GAME WEEK: Weber State at BYU, Wildcats edition

Estimated read time: 12-13 minutes

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After opening the 2012 season Saturday night with a 37-10 loss at Fresno State, the Weber State football team heads back on the road this week to take on in-state school Brigham Young University. The Wildcats and Cougars will meet for the first time in 33 years when the two teams play Saturday, Sept. 8 at 1:00 p.m. at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo. The Cougars are coming off a 30-6 win over Washington State last week.

Weber State (0-1) at BYU (1-0)

Game Notes

Weber State (0-1) at BYU (1-0)
Date: Saturday Sep. 8, 2012
Time: 1:00 p.m. MDT
Site: LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, Utah
TV: BYUtv
Radio: AM-1280 "The Zone" and KSL Radio 1160 AM, 102.7 FM, ksl.com
Series Record: BYU leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 1979 (BYU 48-3)
Kickoff Weather: Mostly sunny, temps in the upper 80s

Series Snapshot
This is just the third time BYU and Weber State will play despite being just 80 miles apart. The Cougars and Wildcats met two times in the 1970's with BYU grabbing both victories by an average score of 47-9. The Cougars won the last meeting in 1979 48-3 in Provo.

MEDIA FOR SATURDAY'S GAME
Saturday's game will be heard live on AM-1280 KZNS "The Zone" with Carl Arky, the 2011 Utah Sportscaster of the Year, calling all the action. Former Wildcat standout Ty Sparrow will provide color commentary.
Saturday's game will also be seen nationally on BYUtv, which is available in more than 60 million households across the nation. Dave MCann and Blaine Fowler will call all the action with Robbie Bullough on the sidelines. The game can also be seen online for free at byutv.org. In Utah BYUtv is available on Comcast channel 21, DirecTV channel 374, and Dish Network channel 9403. Live stats of the game will be available at byucougars.com.

WILDCATS COMING OFF 37-10 LOSS AT FRESNO STATE
Weber State opened its season Saturday with a 37-10 loss at Fresno State. The Wildcats trailed 21-0 early in the second quarter but rallied to trail 24-10 mid-way through the third quarter. The Bulldogs added two touchdowns late in the fourth to seal the victory.
Fresno State totaled 515 yards of total offense in the game, compared to 274 for the Wildcats. The Bulldogs also rushed for 217 yards and held Weber State to just 67 yards rushing.

MIKE HOKE STARTS SEASON WITH STRONG GAME Weber State senior quarterback [Mike Hoke](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1555041&DB_OEM_ID=8600) returned to action with a solid game for the Wildcats in Saturday's defeat. Hoke, who missed spring practice following offseason shoulder surgery, returned to lead Weber State's offensive attack against the Bulldogs, finishing the game 25-32 passing for 202 yards and one touchdown and one interception. He found [Shaydon Kehano](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204880092&DB_OEM_ID=8600) for a 36-yard touchdown in the third quarter to cut the Fresno State lead to 24-10. Hoke started the game 10-10 passing. His 202 passing yards moved him into 15th place in Weber State history for career passing yards. His 64.6 percent career passing completion percentage ranks as one of the best in school history. He also led the Wildcat rushing attack in Saturday's game, finishing with 12 carries for 34 yards.

JORDAN CLEMENTE PULLS IN NINE RECEPTIONS Weber State junior Jordan Clemente led Weber State's receiving group with nine catches for 51 yards in Saturday's game. The nine catches in the game matched his season total of nine from last year. The Tooele, Utah native moved from tight end to wide receiver following last season. Clemente's nine receptions was the second-most in a game by a player from the Big Sky last week.

KING, OKWUONU LEAD DEFENSIVE EFFORTS Two Wildcats, [Luke King](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=205244967&DB_OEM_ID=8600) and [Willie Okwuonu](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204805296&DB_OEM_ID=8600), led WSU's defensive game Saturday as each finished with nine total tackles in the game. The nine tackles was a career-high for King, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, who had eight unassisted and one assisted tackle. Okwuonu, a junior from Edmond, Oklahoma, had seven unassisted and two assisted tackles. He earned Honorable Mention Big Sky All-Conference honors last season. Red-shirt freshman [Roman Valenzuela](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=205244895&DB_OEM_ID=8600) had eight tackles in his first career game. Senior [Danny Mullarkey](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204805366&DB_OEM_ID=8600) had the lone Wildcat sack in Saturday's game.

KRIS PARHAM TIES CAREER-HIGH KICK RETURNS YARDS WSU senior Kris Parham tied a career-high with 117 kickoff return yards Saturday night. Parham, a senior from Oklahoma City, averaged 23.4 yards per game, the third best total in the Big Sky after the first week. He had returns of 22, 21, 27, 26 and 21 yards in the game. Parham also had two carries for 16 yards against the Bulldgos.

QUOTING WEBER STATE HEAD COACH JODY SEARS

"I was pleased with our effort Saturday and thought we came out and played extremely hard with good effort and intensity. We were a little tentative on defense early on in the game but we started to settle down and made some adjustments against a very talented team."

"We learned a lot about our team after the first week and we have some things we need to work on and improve as we face another extremely talented and skilled football team this week."

INJURY REPORT Weber State played Saturday's game without its two defensive captains. [Anthony Morales](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204805302&DB_OEM_ID=8600) (hip) and [Trevor Pletcher](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204805363&DB_OEM_ID=8600) (ankle) both missed Saturday's game. Both earned Big Sky All-Conference honors last season. The ‘Cats were also without cornerback [Devin Pugh](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204959959&DB_OEM_ID=8600) who sat out the game with a hamstring injury. The status for all three players is unknown for this Saturday's game.

