Weber State football: Early gaffes doom Wildcats to home loss against EWU
Eastern Washington 23, Weber State 20
-
- Eastern Washington quarterback Nate Bell (2) rushes the football as Weber State defenders Mayson Hitchens (0) and Chevy Robinson (90) attempt to bring him down on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- Weber State defensive back Logan Mackey (28) fights to bring down an Eastern Washington ball carrier on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- Weber State running back Davion Godley trots into the end zone for a touchdown against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- Weber State defensive tackle Matt Herron (97) gets pressure on Eastern Washington quarterback Nate Bell (2) on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- An Eastern Washington receiver lunges forward at the sideline against Weber State’s Toddrick Dixon (16) on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- Weber State receiver Jayleen Record (4) runs with the football against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
-
- Weber State tight end Noah Bennee (84) fights for yardage on a reception against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
OGDEN — Weber State football scored a touchdown in three plays on its first possession, held visiting Eastern Washington to 23 yards in the second half and won the yardage battle 345-199.
That sounds like the recipe for success, but it wasn’t so Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium.
The Wildcats found new ways to lose over 60 minutes in the conference tilt, falling 23-20 to the Eagles in a decision that drops head coach Mickey Mental’s record in home Big Sky games to 3-7 and saw two more offensive skill players go down with injuries.
“They won the special teams battle, they won the turnover battle, we won the rushing,” Mental said. “We had to have two of those three to get a victory.”
The entire game hinged on two plays.
Weber State (3-5, 1-3 Big Sky) opened the game with Dijon Jennings throwing deep to Jayleen Record for 37 yards. Two plays later, Davion Godley, returning after a week off due to a concussion, scampered 34 yards for a touchdown.
Eastern Washington (4-4, 3-1) had to contend with a rejuvenated, ball-swarming WSU defense all game and it began from the jump: Matt Herron sacked dual-threat QB Nate Bell on the first play of the game and linebacker Sione Hala had a near interception on the next play.
A quick three-and-out sent EWU punter Landon Ogles onto the field, and he’d quickly become the game’s MVP. He bombed a 64-yard punt (from the line of scrimmage, though it traveled 73 yards in the air) that sent WSU returner Bird Butler racing back for at least 15 yards. Instead of letting it go, Butler attempted a catch on a backpedal.
That went poorly. The ball glanced off Butler’s hands as he lost his balance at the WSU 17, then hit his feet as he tumbled backward. That sent the ball flying back to the WSU 2-yard line, where EWU’s Wesley Garrett recovered.
QB-turned-RB Jared Taylor punched in the 2-yarder from there and, though total yards favored Weber State 75 to minus-4, the game was tied 7-7 in an eventful first 2:11 of game time.
Late in the first quarter, Ogles pinned Weber at its own 6-yard line and, on the next play, WSU’s shotgun snap never left the ground. It rolled past Jennings to his left and into the end zone; the quarterback slid near the back line to recover for a safety before an Eastern player could score a touchdown, and Eastern took a 9-7 lead with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
“When you put guys in bad situations early on — it’s tough to stop someone at the (2-yard line) and give them free points on the safety,” Mental said.
Last week to beat Idaho, Bell passed for 177 yards and rushed for 134 more. So, for a defense that got freight-trained by Sacramento State’s run game two weeks ago, holding the Eagles to 199 total yards should’ve been good enough.
“Man, they answered the bell. We challenged them, coach (Joe) Dale and his staff did a fantastic job putting together a game plan. The kids executed really, really well,” Mental said.
In the second quarter, Hala and Herron combined to drop Taylor for a loss on a fourth-and-1 attempt. Butler soon ripped a 45-yard run with a nice cut at the line of scrimmage, setting up Boogie Sylvester for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the EWU 5, putting WSU up 14-9 with 9:34 left in the half.
The muffed punt and the bad-snap safety were clearly the most consequential plays of the game but, if there was a third such play, it came next.
On a third-and-11 from the EWU 34, Bell threw over the middle to Nolan Ulm across midfield. WSU freshman cornerback Davonta Morgan-Collins read the throw and came from behind to get two hands on the ball; the Weber crowd cheered an apparent interception. But when the players landed, it was Ulm with the ball, winning a crucial 50-50 ball for a 24-yard reception.
