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CHENEY, Wash. - Weber State lost its fifth straight game as Vernon Adams threw for four touchdowns and rushed for another score to lead sixth-ranked Eastern Washington to a 41-19 win Saturday night at Roos Field. With the loss the Wildcats fall to 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in Big Sky play. The Eagles improve to 3-2 and 1-0 in conference action, with their fourth straight win over Weber State.
Eastern Washington got off to a hot start on the red turf of the "Inferno" as Adams found Cooper Kupp for a 50-yard touchdown on the second play of the game for the Eagles. They followed that up four minutes later when Adams found Kupp for a 27-yard touchdown to give EWU a 13-0 lead.
The Wildcats got on the board when Austin Chipoletti found Cameron Livingston for a 21-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 13-6 after the first quarter.
"There are no moral victories and there were a lot of good things that we corrected, but it still wasn't enough tonight", said WSU head coach Jody Sears.
"There are no moral victories and there were a lot of good things that we corrected, but it still wasn't enough tonight", said WSU head coach Jody Sears.
Adams found Ashton Clark for a 14-yard touchdown to start the second quarter but Weber State responded with a 13-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by a one-yard touchdown by Josh Booker to cut the lead to 20-12. It was Booker's second touchdown of the season.
"There are no moral victories and there were a lot of good things that we corrected, but it still wasn't enough tonight", said WSU head coach Jody Sears.
"There are no moral victories and there were a lot of good things that we corrected, but it still wasn't enough tonight", said WSU head coach Jody Sears.
But Adams wasn't done yet, as this time he rushed for a two-yard touchdown and the Eagles a 27-12 lead at halftime.
The Eagles scored on a nine-yard touchdown run by Demetrius Bronson midway through the third quarter to put EWU on top 34-12. Adams threw for his fourth touchdown, a six-yard pass to Mario Brown, to end the quarter. The Wildcats totaled just 12 yards of total offense in the third quarter.
WSU started the fourth quarter with a two-yard touchdown run by Bo Bolen, set up by a 40-yard reception by Erik Walker, which was the final score of the game.
Adams, who this week was added to the Walter Payton Trophy Award list, finished the night 16-23 passing for 194 yards and rushed for 66 yards.
The Eagles totaled 493 yards of total offense, compared to 249 for the Wildcats. WSU had 109 yards rushing on the night, but the Eagles rushed for 279 yards.
"There are no moral victories and there were a lot of good things that we corrected, but it still wasn't enough tonight", said WSU head coach Jody Sears. "We were able to sustain some drives against a very good defense and were better on turnover margin and that was a big emphasis for us. We have to continue to execute and get better, stay the course and be consistent."
WSU freshman quarterback Austin Chipoletti finished the night 17-27 passing for a season-best 140 passing yards, to go along with one touchdown.
"We came out focused and felt confident in the second half, we just didn't finish when we needed to and that was the tipping point for us," Chipoletti said.
Booker rushed for 42 yards to lead the Wildcat ground attack, as WSU finished with 109 yards rushing. Walker finished the night with five catches for 77 yards. Livingston had four catches for 36 yards.
On defense, the Wildcats were led freshman Spencer Unga who had a career-high 13 tackles. Sophomore Roman Valenzuela added a career-high 12 tackles.
WSU had just two penalties in the game and was plus one on the turnover margin.
Weber State played without senior linebacker Anthony Morales who missed the game with a hamstring injury. Sophomore linebacker Luke King left the game early in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
The Wildcats will continue their road swing as they head to Cal Poly (2-3, 1-0) next Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The Mustangs entered the week ranked 18th in the nation but lost 24-10 at home to Yale on Saturday.
