard touchdown pass, followed by forcing a fumble to get the ball back on Weber’s 39 yard line. They would drive down and score, but would miss the PAT to tie the game. Weber would kneel the ball to upset the Eagles and snap their 20 game home winning streak. After beating Idaho State 40-17 in Pocatello, the Wildcats would be beat by Portland State 18-30. Despite the tough loss, they would finish the season strong demolishing SUU 62-0 in Cedar City and then beating Northern Colorado 48-17 on Senior Night. This would be the first time since 2015 where the Wildcats would not make the playoffs and the first time since 2016 where they did not win the Big Sky. One bright spot this year was Rashid Shaheed, who broke the FCS record for Kick Returns in a career, and tied the Division 1 record. (I’ll talk about Rashid more in the Conclusion).
Bronson Barron led the team in passing again with 1,520 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Dontae McMillan led the team in rushing with 475 yards and 4 touchdowns (Kris Jackson had 6 touchdowns). Rashid Shaheed led the team in receiving with 700 yards and 4 touchdowns (Hayden Meacham also had 4 touchdowns). Jared Schiess led the team in sacks with 6. Preston Smith led the team in tackles with 61. Desmond Williams and Ja’Kobe Harris both led the team in interceptions with 2 each.
First Team All-American
Rashid Shaheed, RS
First Team All-Big Sky
Noah Atagi, OL
Rashid Shaheed, RS
Eddie Heckard, DB
Conner Mortensen, LB
Jared Schiess, DT
Second Team All-Big Sky
Rashid Shaheed, WR
Preston Smith, DB
George Tarlas, DE
Third Team All-Big Sky
Hayden Meacham, TE
Results
[#6] at #24 Utah (L 17-40)
[#10] at Dixie State (W 41-3)
[#9] vs #2 James Madison (L 24-37)
[#14] vs #12 UC Davis (L 14-17)*
[#19] at Cal Poly (W 38-7)*
[#19] vs #9 Montana State (L 7-13)*
at #2 Eastern Washington (W 35-34)*
[#23] at Idaho State (W 40-17)*
[#24] vs Portland State (L 18-30)*
at Southern Utah (W 62-0)*
vs Northern Colorado (W 48-17)*
2022, 10-3 (6-2, t3rd) [Pre: 20, High: 5, Playoff Seed: N/A, Final: 9]
After seven decades of history, we finally get to my freshman year of college (although I did online my freshman year and didn’t go to any events, whoops). Despite losing Rashid Shaheed, the team looked just as good this year, with Bronson Barron back to full health and major returners on both sides. This year started off with a 41-5 beatdown of DII Western Oregon, followed up with a trip to Logan to play the “Team Up North”. The Aggies were coming off a 2021 season in which they went 10-3 and finished the season ranked 24th in the AP Poll. After being decimated by #1 Alabama 0-55 (in Tuscaloosa no less), the Aggies were feeling confident playing an FCS team to get their confidence back up (and their “little brother” down south). Weber would strike first with a 32 yard field goal from Kyle Thompson, but the Aggies would take the following kickoff back to make it 3-7. But on the next play from scrimmage, Barron would find Ty MacPherson for a 62 yard gain, and on the next play, Josh Davis would find the endzone to make it a 10-7 game. On the Aggies’ next drive, redshirt-freshman CB Jalon Rock would intercept Logan Bonner’s pass and take it to the USU 8. Despite the excellent field position the Wildcats would only get 3 after a 20 yard field goal from Thompson. In the second half, Barron would find MacPherson again, this time for a 9 yard touchdown, followed by a fake PAT being run in from punter/holder Jack Burgess to make it 21-7. On the next USU drive, senior safety Desmond Williams would get a pick six, making it 28-7. Later, in the fourth quarter, Barron would find MacPherson once again for an 18 yard touchdown to finish the game off 35-7. The Wildcats would go on to beat Utah Tech, UC Davis, #24 Eastern Washington and Portland State climbing up to #5 in the polls before heading up to Bozeman to take on the #3 Montana State Bobcats. The game would start off with a Kyle Thompson field goal to make it 3-0. After stopping the Bobcats, the Wildcats would get the ball back but would go three-and-out and would have to punt it, however the snap would sail over Jack Burgess’ head and into the back of the endzone for a safety. The Bobcats would get the ball back and would capitalize with a 42 yard run from QB Tommy Mellott. However, on the following kickoff, sophomore CB Abraham