Weber State football uses balance to pull away, top Eastern Washington 45-21
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- Weber State running back Dontae McMillan (28) absorbs a hit and scores a touchdown against Eastern Washington during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State receiver Ty MacPherson (1) runs with the football during a Big Sky Conference game against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State linebacker Winston Reid (6) and cornerback Eddie Heckard (5) wrap up Eastern Washington receiver Efton Chism III (89) during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron (10) throws a pass against Eastern Washington during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State receiver Haze Hadley (80) wards off an Eastern Washington cornerback during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State defensive end Nuu Sellesin (47) battles with an Eastern Washington offensive lineman during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State cornerback Marque Collins (2) stops Eastern Washington’s Freddie Roberson (1) for a loss during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State offensive lineman Jake Eichorn (76) battles with an Eastern Washington defensive lineman during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State receiver Haze Hadley returns a punt against Eastern Washington during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defensive lineman Kalisi Moli (98) tackles Eastern Washington quarterback Gunner Talkington (2) during a Big Sky Conference football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State offensive lineman Ethan Atagi (66) helps brother Noah Atagi (79) off the turf during a Big Sky Conference football game against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron surveys the field during a Big Sky Conference football game against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State head coach Jay Hill reacts during a Big Sky Conference football game against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
OGDEN — Weber State football didn’t play a perfect game Saturday against Eastern Washington but, when the clock expired, the ledger of winning plays tipped heavily in WSU’s favor.
The No. 7 Wildcats used another balanced offensive approach, brushed off key unforced errors, clamped down defensively in the second half and rolled off 24 unanswered points on the way to a 45-21 blowout win of the No. 24 Eagles in front of 10,742 fans at Stewart Stadium.
Weber State is now 5-0, matching its 1998 squad for the best start in program history, and is 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play.
“So much to be excited about in this game … It was a dang good team effort,” WSU head coach Jay Hill said. “We knew Eastern was going to come in here and give it their all. They’re a talented team, they’re well coached.”
Having missed opportunities to take a big lead into halftime, the game took a turn on Weber State’s largest unforced mistake of the night. Leading 21-14 midway through the third quarter, quarterback Bronson Barron and running back Josh Davis botched a handoff exchange on the first play of a possession. EWU defensive lineman Mitchell Johnson was first to the ball, which went bounding behind the WSU backfield players, and scooped it up for a 13-yard touchdown return to tie the game 21-21.
But less than four minutes later, Weber State held a 10-point lead and, with its defense controlling Eastern Washington’s offense, the game was suddenly on its way to being over.
“I’m happy with the way the guys responded; when it went 21-21, I mean, that game was up for grabs,” Hill said. “Our guys just stayed with it. We missed a couple opportunities early … had opportunities to pull away, didn’t, and I was just happy with the guys the way they stuck with it.”
Weber State answered by taking the ball to the EWU 21-yard line looking for the end zone again but a false start and a sack pushed the Wildcats to the edge of field-goal range. Kyle Thompson lined through a 49-yard field goal for a 24-21 edge.
On the next play from scrimmage, WSU’s pass coverage forced Eastern quarterback Gunner Talkington to scramble. Defensive tackles Kalisi Moli and Doug Schiess then made what might have been the play of the game: Moli burst along the line of scrimmage to catch Talkington from behind and strip the ball out of his right hand, and Schiess fell on the ball at the EWU 29-yard line.
Barron fired a sideline ball to Ty MacPherson for 22 yards and Dontae McMillan finished the final 7 yards on the ground with a touchdown, giving Weber State a 31-21 lead with 3:01 left in the third quarter.
With 18 minutes left, the game might not have technically been over then but Weber State’s defense was in the middle of making sure of it. The Eagles gained only 99 yards on 35 plays in the second half. Nuu Sellesin recorded two second-half sacks, Moli and Schiess forced and recovered the fumble, and the defense forced one three-and-out and two turnovers on downs.
It was a stark change from the first half when Eastern Washington totaled 14 points on 40 plays for 222 yards.
“We see what’s going on in the first half and make adjustments on the sideline as well, but just being at halftime we can actually get in as a group, as a defense and an offense, and break it down to a ‘T’ and we’re ready to knock it out coming into the second half,” WSU cornerback Maxwell Anderson said. “I give all props to our coaches for seeing that type of stuff.”
What did Weber State change? Hill complimented his secondary for being good at man coverage but said EWU was running rub routes, pick plays and other route combos to make it hard on WSU’s man-to-man calls, so co-defensive coordinators Joe Dale and Grant Duff got to work.
