Preview: Weber State football travels south looking for payback at hot, humid McNeese
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- Weber State defensive end Brayden Wilson (94) battles McNeese offensive lineman Greg Knox (79) on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State defensive back Logan Mackey (28) forces a fumble against McNeese quarterback Clifton McDowell on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
Week 3 of Weber State football’s criss-cross of the country takes the Wildcats to Louisiana to face the McNeese Cowboys.
One year ago, Weber State left a bunch of empty yards on the field in the first half and a probable game-winning, 40-yard touchdown pass on the turf in the second half to take a 28-26 home loss to the Cowboys.
A decent bit has changed since then. Weber State said goodbye to several starters via the transfer portal, including its quarterback. McNeese said goodbye to its coach and hello to its old one: Matt Viator, who was head coach for the Cowboys from 2006-15, is back in charge. Viator was at McNeese for 17 total years and went 10-0 in the 2015 regular season.
“He obviously did a fantastic job there for a number of years before he came back,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said. “So a lot of respect for them, they’re a good team. We’ve got to play well.”
Like Weber State, McNeese is playing its first FCS game this week. The Cowboys opened with NAIA Louisiana Christian at home (a 54-9 win) and traveled 1 hour east to face FBS Louisiana-Lafayette, picked to go No. 2 in the Sun Belt (a 34-10 loss). WSU, meanwhile, played Power 4 foe Arizona and Sun Belt overall favorite James Madison.
After this game, Weber State will have traveled nearly 9,000 miles this season. McNeese will have traveled about 80.
MEET THE COWBOYS
It’s possible McNeese has found a strong replacement for former Montana transfer and outgoing senior Clifton McDowell — Jake Strong, to be exact.
Through two games, the sophomore and Texas Tech transfer has thrown for 520 yards (260 per game) at a 71% completion rate with three touchdowns and one interception. Strong (No. 4) redshirted 2024 but, as a true freshman in 2023, played nearly two full games for the Red Raiders, throwing for 409 total yards in losses to Kansas State and BYU.
McNeese’s leading rusher is Marquez Davis, who ran for 97 yards against Louisiana Christian, but his absence on the depth chart suggests he’s injured. Bryce Strong (No. 2), who ran four times for 41 yards in Ogden last year (15 carries for 57 yards this season) is listed as co-starter with Tre’Vonte Citizen (No.7), who has 14 carries for 86 yards over two games.
UAB transfer and redshirt freshman Josh Jackson (No. 5) is Strong’s top target so far. The former No.1-rated receiver in Louisiana has eight catches for 145 yards in two games. Senior tight end Logan Mauldin (No. 21) returns and has taken a much larger receiving load than last year so far, catching five balls for 116 yards.
On defense, 5-foot-9 junior safety Shoes Brinkley (No. 14) has anchored the defense with a team-high 17 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, with the defense’s only interception. Middle linebacker Landon Barrett (No. 17) had two tackles against Weber State last year. He played in only two games due to an injury in 2024, but the junior has 14 tackles this season.
Fabrizio Pinton (No. 80) handles punting and kicking, averaging 40 yards per punt and going 2 for 2 (45 and 38 yards) on field goals.
TEAM VS. TEAM METRICS
Sample sizes and opponents make averages minimally instructive, but two things stand out about McNeese: the Cowboys have a negative turnover margin even after playing an NAIA school, and are one of the most penalized teams in FCS.
Weber State’s averages are, as one can imagine, ugly. WSU has scored 6.5 points on 166 yards per game, including a 3.0 yards-per-play average. Defensively, the Wildcats give up 46.5 points on 507 yards and 7.3 yards per play.
WSU is now minus-three in the turnover margin. Offensively, Jackson Gilkey has thrown five interceptions while no Wildcat has fumbled this season. Defensively, Weber gained an interception and a fumble at JMU before striking out at Arizona.
For McNeese, the offense totaled 54 points on 664 yards in one game against an NAIA team, and 10 points on 238 yards against an FBS opponent. Overall, McNeese averages 6.7 yards per play.
Defensively, the Cowboys allowed nine points on 141 yards against the NAIA foe and 34 points on 401 yards against an FBS opponent. Its defensive average yards per play is 4.2.
McNeese is minus-two in turnover margin. The Cowboys have thrown one interception and fumbled five times, losing two for three giveaways, while gaining one interception and zero recovered fumbles out of three forced, for a total of one takeaway.
McNeese has been penalized 15 times for 185 yards this season (92.5 yards per game). WSU has taken 10 penalties for 89 yards (44.5 per game).
ODDS & PREDICTIONS
Jeff Sagarin ranks Weber State at No. 166 in all of Division I (FBS and FCS, 265 total teams). McNeese is at No. 200. Including home-field advantage, his formula favors Weber State by one point.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks Weber State at No. 75 in FCS (129 teams) and McNeese at 55. His formula predicts a McNeese victory of 31-23.
D Ratings predicts a Weber State win of 28-26 at 54% probability.
WEATHER
Weber State played two hot, humid games to start last year (Lamar, Northwestern State) and gets another one this week. Saturday’s high temperature in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is forecast to be 95 degrees with a humidity of 54% and a UV Index of 10 (out of 11).
At the 6 p.m. local kickoff (5 p.m. MDT), that drops to 89 degrees. After the sun sets at 7:20 p.m., it will cool to the low 80s by the end of the game.
TV & RADIO
The game broadcast streams on the ESPN+ subscription service, available on the ESPN app or plus.espn.com. Jeff Palermo, Chaston Tavares and Rylee Eyster have the call. Weber State’s radio call, with Carl Arky and Jerry Graybeal, airs in Utah on 103.1 FM and online at 1031thewave.com.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Wildcats can’t seem to grab a win against the Cowboys. McNeese is 4-1 in the all-time series. WSU won the first matchup in 1990 but McNeese won in 1992, 2012, 2013 and 2024.