ANOTHER FBS GAME FOR WILDCATS For the second-straight year and the third in the last four years Weber State opens the season with two straight road FBS games. In 2009 the Wildcats started the season at Wyoming and Colorado State. Last year WSU opened at Wyoming and Utah State. This season marks the fifth straight season the ‘Cats will face two FBS opponents.

WEBER STATE ALL-TIME AGAINST FBS TEAMS In 50 seasons of playing football at the four-year level, Weber State is 3-47 against FBS teams. Weber State beat Utah State in 1978 and beat Nevada twice (1992 and 1993), the first two years Nevada was playing at the Division I-A level. The Wildcats have lost 24 straight games to FBS opponents.

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH JODY SEARS Saturday's game was the first game as a head coach for WSU coach [Jody Sears](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=205421826&DB_OEM_ID=8600). Sears, brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience to Weber State. He joined the WSU staff in January as the defensive coordinator and was named head coach in April. He is the 10th head coach in Weber State history. Sears will also be the defensive coordinator and coach the safeties for the Wildcats. Before coming to Weber State he spent the past three seasons at Washington State where he spent the last three seasons as the co-defensive coordinator with the Cougars under head coach Paul Wulff, a former college teammate at Washington State. He is no stranger to the Big Sky Conference as he spent five seasons (2003-07) as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington, also under Paul Wulff. During his time with the Eagles he coached safeties, linebackers and defensive backs. In his five seasons at Eastern Washington he coached seven players to Big Sky All-Conference honors. Prior to his time at Eastern Washington Sears spent three seasons (2000-02) as an assistant coach at Army where he coached cornerbacks and the defensive line. He also spent time as an assistant coach at St. Ambrose University, an NAIA school in Davenport, Iowa and Iowa State. Sears played football at Washington State where he was a two-year letterwinner with the Cougars after walking on as a wide receiver. He played under head coaches Jim Walden, Dennis Erickson, and former Weber State head coach Mike Price. He graduated from Washington State in 1991 and received his master's degree from Iowa State in 1996. Sears, 44, is a native of Pullman, Washington. He and his wife Molly are the parents of five children.

TEAM CAPTAINS Coach Sears has selected four team captains for the upcoming season. [Mike Hoke](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1555041&DB_OEM_ID=8600), [Brian Jankowski](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1555107&DB_OEM_ID=8600), [Anthony Morales](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204805302&DB_OEM_ID=8600), and Trevor Pletcher will serve as the Wildcat team captains for the year. Combined the four players have appeared in 101 games for Weber State.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE Two Weber State players have been named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference team. Senior offensive lineman Tytan Timoteo and sophomore full back [Tevia Tolutau](http://www.weberstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=205244891&DB_OEM_ID=8600) were both named to the league which was selected by members of the media and league sports information directors. Timoteo earned second team All-Big Sky honors as a junior last season starting in all 11 games last season. In his three seasons with the Wildcats Timoteo has played in 30 career games. The Waianae, Hawaii native has started every game in each of the last two seasons for Weber State. Tolutau, a native of Provo, Utah, returns for his sophomore season at fullback after starting every game with Weber State last season as a true freshman. He earned first team All-Big Sky honors last year and is the only returning Wildcat that earned first team honors last season. He was also the only freshman in the conference that was named to the first team last season. All 13 Big Sky schools had at least one player on the team. Montana State led all schools with six selections. Southern Utah senior quarterback Brad Sorenson was named as the league preseason Offensive MVP and Montana State senior linebacker Jody Owens was named Defensive MVP.

NEW LOOK TO THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE The 2012 season marks a new look to the Big Sky Conference as four new schools have joined the league. Cal Poly, North Dakota, Southern Utah and UC Davis have all joined the league in football, bringing the total to 13 schools and maintaining the Big Sky as one of the top FCS football conferences in the nation. Two-time defending Big Sky Conference football co-champion Montana State was picked first by the media and the coaches in the preseason polls. The Bobcats have gone 7-1 in conference each of the past two seasons and advanced to the playoffs and earned seven first-place votes in the coaches' poll and a total of 136 points. In the media poll, the Bobcats received 30 of 40 first-place votes and 502 total points. Eastern Washington, the 2010 Division I National Champion, was selected second in both polls, while perennial Football Championship Subdivision power Montana was tabbed third. Portland State was selected fourth, while league newcomer Cal Poly was selected fifth. Eastern Washington garnered four first-place votes and 131 total points in the coaches' poll. In the media poll, the Eagles earned three first-place votes and 453 total points. Montana received five first-place media votes and 442 total points. In the coaches' poll, Montana garnered 126 total points and one first-place vote.

50 YEARS OF DIVISION I ATHLETICS The 2012-13 Weber State Athletics season marks 50 years since Weber State became a four-year institution and began athletics competition at the Division I level. Events and festivities are planned throughout the year to celebrate 50 years of Division I athletics at Weber State.

TV TIME The Wildcats two games on television this season. Weber State's game Saturday at BYU will be seen across the nation and the world on BYUtv. WSU's home game against Montana on Nov. 3 will be televised live on ROOT Sports, a part of the Big Sky Conference's new TV contract with ROOT.

LOOKING AHEAD The Wildcats will make their home debut at Stewart Stadium next Saturday when the ‘Cats host McNeese State at 6:00 p.m. The Cowboys are coming off a 27-21 win at FBS school Middle Tennessee State last week. WSU will play its annual Homecoming game the following week, Sept. 22, against Eastern Washington.