Williams would take the kickoff 100 yards to make it 10-9. The Bobcats would drive to the WSU 47 but would be stopped and forced to punt, then sophomore WR Hudson Schenck would take the punt 91 yards to make it 17-9 at the end of the first quarter. After another punt from MSU, Weber would drive down the field and finish with a five-yard rush TD from sophomore RB Damon Bankston. The Bobcats would then have their field goal attempt blocked to keep it 24-9. After going three-and-out, Weber would punt the ball but the snap would again be over Burgess’ head for another safety, making the game 24-11. Mellott would get another rushing TD to make it 24-18 and on the next Weber drive, another three-and-out occurred, and ANOTHER safety on the punt occurred. MSU would get stopped but Schenck would muff the punt, giving the Bobcats the ball at the WSU 15, Mellott would find Derryk Snell for a 25 yard TD pass to make it 24-27 at half. In their first drive of the half, Weber would have to punt again, and guess what happened? Yep, you guessed correctly… ANOTHER SAFETY. The game was now 24-29 in favor of the Bobcats. After another rushing TD from Mellott which made it 24-36, Weber would have to punt again, and guess what happened this time? You were wrong, because there was actually a punt this time. MSU would drive down the field and score again making it 24-43. Barron would find MacPherson plus a successful two point conversion run from McMillan to make it 32-43 at the end of the third. The Wildcats would drive down the field and score off a Barron TD run to make it 38-43 and after forcing a punt from MSU, Weber drove down to the MSU 22-yard line. After Barron got sacked on third down, his pass to MacPherson went incomplete and MSU pulled out the win. Weber long snapper Grant Sands (sorry Grant if you’re reading this) would go down in college football history, breaking the Division I record for most safeties in a game. Very bittersweet, on the one hand you have a Division I record, on the other hand, it's not a very good record. This game is interesting because without those safeties, it’s 38-38, and bringing in momentum into the equation, it makes the loss sting even more. However, the ‘Cats would recover and beat the other Montana team, #11 Montana 24-21. The following week, Weber would have to face #2 Sacramento State. This game was a shootout, including ANOTHER SAFETY, and then another 100 yard kickoff return from Abraham Williams. However, the Wildcats would fall 30-33 to the Hornets. But fun fact, this Sac State team featured current Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo, who just finished 5th in the 2024 Heisman Trophy voting. The ‘Cats would finish the season off beating both rivals, beating Idaho State 45-7 on Senior Day and NAU in flagstaff. Weber would not be seeded in the playoffs this year, and would have to face former Big Sky opponent North Dakota in the first round, and would win a hard fought 38-31 battle to move on. The next round, the Wildcats would have to face #3 seed Montana State in a rematch in Bozeman. Tommy Mellott would be out for the Bobcats, being filled in by Sean Chambers. The Bobcats would take a 10-19 lead in the third, followed by Barron being injured. Kylan Weisser would come in and would throw two touchdowns, but it was too little, too late and the comeback was not enough, with the Bobcats winning to move on to the semifinals. Despite the setbacks, this was a great team, with great players such as Bronson Barron, Josh Davis, Dontae McMillan and Eddie Heckard all coming back the next year, led by Coach Hill, the ‘Cats were looking like their old self again. Hopefully no major change occurs.
Bronson Barron led the team in passing again with 2,529 yards, 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Dontae McMillan led the team in rushing with 801 yards and 6 touchdowns (Damon Bankston had 8 touchdowns). Ty MacPherson led the team in receiving with 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jack Kelly led the team in sacks with 6. Winston Reid led the team in tackles with 113. Maxwell Anderson led the team in interceptions with 5.
(Note, this season, Abraham Williams led all of college football (all levels) in kick return touchdowns. He also broke the WSU and Big Sky records for kick returns in a season (breaking Rashid’s record) with 4.