“Just mixing in a couple zones, mixing in some pressures that at least get the quarterback off pace a little bit. That was huge,” Hill said. “Those adjustments were big, and the way they called it in the second half I thought was huge.”
One Sellesin sack helped set WSU up with a 44-yard field early in the fourth quarter. Barron threw to Justin Malone for 10 yards, MacPherson for 10 and Jacob Sharp for 11 to set up a Damon Bankston 4-yard rushing touchdown to make it 38-21 with 8:52 left.
On WSU’s next possession, McMillan gashed for big runs to start a seven-play drive that saw two players score touchdowns that didn’t count (one negated by a penalty, another when Hayden Meacham seemingly dove into the end zone on a reception but was ruled short) before Kris Jackson punched in a 1-yard touchdown for the final margin with 1:35 left.
“We knew they were 1-3 coming in. This was kind of like a breaking game for them; if they lost they were in a tough situation,” MacPherson said. “It was like us last year, they were going to give us the best game they could give us. We battled it out, we had a good game.”
McMillan rushed nine times for 93 yards and two touchdowns, and Bankston added 94 yards on 14 carries and a score to lead Weber State on the ground. Barron threw 16 of 22 for 237 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. MacPherson hauled in six catches for 128 yards and a long score.
WSU totaled 460 yards of offense — 237 passing, 223 rushing.
Eastern Washington (1-4, 0-2 Big Sky) totaled 321 yards, with Talkington throwing 21 of 31 for 198 yards.
Weber opened with a 65-yard, Barron-to-MacPherson deep strike on the game’s second play to go up 7-0, a long-developing, play-action pass where Barron had plenty of time to make the throw.
“It’s up to us guys who have played in a lot of games to just make a play and get the game going,” MacPherson said. “It was awesome. Give credit to the linemen, give credit to Bronson for throwing an absolute great ball.”
Eastern answered immediately. With leading rusher Micah Smith out with an injury, the Eagles turned to battering ram Tuna Altahir, who ran for 26 yards on the opening possession and capped it with a 12-yard, direct-snap touchdown to tie it 7-7. Altahir finished with 81 yards on 19 carries.
WSU punched right back, chipping away on a 10-play drive that McMillan capped with a 22-yard dash up the left side for a touchdown, putting WSU up 14-7 with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
Five plays later, Weber had an opportunity to start pulling away early when a Talkington pass went through the hands of Jakobie James and was intercepted by Anderson — his fifth pick of the season through five games — at the 50 and returned it to the EWU 24.
But that’s when the first of several scoring opportunities were left short.
Starting with second-and-goal from the 3, Jackson rushed to the 1, then was stopped for no gain on third down, and Davis was stopped on fourth down as Eastern pitched a goal-line stand.
Eastern took that opportunity right down the field and scored on a 27-yard pass to Freddie Roberson, who weaved through the defense to the end zone, to tie it 14-14 early in the second quarter. But that would be the last time Eastern scored an offensive touchdown, and nearly the last time it even threatened to do so. If not for the scoop-and-score defensive touchdown, the game would have never felt close again.
That sequence seemed to push momentum in EWU’s favor but defensive back Abraham Williams provided a big answer, using great point-of-attack blocks from Haze Hadley and Winston Reid to take the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. That put Weber State up 21-14 with 11:13 left in the first half.
WSU’s final two offensive possessions ended without points. With time ticking late in the half, Weber faked a punt near midfield and the fourth-down conversion was picked up by Brayden Wilson. Barron threw to Malone for a 27-yard gain on the next play to the EWU 20 with 43 seconds left. But run plays on second and third down left Thompson booting a 34-yarder, which he missed left as time expired.
WSU also set up for a 34-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, which it faked. Punter and holder Jack Burgess picked up the necessary yardage but fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Eastern Washington with the game still in reach at 31-21.
Those missed opportunities and unforced errors eventually didn’t end up deciding the game, but did keep WSU from flirting with 60 points and giving the offense still plenty to work on.
“One of the most important things is how you handle the adversity, especially when you’re playing these good teams,” Hill said. “There’s lots to clean up, so I take a positive approach to it in that when we clean up little things, we’ve got a chance to be really, really good.”
Though MacPherson and Anderson each acknowledged penalties and mistakes as important points to clean up, Anderson provided perspective to the inconsistency in a game where WSU’s offense still scored 38 points.
“(Eastern) came out on offense and kind of drove the ball down on us (early),” he said. “I give credit to our offense for keeping scoring and keeping us in the game.”
Weber State’s next game will be for history; no WSU team has ever started a season 6-0. The Wildcats next visit dangerous quarterback Dante Chachere and Portland State (2-3, 1-1) on Saturday, Oct. 15, in Hillsboro, Oregon.