Weber State football: Wildcats embrace youth movement to close 2023 season
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- Weber State quarterback Richie Muñoz carries the football against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State receiver Treyshun Hurry (18) rushes the football against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in Cheney, Wash.
Based on the depth chart Weber State published for its game two weeks ago against Eastern Washington, only one FCS team in the country had more freshmen or sophomores on their two-deep than the Wildcats (29, to Charleston Southern’s 32), per research from McNeese.
That’s precipitated before the season by the graduation of some of the program’s all-time bests (Josh Davis, Ty MacPherson) and outgoing transfers (Bronson Barron, Kam Garrett, Eddie Heckard, Dontae McMillan).
Then, during this season, the Wildcats have taken hits with junior running back Damon Bankston (foot), senior cornerback Marque Collins (knee) and junior defensive end Okiki Olorunfunmi (arm, transfer) lost as starters due to season-ending injuries, while sixth-year quarterback Kylan Weisser was supplanted as starter by true freshman Richie Muñoz.
And in that EWU game, junior receiver Jacob Sharp and junior cornerback/kick returner Abraham Williams didn’t play, either. (After a bye, both are hopeful to be back this week at Idaho State).
That all led to more reps for sophomore Jalon Rock and redshirt freshmen Adrian Cormier, Montae Pate, Treyshun Hurry, Keahnist Thompson, Cameren Cope and Clarence Butler.
Needless to say, Weber State football (3-5) has entered head-first into a 2023 youth movement for the final three weeks of the season.
“It’s been a good learning moment for our young guys that there’s got to be urgency in everything you do from the beginning,” first-year head coach Mickey Mental said. “You step foot on campus and your number can be called … so are you preparing throughout the course of a season and keeping your mental focus at a high level so when you do have an opportunity to play, you’re ready for it?
“Because the standard doesn’t change. The last two weeks, we played very hard but we’ve got to make more plays. That will come with time but, we’re here to win games. If you play hard and still lose, that’s not a win here.”
The youth-led Wildcats came into focus at Eastern Washington when true freshman Muñoz (18 of 31 for 213 yards, no turnovers in his second start) threw seven times for 115 yards to Hurry while Cormier rushed 10 times for 90 yards and sophomore linebacker Jack Kelly totaled nine tackles with two for loss, one sack, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry.
“It’s a building block with those young players to understand what it takes to become great,” Mental said. “All that kind of stuff, it’s a consistency thing. And that’s the hardest thing for young players is how do I be consistent over and over and over … it’s a good moment but we can’t take a step back because if you do, what have you really accomplished?”
Mental wasn’t the only one to talk about consistency.
“The lack of experience is also having that consistent moment-by-moment, play-by-play focus,” offensive line coach and associate head coach Brent Myers said. “So there’s frustrations at times when we don’t execute a scheme correctly, when we don’t hear a call, when we drop a pass, we don’t make the correct read.
“You just got to keep coaching them, and the better they’ll get. … We’re patient with them, but we’re going to demand that they meet the standard, too. You continue in that process and no detail is too small.”
There are still some old guys captaining the team: four starting offensive linemen, running back Kris Jackson, tight end Hayden Meacham, linebacker Winston Reid, and defensive backs Maxwell Anderson, LJ Anderson and Naseme Colvin.
“Senior leadership … the culture is still the culture and the locker room isn’t divided,” Mental said. “It’s very easy, when you’re losing, easy to point fingers. But when we lose, it’s my fault, I take that responsibility to prepare them better.”
It’s been eight years since a Weber State team wasn’t in playoff contention with three weeks left.
“I asked (the seniors) to keep the locker room together, the culture together, and they’ve done a fantastic job with that,” Mental said. “It’s understanding that this is a process, there are ups and downs and it’s all about how you react to those ups and downs.”
Young Muñoz taking over at quarterback was definitely an adjustment. It’s been just as long since a freshman who wasn’t a returned missionary took the reins of the offense (Justin Shaw threw three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, in a 44-0 home loss to Southern Utah in 2015).
“It’s been a fun experience to grow together and know we’re going to be able to play together for the rest of our time,” Muñoz said of himself and the young offensive skill players. “I’m blessed to be able to play. The first game, I let it speed up on me … I’ll take those two losses on me, I can play a lot better.”
There’s especially been a unique dynamic between the four senior offensive linemen (Noah Atagi, Ethan Atagi, Jordan Lutui, Andrew Carter) who have all been in college football programs for at least five years while Muñoz has been on campus for five months.
“They coach the young guys, and I’ve asked that of them,” Myers said. “And the older guys have really embraced Richie. They can see his talent, they can see he’s still learning, and he needs to understand that his O-line is behind him 100%.”
Next up for the Wildcats, who try to get back in the win column after going 1-5 in their last six games, is a road trip to pass-happy Idaho State (3-5, 3-2 Big Sky).
“I love where our guys are at,” Mental said. “We’ve just to got to get over the hump.”