First Team All-American
Maxwell Anderson, CB
Eddie Heckard, CB
Abraham Williams, KR
Third Team All-American
Noah Atagi, OL
Winston Reid, LB
First Team All-Big Sky
Noah Atagi, OL
Abraham Williams, KR
Maxwell Anderson, CB
Eddie Heckard, CB
Winston Reid, LB
Second Team All-Big Sky
Haze Hadley, PR
Jordan Lutui, OL
Ty MacPherson, WR
Kalisi Moli, DL
Desmond Williams, S
Third Team All-Big Sky
Ethan Atagi, OL
Dontae McMillan, RB
Results
[#20] vs Western Oregon (W 41-5)
[#16] at Utah State (W 35-7)
[#12] vs Utah Tech (W 44-14)
[#12] at UC Davis (W 17-12)*
[#7] vs #24 Eastern Washington (W 45-21)*
[#6] at Portland State (W 42-7)*
[#5] at #3 Montana State (L 38-43)*
[#7] vs #11 Montana (W 24-21)*
[#7] vs. #2 Sacramento State (L 30-33)*
[#9] vs Idaho State (W 45-7)*
[#9] at Northern Arizona (W 33-31)*
[US] vs [US] North Dakota (W 38-31)#
[US] at #3 Montana State (L 25-33)#
Mickey Mental (2023-Present)
Just four days after the loss to Montana State in the playoffs, it was announced that Jay Hill would be hired as the new defensive coordinator for BYU. While expected, and well-deserved, it hurt knowing that the legendary coach would not be there anymore. Now the search was on for his replacement. There were a few major options that came out including outside names such as Utah linebackers coach Colton Swan, Navy assistant Joe DuPaix and Eric Price, the son of our old friend Mike Price. Along with internal guys such longtime offensive line coach Brent Meyers, and offensive coordinator Mickey Mental, just coming off his first year as OC. The Wildcats would go with Mental, who led a Weber offense which was a top 25 unit in the nation, something that would have helped some of the Big Sky champion teams. Mental was previously the head coach at Notre Dame College, a DII school in Ohio, where he led the Falcons to a 16-2 record in his two seasons there before being hired as Weber’s OC2.
The team had a lot of talent returning, so let’s see what happened to those names I mentioned earlier…
Bronson Barron: transferred to Western Kentucky
Josh Davis: retired from football
Dontae McMillan: transferred to Eastern Michigan
Eddie Heckard: followed Coach Hill to BYU
So much for that. But the team is still plenty talented, let’s see how they do.
2023, 6-5 (4-4, t6th) [Pre: 13, High: 9, Final: N/A]
There were two major questions coming into this year. 1.) who will be the starting QB this year and 2.) How will the team do without Coach Hill? To answer the first question, the team had a QB competition in the spring. The major candidates were: senior Kylan Weisser, who had late game heroics against Montana State and had the most experience out of any other QBs; juniors Creyton Cooper, someone who had shown flashes during his playing time and Brian Harper; and finally two freshmen, Richie Muñoz from California and Tiger Adolpho from Idaho. By the beginning of the season, the answer was Weisser. Now let’s answer the second question, how did the season go? (Note: I will admit something right here, this is the first season where I ever went to an in-person game, so now it’ll have a little more personal input since I was there, just a warning). In the first game of the season, the Wildcats would face DII school Central Washington. Despite winning, only scoring 35 on a DII team did not seem like a good sign (In this game, Abraham Williams would get his fifth 100 yard kick return touchdown, the most 100 yard returns in FCS history3). The following week, Weber would head up to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on the #20 ranked Northern Iowa Panthers. This game was a battle throughout with it being 17-17 at halftime. In the third Weisser would find TE Hayden Meacham for a 9 yard TD pass to make it 24-17. Later, in the fourth, Thompson would hit a 43 yard field goal to make it a two score game. Then, on the Panthers’ next drive, QB Theo Day’s pass would be intercepted by senior safety Naseme Colvin. A few plays later, Damon Bankston would take the ball 58 yards for a TD to seal the game. To add insult to injury, Day would get picked off again, this time by senior CB Maxwell Anderson. After losing to #12 Utah, Weber would finally get revenge against #3 Montana State in a top 10 matchup (Weber was ranked #10). Everyone expected a battle, what they got was a bloodbath. MSU dominated the Wildcats, led by QB Sean Chambers throwing for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 8 completions and running for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns more, along with RB Julius Davis running for 133 yards. This