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OGDEN — Nothing eats at a college football coach quite like a losing streak.
Searching for a victory can be a lonely pursuit and a tiring one, at that. Weber State coach Jay Hill watched his Wildcats make play after play in game after game, but a 0-5 record followed the team into its bye week.
Still, in his weekly conference call, Hill said the team’s focus is on using the bye week to move forward.
“We’ve got a lot we’ve got to get better at,” he said. “We’re turning the ball over way too much. That’s attributed to the teams we’ve played; Southern Utah did a great job of getting the ball out. But that’s something we’ve got to solidify if we’re going to win games this year.”
Defense has been a concern for Weber in the first half of the season, as the Wildcats are giving opponents 35.4 points per game. Hill said the defensive struggles have varied.
"We're 0-5 right now because we're minus-ten in the turnover margin in the last three games," Weber State coach Jay Hill said. "That's the biggest stat in football, and that's the one I look at."
“We’ve had two games this year where we just didn’t tackle very well, the Stephen F. Austin game being the biggest,” he said. “Now, our deficiency is the lack of turnovers that we’re creating. We’ve only created two turnovers in the year, and that’s just not nearly enough. We’ve got to be much better at getting interceptions, forcing fumbles. A lot of that comes with confidence and comes with pursuing the football the way we need to.
“We’re 0-5 right now because we’re minus-10 in the turnover margin in the last three games. That’s the biggest stat in football, and that’s the one I look at.”
Health has been an issue for the Wildcats, as defensive back Tyron Morris-Edwards underwent surgery Tuesday. Also, Weber has struggled to maintain health on the offensive line throughout the season.
“We’ve got to get healthy,” Hill said. “That was a very physical game against Southern Utah last week. We went in already banged up. There was one point in the game where we were playing with our sixth and seventh cornerbacks.”
