Wildcats match best start in school history with dominant win over Eagles

OGDEN — Weber State came off the bye week with force and dominated Eastern Washington 45-21 on Saturday night.

It took two plays for the Wildcats to show one of the many reasons why they are undefeated and ranked in the FCS Top 10. After receiving the kickoff and an incomplete pass on first down, quarterback Bronson Barron unleashed a bomb to wide receiver Ty MacPherson on a post route that he took to the end zone to give the Wildcats a quick 7-0 lead after just 14 seconds of game time.

It seemed like the dream start to a game, but Eastern Washington came into the game hungry for a win after a 1-3 start to their season and showed it on their first possession.

Starting at their own 34-yard line, the Eagles steadily drove down the field with a balanced mix of runs and passes, which kept the Wildcats defense on their toes. A little under four minutes later, the Eagles found the end zone on a 12-yard rushing touchdown from Tuna Altahir.

"We knew Eastern was gonna come in here and give it their all," said head coach Jay Hill, following a water jug bath from his players. "They're a talented team; they're well coached."

The first half showed a much closer game than the final score indicates, though. Weber State went into halftime leading 21-14, but the team missed various opportunities to expand the lead earlier.

On Eastern Washington's second possession of the game, the visitors crossed over into Wildcats territory when cornerback Maxwell Anderson intercepted a pass at midfield and returned it to the opposing 24-yard line. Seven plays later, the Eagles stuffed running back Josh Davis at the 1-yard line on fourth down, which forced a turnover on downs and led to a 99-yard game-tying touchdown drive from Eastern Washington.

The teams were set to go into the halftime break tied, sophomore Abraham Williams returned a 100-yard kickoff that gave Weber State the one-score advantage at the break.

"We missed a couple opportunities early," Hill said. "Stuffed at fourth-and-1 on our own 1-yard line, missed the field goal at the end of the half, had opportunities to pull away — we didn't — and I was just happy with the guys the way they stood with it."

In the second half, Weber State's defense pitched a shutout. The only score for Eastern Washington came on a Wildcats fumble during a handoff exchange, and defensive lineman Mitchell Johnson scooped the ball up at the 13-yard line and waltzed into the end zone with ease to tie up the game at 21-all.

With a defense that locked down for the remainder of the game, Weber State's offense went on to score 24 unanswered points to run away with the game. The Wildcats scored a field goal and three rushing touchdowns from three different running backs — Dontae McMillan, Damon Bankston and Kris Jackson..

"Week after week the halftime adjustments are always stellar," MacPherson said. "The defense always — whether they're playing a great game or maybe they're having some struggles — comes in the second half; we always play well.

"I credit to the coaches ... they did such a good job at halftime keeping us positive. We made some mistakes, but we knew that we still had 30 more minutes to make plays, and we just wanted to be 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big Sky."

The offense excelled at getting different players involved too. Five players scored touchdowns, six caught a pass and seven ran the ball. On the night, the offense totaled 460 yards total, with a well balanced split of 223 rushing yards and 237 passing. Hill's team has averaged 36 points per game and he said he's been pleased with the way his offense has functioned.

"When Bronson's accurate and hitting things in the middle of the field like he was today, we get really hard to beat," Hill said. "When we're dispersing the football to a bunch of different players like we did tonight — we had two backs go for a lot of yards, we had a bunch of wideouts catch the ball, tight ends getting involved in the throw game, I thought that that's what I know we'll be at our best when we're doing that."

As the Wildcats move forward with their undefeated season, they'll continue to look to build off everything that's happened so far — good and bad. Winning a big game against a normally tough opponent like Eastern Washington is no small feat. Hill and his team will find room for improvement, and he's confident they're capable of doing so this season.

"We've just got to get better at being us, and that will continue to be our focus," Hill said. "I like where the offense is and I like where the defense is; both sides of the ball have shown they can be dominant. We've just got to get better, stay humble, keep working and we'll be fine."

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