game was a blowout in every sense of the word, despite this, the Wildcats only dropped three spots in the poll to #13. The next week, the Wildcats would face Big Sky bottom feeder Northern Colorado. This game was far too close for comfort, with the Bears leading 7-21 at the start of the fourth. With 10 minutes left, Weber would finally score off of a one-yard run from Weisser. The ‘Cats would force the Bears to punt but Weisser would get picked off with four minutes remaining. Just as it looked as though the Bears would seal it, Abraham Williams would pick off a pass to give the ‘Cats the ball back with three-and-a-half minutes left. Senior RB Kris Jackson would run the ball four times, culminating in a five-yard rush TD to tie the game with two-and-a-half minutes left. With less than two minutes remaining UNC’s QB Jacob Sirmon would be intercepted by senior LB Winston Reid, who would take it 40 yards for a pick six. Junior LB Garrett Beck would then seal the game with a pick on the following drive, with the Wildcats surviving the upset attempt. The following week, the Wildcats would get beat by Northern Arizona 10-27, and the following week would play UC Davis for the Homecoming game. This game saw four different QBs play for the Wildcats with Weisser, Cooper, Harper and finally Muñoz getting the nod. Muñoz would finish the game off, and the Wildcats were down 16-17 with less than four minutes remaining. Weber drove to the UCD 45 yard line, looking like they were about to go into FG range, but on 3rd and inches, Muñoz would fumble the ball for a two yard loss. On the next play, his pass would fall incomplete, giving the Aggies the ball to seal it. The losing streak would continue when the Wildcats fell to Eastern Washington on the Inferno. However, the next week the ‘Cats would get on the right track again, beating up on little brother Idaho State, a game in which the ISU QBs (two of them) were sacked for a total of seven times. The next week would see #4 Idaho come to Ogden. The Wildcats seemed to finally figure it out this week, leading the Vandals 14-13 at the half. Muñoz would find junior WR Jacob Sharp in the endzone to make it 21-13 in the third, but Idaho would respond with a TD + 2PC to tie the game at 21. Redshirt-Freshman RB Adrian Cormier would find the endzone to make it 28-21. Later, after a Thompson FG to make it 31-21 the Vandals would score the TD and the 2PC to make it a 31-29 game. The Vandals would recover the onside kick but there wasn’t enough time, giving the Wildcats the upset win. For the final game of the season, the Wildcats traveled to SLO to take on Cal Poly, and what a game to finish the season. Muñoz would have 329 passing yards, 5 passing touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown. 3 of those passing touchdowns would go to Jacob Sharp, who finished with 91 yards. The Defense showed up as well, with sophomore DE Brayden Wilson and Sophomore LB Jack Kelly combining for 5 sacks (Kelly also had a forced fumble and an interception), along with Jalon Rock getting an interception. With this win, the Wildcats would have their 9th straight winning season, finishing 6-5. So to answer question #2, how did the Wildcats do? Average.
Richie Muñoz led the team in passing with 1,054 yards, 10 touchdowns and 1 interception. Kris Jackson led the team in rushing with 495 yards and 7 touchdowns. Treyshun Hurry led the team in receiving with 394 yards and 1 touchdown (Jacob Sharp had 5 touchdowns). Jack Kelly led the team in sacks with 7.5. Winston Reid led the team in tackles again with 116. Maxwell Anderson led the team in interceptions with 2.
First Team All-American
Noah Atagi, OL
Winston Reid, LB
Second Team All-American
Maxwell Anderson, CB
Jack Burgess, P
Third Team All-American
Abraham Williams, KR
First Team All-Big Sky
Noah Atagi, OL (Joining Scott Shields, Trevyn Smith, and Rashid Shaheed as the only Wildcats to be selected to All-Big Sky First Team four times)
Abraham Williams, KR
Maxwell Anderson, CB
Jack Kelly, LB
Winston Reid, LB
Second Team All-Big Sky
Jordan Lutui, OL
Hayden Meacham, TE
Brayden Wilson, DL
Results
[#13] vs Central Washington (W 35-10)
[#12] at #20 Northern Iowa (W 34-17)
[#9] at #12 Utah (L 7-31)
[#10] vs #3 Montana State (L 0-40)*
[#13] at Northern Colorado (W 28-21)*
[#13] vs Northern Arizona (L 10-27)*
[#22] vs UC Davis (L 16-17)*
at Eastern Washington (L 23-31)*
at Idaho State (W 33-21)*
vs #4 Idaho (W 31-29)*
at Cal Poly (W 48-21)*
2023-24 Offseason
During the offseason, the Wildcats lost a ton of key contributors. Here’s a list of them.
