Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — Linebacker Anthony Morales said WSU has suffered from not playing a full four quarters for much of the season.
“Like I said, it’s the story of the season is inconsistency and not playing four quarters,” Morales said.
In the first half of Weber's 44-24 loss to second- ranked Montana State Saturday, the Wildcats forced four turnovers in the first half, but struggled with ball control after the break.
Assistant coach Matt Hammer said the Wildcats were hurt by ball control and mental errors in the second half of the game.
“We did a better job protecting the football in the first half,” he said. “We got an interception early, but the second half, they took care of the football, and we didn’t, and that’s how the tide turned in the second half.”
MSU was looking good on its first possession of the game and easily moved the ball to midfield. The Wildcat defense came up big with a Devin Pugh interception to give the Wildcats the ball for the first time.
Josh Booker sparked the offense on the Wildcats’ first drive of the game, but they missed a field goal.
(In) the second half, they took care of the football, and we didn't, and that's how the tide turned in the second half.
–WSU assistant coach Matt Hammer
On MSU’s first play of its second drive, quarterback DeNairus McGhee threw his second interception of the game giving WSU a good field position inside the Bobcat red zone. This time, the Wildcats were able to capitalize as C.J. Tucket scored on a five-yard run to give the Wildcats the 7-0 lead.
The Wildcat lead was short lived, however, as MSU converted a field goal, then intercepted a Mike Hoke pass and put together a three-play drive to take a 10-7 lead near the end of the first quarter when McGhee completed a 26-yard pass to Kruiz Siewing.
When it looked as if the Bobcats were taking control of the game, the Wildcats answered in an electrifying way. After putting together a good drive into the MSU territory, Booker broke a 39-yard run down the right side of the field to give WSU a 14-10 lead.
At the start of the second quarter, WSU recovered a MSU fumble and looked to put more pressure on the Bobcats. The Wildcats once again took advantage of the good field position when Booker broke through the goal line for his second touchdown of the game, giving WSU a 21-10 lead.
Near the end of the second quarter, MSU scored its second touchdown of the half on a one-yard run from running back Tray Robinson.
WSU got the ball back with less than two minutes in the half and once again moved quickly down the field. Hoke completed a pass to Shaydon Kehano to get the Wildcats into the red zone.
With 38 seconds in the half, Shaun McClain hit a field goal to give WSU a 24-17 lead. The Bobcats quickly drove down the field and hit a field goal to cut the lead to 24- 20 at the half.
The Bobcats took the lead again halfway through the third quarter. McGhee completed a long pass to Elvis Akpla, taking the ball down to the five-yard line, and on the next play, McGhee threw a touchdown pass to Steven Foster to give MSU a three-point lead.
MSU struck again on its next possession with a 26-yard field goal to extend its lead to 30-24 at the end of the third quarter.
With the Wildcats pinned deep in their half of the field on third and 13, Hoke completed a pass to Kehano in the middle of the field to spark a WSU drive. On the drive, he completed drive-extending passes to Chase Nakamura and scrambled for another first down. Despite being deep in MSU territory, the Wildcats couldn’t score when MSU blocked a McClain field-goal attempt.
While the game was close for three and a half quarters, MSU closed the door with 6:25 left in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats drove down the field and scored a touchdown from a 37-yard pass to make it a 37-24 lead.
With the win, MSU clinched at least part of the Big Sky Conference title. The Wildcats will stay at home when they will host Northern Arizona University on Nov. 12.
Nathan Davis is the sports editor for The Signpost at Weber State University. You can follow him on twitter @NathanD3