That became a 12-play drive of 5:02 that ended with an ugly floater to Jaxon Branch on a Bell scramble, a 7-yard passing TD that put Eastern in front 16-14 with 4:32 left in the half.
Weber went three and out, punting back to the EWU 35. A big RPO pass to Noah Cronquist of 21 yards kick-started the Eagles’ next drive. Weber continued to hassle Bell around the pocket but he scrambled out of a sack for 14 yards. A Montae Pate pass breakup in the end zone was flagged as pass interference, setting up Taylor for another 2-yard TD rush to give Eastern a 23-14 lead at halftime.
Weber State would hold EWU to 23 total yards the rest of the way. Eastern racked up 111 yards on its two second-quarter TD drives but netted only 88 yards on its other 12 possessions. The Wildcats had 12 tackles for loss and four sacks, with Hala totaling 2.5 TFLs and often acting as a quarterback spy.
WSU’s first possession of the second half ended when Jennings threw an interception to EWU’s pickmaster Jaylon Jenkins. Mental said it was Jennings’ lone true mistake of the game; in his eyes, Jennings forced a throw on the run that was too late and should’ve been a different decision.
With Eastern’s offense doing nothing, though, Weber was soon on the move after Godley opened the next drive with runs of 27 and 12 yards. But Sylvester slipped for no gain on the next play at the EWU 26, resulting in Sloan Calder making a field goal from 38 yards. That made the score 23-17 with 5:57 left in the third.
Sylvester, a breakout running back over the previous two games, went out with an injury during the possession; though his status is unknown, he was seen on the medical cart with his right knee wrapped in ice.
That soon got worse. Defensive end Josh Hardy also left the game in the third quarter and was later seen on crutches. Calder had a 57-yard field goal attempt blocked but Weber forced a punt in three plays to get the ball back.
That’s when Godley suffered what, absent an official medical evaluation, appeared to be a severe knee injury. He took a screen pass and was swarmed for a loss of 3 yards and, on the tackle, his left knee buckled inside. It elicited reactions from nearby players on both sides; WSU’s offense took a knee in apparent prayer while trainers tended to Godley and WSU’s ESPN+ broadcast opted not to show a replay.
Godley finished with eight carries for 95 yards and totaled 404 rushing yards in his last four games.
Record said the play affected him perhaps more than most; the receiver had the block on the perimeter swing pass that led to the tackle.
“I missed that block. I think it had a big impact on me individually,” Record said about Godley’s injury. “I didn’t uphold the defender. … (Godley) is our guy. He can sprint, he can make moves, he can run through you. … You can’t expect the next guy to be better than him and make plays as (good) as he could.
“So we’ve just got to practice better and be clean.”
Despite punting to open the fourth quarter, Weber State’s offense seemed like it would challenge Eastern to hold onto the lead. WSU converted two third downs on its next possession to march to the EWU 20, but Kelton Wafer dropped a second-down slant inside the 10 that resulted in Calder putting a 37-yard field goal off the left upright and in to make it 23-20.
That drive, however, ate 5:25 off the clock. The field goal came with 6:23 on the clock and WSU got the ball back on a punt with 2:59 remaining, though with three timeouts and the 2-minute stoppage still left.
It wasn’t to be, however. Weber moved the ball to its own 40 to reach the 2-minute timeout; after the break, Jennings threw an interception that was the kind of unfortunate luck you can’t afford given previous mistakes. Receiver Marvin Session bracketed Noah Bennee on the right side of the formation and, on the snap, the two crossed to send Session inside and Bennee outside. Session’s slant was open but, in crossing inside, his foot clipped the foot of the defender following Bennee outside.
Session fell and EWU’s Ambrose Marsh was there for the game-clinching turnover.
Jennings passed 17 of 27 for 140 yards. Record caught five passes for 46 yards. Butler finished with 47 yards on two carries.
For Eastern, Bell threw 20 of 29 for 169 yards; he rushed for 51 gross yards but took 31 in losses for a net of 20, and Taylor added 23 yards on 11 carries. Cronquist had five catches for 66 yards.
It’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel now for Weber State, with three of its final four games coming against ranked teams. That starts next week at home with No. 4 Montana in town before a trip to No. 5 Montana State.