Graduates:
Noah Atagi, OL (2x All-American, 4x All-Big Sky)
Winston Reid, LB (2x All-American, 2x All-Big Sky) [Leading Tackler]
Maxwell Anderson, CB (2x All-American, 2x All-Big Sky) [Leader in INTs]
Ethan Atagi, OL (All-Big Sky)
Jordan Lutui, OL (2x All-Big Sky)
Haze Hadley, WR (1x All-Big Sky [PR])
Hayden Meacham, TE (2x All-Big Sky)
Naseme Colvin, S
LJ Anderson, S
Kris Jackson, RB [Leading Rusher]
Transfers:
Jack Kelly, LB (All-Big Sky) [Sack Leader]→ BYU
Marque Collins, CB → BYU
Abraham Williams, CB (2x All-American [KR], 2x All-Big Sky [KR]) → Idaho
Jack Burgess, P (All-American) → Texas Tech
Treyshun Hurry, WR [Leading Receiver] → San Jose State
Lots of big names.
2024, 4-8 (3-5, t6th) [Pre: 22, High: 20, Final: N/A]
*Note: Since this paragraph is so long, and since I want to keep the same format, I will bold each game to separate them.
Entering into this season, a lot of big names would leave (see above), but there were some returning faces. Richie Muñoz would be back for his sophomore campaign, along with a healthy Damon Bankston and Jacob Sharp in his final year. The offense looked solid but there were some concerns on defense, primarily with the linebacking core, after being stripped from the losses of Winston Reid and Jack Kelly. Washington: The season started off against the 2023 FBS runner-ups in the Washington Huskies. This game didn’t have much going for it as expected, with Washington winning pretty easily 3-35. One thing that did stick out however, was that Damon Bankston had 105 yards, against a Washington defense that wasn’t very gutted like their offense was after the departure of their head coach Kalen DeBoer. This game showed that Bankston could compete against high profile teams, keep that in mind for later. Portland State: The next game saw the Portland State Vikings come to Ogden for a Big Sky opener two weeks ahead of the rest of the conference. This game was close for the first three quarters, with Weber winning 19-10 at the beginning of the fourth, but then the floodgates opened. Weber would go on to score 24 points in the final 15 minutes of the game, including a massive 75 yard run from Bankston. This game also saw the first appearance of Davion Godley, a true freshman running back who had 0 stars coming out of high school in Texas. He had his first NCAA TD this game with a tough 14 yard run at the very end of the game, we’ll be seeing a lot more of him. Lamar: The next game would see the Wildcats travel down to Beaumont, Texas to face the Lamar Cardinals of the Southland League. This game was a tough one to watch, and I don’t just mean the terrible broadcast, this was tough football to watch. To finish the third quarter, Lamar would drive 80 yards down the field, but the Wildcat defense would hold, getting the ball back with 11 minutes remaining. However, the Wildcats had to start from their own three-yard-line, fortunately, they would drive all the way down to the Lamar five-yard line. On first down, Bankston would get three yards to get to the two. On second down, he’d get stopped for nothing, then on third down he’d get one more yard to get to the one yard line. After the two minute warning, Coach Mental decided to go for it rather than kick a chip shot FG to take a 19-17 lead, on fourth down Bankston would be stopped short, giving the Cardinals the ball back. However, the Wildcat defense would force a three and out, getting the ball back with 44 seconds left. Muñoz would drive the Wildcats down to the Lamar 23-yard line setting Kyle Thompson up with a 40-yard FG try to win it. The kick would sail far left, giving the Cardinals the win (if you read my History of Weber State Basketball pt.3, you’d know how Lamar is really good at breaking Weber’s heart). Northwestern State: After decimating Northwestern State, another SLC team, the Wildcats would head home to take on their third straight SLC team in McNeese. McNeese This game was a battle, with it being a 20-21 game in favor of the Cowboys at the start of the fourth (Weber attempted a fake PAT at the end of the half, but failed, if not for that it would have been tied). With 10 minutes left in the game, McNeese would score, getting a 26-28 lead, but Weber would storm back with a 49 yard bomb from Muñoz to Sharp to bring it down to the McNeese six-yard line. Bankston would then finish it off with a one-yard TD run to make it 26-28. On the two-point conversion attempt, it would be a jet sweep to Sharp