Weber State football: Rain or not, Sacramento State runs over Wildcats 55-27
Hornets tally three 100-yard rushers, 7 rushing touchdowns
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- Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings dives into the end zone past Sacramento State’s Lamont Johnson-Burrell (23) for a touchdown on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State receiver Kelton Wafer (81) leaps for a reception against Sacramento State’s Diesel Gordon (38) on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State running back Davion Godley (25) rushes the ball as Sacramento State’s Alex Rocha (33) pursues on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State offensive players run off the field after a touchdown against Sacramento State on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — The delayed arrival of thunderstorms Saturday turned into a delayed start of 1 hour, 45 minutes for Weber State football’s home game against Sacramento State.
Repeated lightning strikes nearby restarted the required 30-minute clock until 7 p.m. when teams re-entered the field for warmups and a 7:45 p.m. kickoff. By that time, only a few hundred fans had stuck around to see the game.
Some were lucky enough to have plastic ponchos while others attempted in vain to use umbrellas against the high winds and continued downpour of rain.
What those handfuls of fans saw was the best run game in the Big Sky Conference flexing its muscles when such a run game was needed most. Making Weber State defenders look slow and making them miss tackles for most of the night, the Hornets ran past the Wildcats 55-27 late Saturday night.
“Credit goes to Sac. Came out and ran the football really well, and we couldn’t catch up,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said. “We’ve got to do a better job being more physical in the box, both on offense and defense, and seizing opportunities when they arise.”
It’s hard to say what mattered more for Weber State’s tepid offense that was unable to keep up: the rain or the quarterback change, with third-string QB Dijon Jennings taking the start after injuries to Jackson Gilkey and Cash McCollum. The Wildcats managed 107 yards in the first half only because Davion Godley ran for 8 yards to get the game to halftime.
“Winning first down. When we get backed up — they’re really good up front. To drop back, that’s not a recipe for success consistently,” Mental said about improvements. “I thought our game plan was solid until we had to throw a little bit more, and then the edges got a little bit wider.”
The way the first half ended, you’d never guess Weber State (2-4, 0-2 Big Sky) bottled up Sacramento State (3-3, 1-1) for 3 yards and two punts on the Hornets’ first two possessions. Twenty-something minutes and 242 rushing yards later, Sac State took a 28-10 lead into halftime.
On Sac’s third possession, the Hornets ditched traditional handoffs for zone-read action and quarterback Cardell Williams ripped a 24-yarder that completely opened up the field the rest of the night. That began a 13-play, 74-yard drive of 4:53 that ended with Williams breaking several tackles up the left sideline for a 10-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead for the visitors late in the first quarter.
Williams had 103 rushing yards on seven first-half carries, keying a rushing attack as relentless as the driving rain that punished onlookers for the first two quarters.
Weber State soon gifted the Hornets a 14-yard field when a Henry Way punt attempt glanced lightly off his toe and into the scrum at the line of scrimmage. Sac State running back Rodney Hammond Jr. punched in a TD on the next play for a 14-3 lead.
Three minutes later, Williams scooted around the left end for a 51-yard keeper to make it 21-3 with 11:03 left in the first half.
“You just can’t be down (like that) in a monsoon and expect good things to happen,” Mental said.
With a spark from redshirt freshman running back Boogie Sylvester and a roughing-the-passer penalty, the Wildcats finally answered. Sylvester ran five times for 26 yards on the drive and picked up a third-down conversion with a 13-yard reception. That led to Jennings diving in for a 5-yard touchdown run at the right pylon, with continued blocking from tight end Noah Bennee, to make it 21-10.
WSU wouldn’t find the end zone again until 1:37 remained in the third quarter and it was again Sylvester providing the juice. After rushing four times for 19 yards, Sylvester was the recipient of a smooth Jennings rollout, escaping pressure from the nation’s sack leaders to hit Sylvester for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
“I like to approach practice with a great mindset every day. I don’t always feel 100 but I know I’m going to have to prepare myself for Saturdays,” Sylvester said. “I haven’t really played a lot since high school so it feels good to get back out there and get back into the groove of things and always stay ready for opportunities like this.”
