WSU Notes

The Wildcats had the right stuff in the Wright brothers’ hometown of Dayton, Ohio.

Now Weber State coach Randy Rahe hopes a road win over the Dayton Flyers last Friday provides the Wildcats some liftoff as they prepare for the rest of the season.

Since being named Weber State’s interim football coach in April, Jody Sears has continuously taught his players to focus on the process, not the outcome.

The process — the season — is over. Now Sears and his staff await the outcome: A decision from WSU athletics director Jerry Bovee and school administrators about whether Sears will be given a contract to continue to coach the Wildcats.

In his first game as a freshman at Weber State in 2008, Damian Lillard came off the bench and scored five points in the Wildcats’ 70-66 loss to Miami (Ohio).

The next night, in the second game of the 2K Sports Classic tournament at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, Lillard contributed eight points and three assists in a Weber State victory over Prairie View A&M.

In Game 3 of the 2008 season, the Oakland, Calif., native went 1 for 9 from the field and scored seven points for the Wildcats as Long Beach State rallied from a 23-point second-half deficit to beat Weber State in overtime.

Sunday was Jody Sears’ birthday, but his party was Saturday.

After Weber State football players enjoyed their long-awaited first victory of the season, a 24-22 nailbiter over in-state rival and new Big Sky Conference foe Southern Utah, they finished a rowdy postgame celebration in the locker room by singing “Happy Birthday” to Sears.

“That was probably all he wanted for his birthday, right there,” Wildcat quarterback Mike Hoke said.

Sears, Weber State’s interim head coach, said he didn’t care about getting an early birthday present.

It takes four quarters to make a buck — and four quarters to win a football game.

Weber State made change in the first half Saturday against Cal Poly but still came up a dollar short against the undefeated Mustangs.

The winless Wildcats (0-6, 0-3 Big Sky) played easily their best first half of the season but couldn’t close the deal against No. 20 Cal Poly (5-0, 3-0), which will likely move up again in the FCS Top 25 poll this week.

If the end of Weber State’s Homecoming loss to Eastern Washington last Saturday was shocking similar to last season’s contest with the Eagles, the beginning was disturbingly familiar to the Wildcats as well.

Despite moving the ball more effectively, Weber State still found itself on the wrong side of a lopsided halftime score.

Weber State coach Jody Sears wanted to use Saturday’s game against a heavily favored in-state opponent as a gauge to measure the Wildcats’ toughness.

WSU (0-2) lost to BYU, 45-13, to drop a second straight game against a Football Bowl Subdivision program to open the season.

So, where are the Wildcats on that toughness gauge?