with a pass to Muñoz, but Sharp decided to tuck it and run, not liking the pass, he would get stopped short. After back and forth punts, Weber would get the ball back with four minutes remaining. The wildcats would get down to the McNeese 38 before a holding call pushed them back ten yards. On third down, Muñoz would find Jayleen Record wide open on the seam, but the ball would slip through his hands. On fourth down, Muñoz’s throw would go incomplete to freshman WR Noah Kjar (who fun fact is the all-time leader in receptions in Utah High School history) but the hit against him would be called a targeting, that would have put the Wildcats in field goal range with just a minute left, however, the call was reversed after review and McNeese would get the ball back and would kneel it to win it. Montana: Things were not looking good for the Wildcats the next week, as they would have to head up to Missoula to face the FCS runner-ups #8 Montana (funny how we played both the FBS and FCS runner-ups this season), but boy were we in for a show. Montana would score first with a 37 yard run from their star running back Eli Gillman, but Weber would respond with a TD from Muñoz to Record to tie it up. After a Montana punt, Davion Godley would take it 61 yards to the Montana 17. After two eight yard rushes from Godley and Bankston respectively (followed by a false start from Bankston), Muñoz found TE Noah Bennee for a six yard TD. Montana would get stopped on downs, and Weber would punt the ball to end the first quarter 14-7. On the first drive of the second quarter, Montana would drive down and get a field goal to make it 14-10, but on the following kickoff, Kjar would take it 95 yards for a touchdown making it 21-10. After a Montana punt, Muñoz would find Sharp in stride for a 50 yard TD pass. Montana would bounce back getting a TD run from QB Logan Fife to make it 28-17. The follwoing drive, Muñoz would fumble twice, one he recovered, the other he did not, giving Montana the ball back with two minutes remaining in the half. However, the Wildcat defense would hold, finishing the half with a 28-17 lead. On the first drive of the second half, Weber would drive down to the UM 25, but would turn the ball over on downs. Montana would then follow up with a 68 yard pass from Fife to Gillman to make it 28-23. After another Weber punt, Montana RB Nick Ostmo would get pushed through the pile by his line, but Weber safety Trevian Tribble, would strip the ball while the pile was still moving and it would be recovered by DL Bronny Childs. Weber would respond with a field goal making it 31-23 at the end of the third. Montana would score making it 31-30 at the very start of the fourth, followed by a WSU punt, Montana would then hit a 48 yard field goal to take their first lead since the start of the first. But on the Wildcats’ next drive, Muñoz would find Jayleen Record, who made the catch while getting his jersey tugged to take the 38-33 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Montana would score again, giving them a three point lead with eight minutes left, but Muñoz would find Sharp again, this time on a slant (Montana would not change from man coverage) for 71 yards to take the four point lead. Montana would drive down, scoring a TD with 4.5 minutes left with a 45-48 lead. Weber would drive down to the UM 26, where Kyle Thompson would hit a 43 yard field goal as time expired to send it into overtime. In overtime, Muñoz would find Bankston for a seven yard TD pass (Bankston would be pushed out of bounds but would re establish himself before he caught the ball). On Montana’s first play of overtime, Fife would go back to pass but would be strip sacked by senior linebacker Garrett Beck, the ball would be recovered by Beck, giving the Wildcats the upset victory and its second win in Missoula since 1987. This game saw a legendary game from Richie Muñoz, who threw for 364 yards and 6 touchdowns, with him being named one of Kirk Herbsreit’s top performances of the week. Along with two great WR performances from Jacob Sharp (152 yards, 2 TDs) and Jayleen Record (105 yards, 2 TDs). The Wildcats were flying high after this game, if this team could beat Montana, looking at the rest of the conference schedule, there was a real opportunity to win a Big Sky title. However, all that came crashing down the following week against Northern Colorado. Northern Colorado: In a game where the Wildcats were 28.5 point