Munoz-led Weber State football falls to UC Davis 17-16 after series of what-if plays
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- Weber State’s Treyshun Hurry (18) pulls down a catch in front of UC Davis player Jehiel Budgett (3) on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Matt Herron (97) wraps up UC Davis running back Trent Tompkins (18) on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Haze Hadley, left, returns a punt as UC Davis player Jacob Horne (38) reaches for a tackle on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Kris Jackson (7) carries the football as UC Davis players Rex Connors (4) and Chubba Maae (92) pursue on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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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’s Abraham Williams catches an interception later negated by penalty against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Kris Jackson (7) runs the football as UC Davis player Lamont Shamburger (26) pursues on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State tight end Hayden Meacham (0) is upended by UC Davis player Markeece Alexander on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State defensive back Maxwell Anderson gestures during a game against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Kris Jackson runs the football against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State’s Abraham Williams, left, returns a kickoff as Rex Connors pursues for UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Teammates celebrate with Weber State’s Matt Herron (97) after Herron’s sack against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Richie Muñoz throws the football against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — There were enough what-ifs for Weber State football Saturday that a recounting of them all makes quite a list.
In the end, any one of them could have snapped the Wildcats out of its four-game morass and into victory against an always-tough UC Davis side.
The final one came with two minutes left when, trailing by one point, true freshman quarterback Richie Munoz felt pressure, stepped up through the pocket and began to run on third-and-8 from the UC Davis 43. He had plenty of grass ahead but didn’t quite tuck the ball as he angled right. His leg made contact with the ball, which he fumbled out of bounds, and the Wildcats couldn’t convert the ensuing fourth-and-10 to at least get into field goal range.
And that wrapped up a 17-16 win for UC Davis at Stewart Stadium, the fourth straight game in the series where both teams scored in the teens and Weber State’s fourth loss in the last five games.
“Obviously, credit to UC Davis for pulling that one out. I loved our guy’s fight … I thought they played their butts off,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said. “We’ve just got to do a little more offensively to push that needle across, but I loved how they competed today.”
Munoz, a three-star quarterback from Covina, California, made his collegiate debut by getting the start Saturday. He finished 15 of 30 for 138 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. The offense and WSU’s complementary football was better (UC Davis squeaked out the yardage battle 294-275).
“We all got together on the offensive side of the ball, really the whole team got together, and just decided it’s on us,” WSU running back Kris Jackson said. “I think that showed today on the field, just more fight than we’ve seen in previous weeks.”
Munoz’s inexperience led to missed throws, cadence issues that Mental said caused false starts, and some missed snaps. Still, Munoz appeared to see the game well and identify the right plays to make in his first time out.
Mental said Munoz won the starting job this week in practice replacing sixth-year junior Kylan Weisser.
“At times, I thought there was good rhythm. But at other times, we bogged down with freshman mistakes that we’ve got to get corrected here in a hurry,” Mental said.
Back to the series of what-ifs.
Trailing 7-3 in the first quarter and with the ball at the UC Davis 31, Munoz dropped a snap, picked it up, fumbled again and Aggies defensive lineman Chubba Maae recovered.
Trailing 7-3 early in the second quarter, Abraham Williams intercepted UC Davis quarterback Miles Hastings on a throw to the goal line and returned it 25 yards — but the play was negated on an inconsequential offside penalty against linebacker Garrett Beck. The Aggies scored two plays later, a Hastings-to-Samuel Gbatu Jr. 10-yarder, to go up 14-3.
Freshman linebacker Mayson Hitchens flipped the game for Weber State, rifling up the middle untouched on a flooding WSU punt block attempt in the final minute of the first half. Hitchens got the block and recovered it himself at the UC Davis 15. Munoz threw to Jackson on a misdirection play to the flat, and Jackson found the end zone for a 15-yard score to make it 14-10 at halftime.
The next what-if came right out of the locker room. A false start helped stop a drive near the UC Davis 20 and Kyle Thompson hit a rocket from 45 yards out. But his field-goal attempt, with plenty of distance, was no good when it clanged high off the left upright.
Weber State opened the fourth quarter with a fake punt that saw tight end Hayden Meacham loft a lefty throw to safety Naseme Colvin for a 21-yard pickup. But the next what-if ended that drive: on fourth-and-1 from the Davis 21, quarterback Creyton Cooper was stopped a half-yard short on a shotgun keeper. A first down there, or even a field goal instead, may have changed the outcome.
On its next possession, another false start killed a drive with the Wildcats facing third-and-3 at the UC Davis 12, forcing WSU to settle for a field goal and the final 17-16 tally.
That led up to the final what-if, the Munoz fumble on what was a likely first-down rush to set up a field-goal attempt or better.
Weber State (3-4, 1-3 Big Sky) opened the scoring when Thompson made a 42-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. UC Davis answered on a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped when Hastings hit Chaz Davis in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score and a 7-3 lead.
UC Davis (4-3, 2-2) made it 14-3 on the interception-turned-touchdown sequence, and WSU got it to 14-10 at halftime on the blocked punt and Munoz-to-Jackson touchdown pass.
That became 14-13 when Thompson put through a 51-yarder midway through the third quarter for Weber State, and Davis scored for the last time when Hunter Ridley made a 41-yard field goal on the next Aggies possession for a 17-13 mark.
Ultimately, the final points of the game were Thompson’s, a 30-yard field goal with 7:37 left. That came on Weber’s best drive of the game in which Munoz threw a 27-yarder to Tajon Evans and a no-huddle offense was rolling UC Davis down the field until referees paused play to review a short Treyshun Hurry catch at the Davis 19-yard line.
Jackson finished rushing 12 times for 59 yards and hauled in three passes for 28 yards. He was one of four Weber State receivers with three receptions, joining Hurry (36 yards), Evans (36 yards), and Haze Hadley (21 yards).
Hadley added 46 yards on five punt returns and Williams totaled 92 yards on three kickoff returns in a game where Weber State’s average starting field position was its own 41-yard line (while UC Davis averaged starting possessions at its own 21).
Beck totaled nine tackles to lead the WSU defense.
Hastings threw 22 of 34 for 184 yards, though WSU limited him to 6 of 13 for 45 yards in the second half. Trent Tompkins rushed 24 times for 116 yards — though just 11 times for 44 yards in the second half. Gbatu caught eight balls for 83 yards.
The Wildcats have allowed 10 second-half points over the last three games and have three games this season in which they’ve allowed zero second-half points.
Weber State regroups to hit the road for Eastern Washington (2-4, 1-2), who lost Saturday at Idaho State after surrendering a 41-14 lead.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
Montana State 59, Cal Poly 19
Montana 23, Idaho 21
Sacramento State 21, Northern Colorado 13
Idaho State 42, Eastern Washington 41
Portland State 45, Northern Arizona 21