Weber State football: It’s down to Jennings, Tisdell as WSU quarterbacks
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- Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings throws the football during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Kingston Tisdell pulls back to throw during an August 2025 practice at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings, center, runs the football during a spring practice Friday, March 21, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — He’s more than three seasons into his college football career and Dijon Jennings is getting his opportunity.
The fourth-year junior quarterback will get his first start Saturday when Weber State hosts Sacramento State in WSU’s Big Sky home opener. The Ohio native and Akron transfer is in his second season at Weber State and is 4 of 5 for 48 yards as a college passer.
Some things have changed, Jennings says, but not everything.
“Our goals are still intact and everything is still in front of us,” Jennings said. “I’m just looking to be the best version of myself for the team and the main thing is, go out and get a win.
“I’m excited, man. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity, so the biggest thing is going out there and maximizing it and winning a game. However I can help us do that, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Weber State started fall camp with five quarterbacks and is now, just five weeks into the season, down to two QBs in terms of who is active and available. UTSA transfer and sophomore starter Jackson Gilkey suffered a broken fibula in a foot-twisting slide late in a loss at UC Davis, while redshirt freshman Cash McCollum is out indefinitely with injuries to his right, throwing hand. Walk-on Easton Comer left the squad during fall camp.
Now, it’s Jennings getting the call as WSU, who is 2-1 against FCS opponents and 0-1 in the Big Sky, is trying to bounce back from last year’s 4-8 campaign while the offense takes on a reset, of sorts, midstream.
Before the season, position coach Zach Larson and other QBs each said a strength of Jennings’ game is his “creativity” and making plays when things break down. WSU head coach Mickey Mental said Jennings will provide a calming presence as the veteran QB on the team.
“He still gives us the ability to run and pass,” Mental said. “Like I said in the summertime, it’s how do I call a game to utilize their talents.”
Standing with Jennings as the lone QBs left is true freshman Kingston Tisdell, a tall, athletic passer who graduated high school early and was with WSU for spring and fall camps.
“It’s the rookie and the vet,” Jennings said.
During fall camp, several praised Tisdell’s poise in the pocket as a true freshman, which he attributes to his generally calm demeanor.
Tisdell will play Saturday, Mental said. As the now-No. 2 QB, he needs game reps even if Jennings plays well.
“With him, it’s how do I make it simple so he can just utilize his talents at a high level, just slow the game down for him … so he doesn’t get erratic and feel unsettled in the pocket, and make great decisions,” Mental said.
As every football coach in the country has uttered, it’s about the “next man up,” and Jennings and Tisdell are in it together.
“We talk a lot, he picks my brain, we have a good relationship,” Jennings said. “We know we need to go and do different things for the team to win this game. … We’ve got to be smart, take some hits off our body, we know that going into the game. Obviously, you play the game as it is, but you know, anything late and you get down as much as you can, protect the team.”
If football trials turn into football disasters, senior receiver and starting placeholder Peyton Beck is now the No. 3 QB. He threw 51 of 81 for 573 yards, two touchdowns and two picks as a senior backup at Bountiful High in 2019.
No matter who’s at QB, Weber State knows it must do better with scoring opportunities than it has in the last two games if it plans to win conference games.
“Take advantage of one-on-one opportunities when we have the chance to do so,” Jennings said about how WSU’s offense takes its next step. “Giving our playmakers a chance to make plays. I think we’re looking forward to doing that this week.”