favorites, and in which the Bears had not won a game in 700 days, it happened. After three fumbles from Muñoz (two of which on the goal line), an interception and a fumbled snap from center Terrance Caldwell, the Bears won their first game since 2022. Any hope of the playoffs were seemingly dashed after this game. Sacramento State: The following week, Weber would travel to Sacramento to take on Sac State in a battle of two teams who failed to live up to expectations. By the fourth quarter, the Hornets would have a 41-24 lead and would be driving down the field to score again, and would attempt a double pass with the final throw coming from their RB Elijah Tau-Tolliver, he would throw an errant pass that was intercepted by freshman CB Frankie Edwards, Edwards would take it 95 yards for a pick six, completely changing the momentum. The Wildcats would force a punt and then score three plays later after a deep shot from Muñoz to Sharp to make it 38-41. Weber would force another three-and-out and drive down the field before getting stopped on fourth and one from the Sac 22. After another three-and-out, Weber would drive all the way down to the Sac one-yard-line but would get stopped on three straight plays, forcing Thompson to kick a 21 yarder to send the game into OT. The teams would trade TDs in the first OT, but in the second OT, Weber would force a FG from Sac. After getting stopped on the Sac 10 on third down, Weber would elect to kick a field goal to send the game into 3OT, but Thompson’s kick would go wide and cause another heartbreaking Wildcat loss. But this game saw monster games from Damon Bankston, who ran for 234 yards (a career high) and a TD; and Jacob Sharp who had 119 yards and 3 touchdowns. Northern Arizona: After the bye week, the Wildcats would head down to Flagstaff to take on NAU, and the game started worse than anyone could have imagined. On the first play of the game, NAU’s QB Ty Pennington would pull the ball and take it 75 yards for the TD. On Weber’s first play from Scrimmage, NAU would get an interception and would score on the next play with a TD pass from Pennington to DL Tausagafou Ho Ching. Weber would get the ball back, have a false start from Bankston and then another INT. NAU would score on that next drive. With nine minutes left in the first quarter, it was 0-21. The rest of the game was a defensive slugfest with both teams trading punts for most of the game, save for two Kyle Thompson field goals in the second and third quarters. Finally, NAU would score again in the fourth and would take the win 27-6. Idaho State: The following week against Idaho State, saw the return of the Old Train Bell Trophy, the rivalry trophy that hadn’t been played for since the 1970s. The game would be a shootout, but the Wildcat defense failed to stop the high powered Bengal offense, with the Bengals winning 35-43, their first win in Ogden since 1984. Idaho: The following week, Weber would head up to Moscow, Idaho to face the #8 Idaho Vandals. While it was a hard fought effort from the ‘Cats, leading 14-10 at the half, the duo of Jack Layne and Mark Hamper were too much for the Wildcats to handle and the Vandals would get their revenge from last season. Cal Poly: The following week, the Wildcats played their final game of the season, facing the Cal Poly Mustanges. This game saw Damon Bankston out with a shoulder injury, and was led by a great game from Adrian Cormier, who ran for 138 yards. After a tough first half, the Wildcat offense would turn it on and score twice in the fourth quarter to finish the season off with a 28-17 win. This was a weird year. On the one hand we saw some great play from players such as Damon Bankston, Jacob Sharp and Fresno State transfer DE Kemari Munier-Bailey; the record didn’t show how good this team was. There was a ton of talent here, but just little mistakes cost them wins.
Richie Muñoz led the team in passing again with 2,568 yards, 24 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Damon Bankston led the team in rushing with 1,104 yards and 6 touchdowns (Bankston would finish his career 6th in rushing yards and 11th in rushing touchdowns) . Jacob Sharp led the team in receiving with 850 yards and 10 touchdowns. Kemari Munier-Bailey led the team in sacks with 9 (Tied for 9th in a season). Brayden Wilson led the team in tackles with 57. Angel King, Montae Pate, Ishaan Daniels, and Frankie Edwards all led the team in interceptions with 1 each.