WSU began to find at least some yards through the air in the second half as the rain let up significantly, but Sac State runners were still as slippery as ever, continuing to break tackles up and down the field.
And at that point, the score was 35-20. Sacramento State used eight run plays to go 82 yards and make it 28-10 just before halftime, then converted a 45-yard field early in the third quarter for a TD to go up 35-10.
Impressively, given the weather, WSU kicker Sloan Calder made a career-high 52-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 48-yarder in the third quarter.
Midway through the fourth, Jennings opened up the pass game even more, going 5 of 6 for 75 yards on one drive — highlighted by a 30-yard jump ball tight end Noah Bennee won at the Sac State 5 — to lead another TD drive. Sylvester carried in the final 5 yards and Weber State kept within shouting distance at 41-27 with 8:36 left.
But that brief hope was short-lived. Hammond, hurting his own bid to give Sacramento State three 100-yard rushers, returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and a 48-27 lead.
But Hammond finished the trifecta soon anyway. After Weber State left a drive just past midfield on a turnover on downs, Sac State made history by handing Hammond the ball four times to get him across the century mark.
For the first time in program history, Sacramento State had three 100-yard rushers: Williams with 12 carries for 139 yards, Hammond with 15 carries for 106 yards, and Jaquail Smith — who entered the game with two carries for 1 yard this season — finishing with 17 carries for 135 yards.
That trio combined for seven rushing touchdowns. Sacramento State finished with 397 rushing yards to Weber State’s 301 total yards.
The Hornets entered as the No. 15 rushing offense in the country and poor tackling aided Sac State in looking like the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles.
“We’ll look at the tape and see what technique we’ve got to improve on in tackling. We left a lot out there at the second level, and even at the first level,” Mental said. “Having better eye discipline on some of those QB seals, making sure we have somebody there. And when they’re there, they’ve got to make the tackle. There’s countless times I felt there were guys in the holes and we just missed our tackles.”
Sylvester finished with 83 yards on 17 carries while catching four passes for 54 yards, leading Weber State in both categories. Godley had 13 carries for 56 yards.
Jennings finished 16 of 28 for 157, and managed to take only two sacks against a defense averaging 4.4 per game. He passed 12 of 17 for 136 yards in the non-rainy second half. Kelton Wafer caught two passes for 30 yards.
Angel King and Trevian Tribble each had nine tackles for Weber State.
For Sacramento State, Williams attempted just nine passes, going 5 of 9 for 53 yards.
SOLO QUARTERBACK
Mental said earlier this week his plan was to play both Jennings and true freshman Kingston Tisdell at quarterback but, after the game kicked off, he stuck with Jennings throughout based on what he said was his “feel” for the situation.
“First half, didn’t want to put (Tisdell) in a bad situation. Gave Dijon the first quarter and then we’re going against the wind with heavy rain; don’t think it’s fair to the kid to throw him into a situation like that,” Mental said. “And the second half, I thought (Jennings) played really well and I wanted to stay with him and keep it consistent. … It was my call in understanding the weather, the situation.”
WHAT ABOUT FRESQUES
Former Northridge High standout and freshman Jaxon Fresques got some early shine in his return with Sac State. He caught a 2-yard pass early in the contest and helped key the Hornets’ first touchdown drive on a trick play. Taking a receiver sweep handoff, Fresques pulled up and threw a 10-yard pass to Ernest Campbell for a first down. He also returned one punt for 2 yards.
UP NEXT
With the schedule looking dire from here, Weber State has at least some chance to get things rolling in the next two weeks. The Wildcats go to Portland State (0-6, 0-2) next week before hosting Eastern Washington (2-4, 1-1) on Oct. 25.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
The biggest news in the Big Sky came from Moscow, where Northern Colorado decimated No. 11 Idaho in a 49-33 decision. Eric Gibson Jr. threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears, who won the turnover battle 3-0.
No. 4 Montana 28, Cal Poly 9
No. 5 Montana State 48, Idaho State 14
No. 6 UC Davis 45, No. 14 Northern Arizona 24
Northern Colorado 49, No. 11 Idaho 33
