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OGDEN — All across the country, college football players can now breathe a collective sigh of relief as training camps have officially ended.
Weber State's football camp ended Saturday at Stewart Stadium, with an open practice for the fans to take part in. Throughout the public comment portion, coaches spoke with a tone of positivity, noting how fellow Big Sky member Eastern Washington upset ranked Pac-12 Oregon State last season.
The Wildcats are trying to duplicate that feat Thursday, as Weber takes on Arizona State in Sun Devil Stadium. In his comments to the team, Weber State coach Jay Hill said the team’s training camp has helped prepare the team for the moment that is upon them.
“I think (fall camp) progressed very good,” he said. “Each day, I saw us get a little bit better; there’s still a lot to clean up, but again, that’s no different than every other college team in the country right now. You’re going into your first game, there’s still some question marks, and we still have them.”
After practice, Weber State coach Jay Hill named Billy Green as the starting quarterback for the Arizona State game.
Of all the questions that existed as the team entered camp, one of the biggest was over who would become the starting quarterback for the team. Hill said that BYU transfer Billy Green will be the Wildcats’ starter at Arizona State, but also said to expect the position battles to continue.
“Billy Green is the starter right now, and he will be our starter going into Arizona State,” he said. “I still like the battle that’s going on behind him, and I’m not apt to say that some of those guys won’t play this year. We need those guys for sure.”
Green, who played sparingly for the Cougars last season, said preparation will make the difference against ASU.
“(Arizona State) is a great team; they have great athletes, and they’re a big-time Division I program,” he said. “We’re going to have to be more prepared than them, watch more film than them, (and) know what they’re going to do before they do it. Just overall, be better prepared.”
As far as the talent difference between the two squads, Green said it was negligible.
“People talk like there’s a huge difference between (FCS) and (FBS),” he said. “But there’s a lot of great talent at this level; there’s a lot of guys on the team that could be starting at a major (FBS) program. So it doesn’t surprise me that a lot of these teams have beaten these big programs.”
Hill spoke positive things to the team, but several of the team captains have also preached a message of the Wildcats being able to compete against the heavily favored Sun Devils. Co-captain Connor Myers said he told the defense to focus on them and not on the hype.
“I just talked about preparing,” he said. “We’ve got to out-prepare and out-tough them. Some of those guys might be more talented, but I think we’re just as talented. Right now, it’s a lot of film study and a lot of technique work.”
Even though fall camp was positive, Hill said next week’s practices could make the difference in the final preparations.
“We’ve got to have guys continue to step up in Monday’s practice, Tuesday’s practice,” he said. “We’ve got a couple things to clean up as far as the schemes we have for Arizona State, but I’m excited about this game; the players are excited about this game. We’re getting better every day, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