All-American Honorable Mention
Kyle Thompson, K
Second Team All-Big Sky
Damon Bankston, RB
Jacob Sharp, WR
Gavin Ortega, OL
Kemari Munier-Bailey, DL
Honorable Mention All-Big Sky
Brayden Wilson, DL
Garrett Beck, LB
Results
[#22] at Washington (L 3-35)
[#24] vs Portland State (W 43-16)*
[#20] at Lamar (L 16-17)
at Northwestern State (W 39-0)
[#25] vs McNeese (L 26-28)
at [#8] Montana (W 55-48 [OT])*
[#20] vs Northern Colorado (L 17-21)*
at Sacramento State (L 48-51 [2OT])*
at Northern Arizona (L 6-27)*
vs Idaho State (L 35-43)*
at [#8] Idaho (L 24-31)*
vs Cal Poly (W 28-17)*
Conclusion
Wow, that was a lot. Kind of makes me wish that I had written more in the other editions. But here’s the thing:
There was a lot more info these past two editions because of old ESPN box scores, social media, and YouTube videos.
I was actually present for most of this (half) decade. So I was able to tell it from my eyes.
For this conclusion, I wanted to talk about probably the best player to come out of this decade Rashid Shaheed.
Shaheed would finish his career with numerous records, here’s a list:
FCS All-Time leader in kick return touchdowns (7) [Tied for most in Division I history]
Only player in school history to receive 4 All-American honors
One of only four Wildcats to receive 4 First Team All-Big Sky honors (Scott Shields, Trevyn Smith, Noah Atagi)
He’s 8th all-time in career receiving yards (2,164), 11th in receptions (146)
3rd all-time in career kick return yards (2,560)
3rd all-time in all-purpose yards (5,480)
Shaheed went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft, but was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints. After training camp, he was cut by the Saints but resigned onto their practice squad; but a month later he was promoted to the active roster. He made his NFL debut on October 16, 2022, in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. On his first career touch, he had a 44-yard rushing touchdown. The next game against the Arizona Cardinals, on his second career touch, he caught a 53-yard touchdown pass. The following year, Shaheed would go on a tear, leading the NFL in punt return touchdowns and being selected to the Pro Bowl and making the All-Pro First Team as a punt returner, he is the first and only Wildcat to receive those honors (Taron Johnson received second-team All-Pro in 2023). In the 2024 season, Rashid started out the year great, becoming Derek Carr’s favorite receiver, having 350 yards and 3 touchdowns receiving through 6 games. He also took back a punt return for a TD. But in week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Shaheed would tear his meniscus and would be out for the rest of the season. With his rookie contract expiring, he is due for a big pay day in the offseason. Shaheed’s NFL career stats are as follows:
1,556 receiving yards, 10 TDs
123 rushing yards, 5 TDs
675 punt return yards, 2 TDs
875 kick return yards, 0 TDs
1x Pro Bowler (2023 [PR])
1x First Team All-Pro (2023 [PR])
Thank you so much for reading this behemoth of an edition. I hope to publish the supercut of all of these by next week. The supercut will be updated with a little bit of format changes to make life easier for you all).
Sources:
Seasons schedules and records (2020-2023): Weber State Football Almanac
2024 season schedules and records: ESPN, Weber State Athletics
Stats: Weber State Football Almanac, Weber State Football Stats
Big Sky Records: Big Sky Record Book
Rashid Shaheed career: Wikipedia
Rashid Shaheed NFL stats: Pro Football Reference
“Big Sky Postpones Football Conference Competition Until Spring” Big Sky Conference—August 7, 2020. https://bigskyconf.com/news/2020/8/7/big-sky-postpones-football-conference-competition-until-spring.aspx
“Weber State names Mickey Mental as next head football coach” Brett Hein, Standard Examiner—December 20, 2022. https://www.standard.net/sports/weber-state/2022/dec/20/weber-state-set-to-announce-mickey-mental-as-next-head-football-coach/
https://weberstatesports.com/sports/football/roster/abraham-williams/6469