Wildcats say Weber needs more toughness after loss


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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — From among the things Weber State football wanted to achieve in the third game of the season Saturday, it couldn't accomplish its most important goal — a win.

The Wildcats fell to Sacramento State, 42-31, in a game that will not count in the conference standings. The teams have an agreement to play in years when they do not have a Big Sky scheduled game. Those meetings are considered non-conference games.

The defeat showcased the development of the Weber offense, as Billy Green passed for 377 yards. However, it also spotlighted some areas for growth, as the Wildcats lost three fumbles during the game.

In analyzing the game, Weber State coach Jay Hill said the Hornets' execution was the biggest reason the Wildcats struggled.

“You’ve got to give all of the credit to (Sacramento State),” he said. “They did exactly what we knew they were going to do on film, and they just out-executed us early in the game. We’re still making a lot of mistakes that are just very costly, at the wrong times.


"Right now, what I see is when something bad happens to this team, it's almost expected," Weber State coach Jay Hill said.

Two of the Wildcats’ turnovers happened in the first quarter in which Weber spotted Sacramento State a 20-0 lead. Hill said warm temperatures affected the Wildcats.

“You can’t start 20-0, and you can’t let the heat affect you,” he said. “That’s two games-in-a-row where that’s happened, I don’t think we’ve handled the heat well. We’re going to Texas next week, and it’s going to be hot there. We’ve got to handle it better.”

Wide receiver Cam Livingston, who caught ten passes for 175 yards, acknowledged the early struggles, but noted how much the Wildcats improved as the game went along.

“It took us about a quarter or two to get into it,” he said. “After that first quarter, we started picking things up. (But), we’ve got to start from the get go.”

Livingston also said this loss is the most disappointing of the three, so far.

“We lost the first two, and this one, we felt like we were more prepared,” he said. “Coming out and playing somebody from our conference, it was definitely a tough loss.”

While the turnovers were problematic, Hill said the team has other issues to fix, like its propensity for personal fouls. The Wildcats had three personal fouls against North Dakota State, and picked up another against the Hornets.

“We’re still doing the same things that killed this team last year,” said Hill, referring to the personal fouls and turnovers. “I’ve not fixed them yet; that starts with me. I’ve got to get this stuff fixed; I’ve got to get them out of these bad habits.”

Hill said mental toughness will help the Wildcats crawl out of their doldrums.

“Right now, what I see is when something bad happens to this team, it’s almost expected,” he said. “We’ve got to change that mindset, because for us to be as successful as I believe that we can be, those things have to change.”

Livingston said the Weber players will continue to focus on improvement.

“I know that we won’t quit,” he said. “We can’t make plays (like that) on offense, and we can’t make plays (like that) on defense. So, we’ve just got to eliminate the mistakes.”

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Jon Oglesby

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