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OGDEN — In 1998, Weber State put together its best start to a season ever by winning their first five games in what many hoped would be a phenomenal season.
This year, the No. 6 Wildcats have replicated that start and have, arguably, performed better through the first five games. And now the team has a shot at making school history by starting out 6-0 for the first time ever.
What's the biggest difference between the two versions of the football teams? After five straight wins to start the season, the 1998 team went on to lose their next five games before they pulled out a close win at the end of the season against Eastern Washington. The team finished the regular season a mediocre 6-5.
In those first five games, the toughest opponent Weber State played was No. 11 Montana in a game the Wildcats won by a touchdown. The offense averaged 27.8 points per game, while the defense gave up only 11.2 points. Something changed in the team in their five losses that followed. The offensive production dropped to just 14.8 points per game, and the defense allowed 22.8 points.
Whatever the reasons, the 1998 Wildcats lost their momentum, swagger or whatever you want to call it and were lucky to finish the regular season with a positive winning percentage.
The 2022 Wildcats are still a work in progress, but early results are positive; the current iteration of the team seems to be built for a more successful finish. With Jay Hill at the helm, and his solid coaching staff, the Wildcats have won in relatively dominant fashion.
The offense under first year coordinator Mickey Mental is averaging 36.4 points per game and the defense is only allowing 11.8 points per game.
The schedule only gets tougher from here, though, as Weber State travels to Portland State this week, and follows it up with three games against opponents currently ranked higher than the Wildcats: No. 4 Montana State, No. 3 Montana and No. 5 Sacramento State.
Though it's hard to find much fault with the team through such an incredible start to the season, Hill continues to look for little improvements, which is what he believes makes a team great.
"The reality is when you're playing good teams, there's going to be some stuff that occurs (that could affect the outcome of games)," Hill said following his team's 45-21 win over Eastern Washington last week. "One of the most important things is how you handle the adversity, especially when you're playing these good teams.
"There's lots to clean up, and so I take a positive approach to it in that when we clean up little things we've got a chance to be really good."
The Wildcats are already "really good," at least according to the two major FCS national rankings. This week, Weber State is ranked No. 6 in the Stats Perform FCS rankings and the FCS Coaches Poll. And though Portland State is no cakewalk, it's easy to become distracted thinking about the three grueling games against higher-ranked opponents.
Weber State's offense has been, arguably, the biggest reason for the team's success so far. The Wildcats have scored 35 or more points in four out of the first five games this year.
Sophomore quarterback Bronson Barron has completed 65% of his passes, thrown for 1,160 yards and eight touchdowns, in addition to his four interceptions. Barron's also done a remarkable job of spreading the ball around to 11 different players, who have caught a pass from him this season.
To go along with an above-average passing game, Weber State deploys a stable of running backs that are each capable of picking up quality yardage when needed. Sophomore Damon Bankston leads the team with 348 rushing yards, followed closely by Josh Davis at 338.
Dontae McMillan only has 182 yards on the season, but picked up 93 of those in the game against Eastern Washington when he averaged over 10 yards per carry.
"What we're starting to see on the team is guys step up and play critical roles," Hill said.
Portland State may be only 2-3 on the season, but they come into Saturday's game having won their last two, which gives them some momentum to go along with the home field advantage. And with Weber State's undefeated record, every team relishes the opportunity to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season.
Hill's team will look to do something that's never been done in Ogden and get to 6-0, and the Vikings are the only thing standing in their way.
"You better be ready to go because (opponents) are gonna give you their best shot and we know that," Hill said.
Hill's 100th game at Weber State
This weekend against Portland State will be Hill's 100th game as head coach of Weber State. Hill is currently in his ninth season as head coach and has compiled a 63-36 record (63.6%), which is good for second overall at Weber State. His 63 wins is the highest in school history.
This Saturday's game at will be the 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th career game for Jay Hill as the head coach at Weber State!
— Weber State Football 🏈 (@weberstatefb) October 11, 2022
Congrats @CoachJayHill 👏💯🐐#WeAreWeberpic.twitter.com/6h0fVdoXw6
Hill has devoted himself to the university and the football team throughout his tenure as coach. His name has popped up various times throughout the years for potential coaching jobs at other, bigger universities, but Hill and his family loves where he's at and said it's impossible to have the success he's had at Weber State without giving his all to the program.
"I don't think it's possible to be successful anywhere in college football unless you're all into your job, the players, the program," Hill said. "... Weber State's been good to me and my family, and we love it in Ogden and we love the program and I love the players.
"But there's no way to be successful unless you're all in, and that's kinda how I feel to these players, that I gotta be all in or I'm not giving them my best."
