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Weber State running back Davion Godley (25) runs for a gain against UC Davis on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State defensive end Keahnist Thompson, left, battles UC Davis offensive lineman Eli Simonson on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State quarterback Jackson Gilkey (2) drops back to pass while lineman Nelson Arapa (64) blocks and UC Davis safety Rex Connors (4) eyes the play on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State receiver Kash Gates, left, runs with the ball as UC Davis defender Jayden Stanley pursues on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State quarterback Jackson Gilkey (2) runs the football against UC Davis on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State's defense, left, lines up against the UC Davis offense on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Davis, Calif.

Paul Grua, Weber State Athletics

❮ ❯

For 54 minutes, Saturday night’s story for Weber State football was just how inefficient its offense has been with scoring opportunities over the last two weeks. Now, it’s about who will next get the start at quarterback.

WSU sophomore QB Jackson Gilkey went down with a grisly-looking ankle injury with 6 minutes left and the Wildcats took a 34-12 loss at No. 9 UC Davis.

Entering a bye week, Weber State (2-3, 0-1 Big Sky) will have two weeks to put on a competition between the QBs who have not been on the depth chart this season.

The top-10 Aggies had all but put the game away when freshman quarterback Caden Pinnick threw an easy 85-yard touchdown to Sam Gbatu Jr; blown coverage on a play-action fake left Gbatu streaking up the left hashmarks for an unchallenged run to the end zone. That put UC Davis (3-1, 1-0) ahead 34-6 with 8:59 left.

On a frustrating night for the offense, Weber State quickly moved the ball and picked up three first downs trying to punch in a few scores and make it interesting. But Gilkey, who had taken direct hits for five games this season as a plus addition to the run game, suffered his injury Saturday without contact.

His 5-yard rush got WSU to the Davis 37-yard line and, clear of the line to gain and with defenders closing, Gilkey pulled up for a feet-first slide to move on to the next play. Except when his slide was finished, his left foot was not pointing the correct way. With help, Gilkey eventually hopped off the field on his right foot only.

It put a sour punctuation on a night full of injuries for the Wildcats, and likely leaves junior Dijon Jennings and freshman Kingston Tisdell to battle for the start when Sacramento State comes to Ogden on Oct. 11.

“I’ll get with our medical staff and see where it’s at. I know they put it back in,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said in a postgame radio interview. “So thoughts and prayers with him, and hopefully he can be healthy when he comes back. … It stinks, it’s the first time he’s slid and what happened, happened.”

It was Jennings with the unenviable call to take over after seeing a teammate suffer such an injury, and the first play displayed what was likely the sentiment for the Wildcats as a whole: a high snap went over Jennings’ head, and he chased it down for a 15-yard loss.

At the very least, though, Jennings tossed a screen to Davion Godley and he reversed field, weaved through traffic and picked up the first down on second-and-25. Four plays later, Marcus Chretien made an acrobatic catch in the back corner of the end zone, giving Jennings an 11-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring (with a failed PAT attempt) at 34-12.

A turnover (WSU won the turnover margin 1-0) and three good kick returns gave the Wildcats good field position on several occasions but the Jennings-to-Chretien touchdown with 3:03 left was the only time Weber found the end zone.

The Wildcats had 10 possessions Saturday; eight went into UC Davis territory, five made it to the red zone, and three went inside the Davis 10. But 12 points was all WSU had to show for it. That came a week after Weber State began four possessions at the Butler 35 or better and scored only nine points on those four chances.

“We’ve got to execute and get touchdowns instead of field goals — I think this game’s a little different in the fourth quarter, so we’ve got to do a better job of that,” Mental said about WSU’s red-zone offense. “It’s me, I’ve got to be better when we’re down in the red zone, to be honest with you.”

The first opportunity came midway through the first quarter when WSU forced a fumble from Aggies running back Carter Vargas. WSU safety Angel King recovered at the Davis 45-yard line. WSU netted 3 yards and punted.

A methodical, 13-play drive got WSU to the UC Davis 19 early in the second quarter but, once there, the Wildcats settled for a Sloan Calder 33-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead at the 12:13 mark.

That’s when the game turned. UC Davis ran for 357 yards against Southern Utah last week but Weber State appeared up for the challenge. The Aggies took their next possession into a three-and-out thanks to an Ishaan Daniels pass breakup, Montae Pate sniffing out an underneath route and rocking a UCD receiver for a short gain, and defensive end Josh Hardy forcing Pinnick into a scramble and chasing him from behind for a short gain.

In the most untimely fashion, however, Weber State’s only penalty of the game decided otherwise. Several WSU defenders seemed to stand over Pinnick on Weber’s sideline after Hardy’s chasedown tackle; freshman defensive lineman Zion Finau was tagged with the unsportsmanlike conduct flag among the group, so UC Davis’ drive continued.

That became a 14-play drive of 5:06 that UC Davis finished with Pinnick pulling a handoff and taking it himself to the left pylon for six. The Aggies led 7-3 with 7:07 left in the first half and never looked back.

That helped Pinnick come to life. He threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Vargas 3 minutes later, then used his feet to lead a 1-minute drive against the halftime clock. The latter led to Hunter Ridley putting through a 45-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead.

“He’s a great ad-libber,” Mental said about Pinnick. “He does a fantastic job of buying time, keeping his eyes downfield, and his receivers work for him downfield.”

WSU likely felt like that score should’ve been 14-10 after its final two possessions of the half came after good kickoff returns. Jayleen Record’s 37-yard return set WSU up at its own 49 but the Wildcats went three-and-out and punted.

The next time, Trevian Tribble’s 31-yard return to midfield added a UC Davis penalty for a late hit out of bounds. On a 33-yard field, Gilkey hit Noah Bennee on a 24-yard vertical route and Chauncey Sylvester rushed WSU to the Davis 4-yard line. But Gilkey was sacked on third-and-goal, and Calder missed a 27-yard field goal.

Despite the missed chances, it still wasn’t over midway through the third quarter. Weber pressured Pinnick but he escaped for big scrambles to get to the WSU 20, where the quarterback temporarily left the game injured. WSU’s defense held there, and Ridley made a 25-yard field goal to make it 20-3.

A 31-yard slant from Gilkey to Marvin Session was the chunk play Weber needed to come to life. But facing third-and-2 at the UC Davis 6-yard line, the shotgun snap to Gilkey appeared to be sent early; Gilkey dropped the snap and fell on the ball for a loss. Instead of a touchdown, Calder made a 29-yard field goal to make it 20-6 with 3:11 left in the third.

“Can’t drop the snap; I think we got the look we wanted, which is unfortunate. We get that, it’s a different game,” Mental said.

The next sequence put the game away. Davis marched on a convincing, eight-play touchdown drive, with usual defensive back Rex Connors finishing the drive on a 2-yard rush to go up 27-6 early in the third.

WSU took its next possession to the UC Davis 13-yard line after a Gilkey 36-yard run, only to turn it over on downs when Gilkey threw a near-interception to the goal line.

Two plays later, Gbatu was streaking for his 85-yarder.

Saturday’s game was the first result in five matchups between the schools, and first since 2019, when a team reached the 20-point mark. Each of the last four games between UC Davis and Weber State finished with both teams scoring in the teens.

Gilkey finished 14 of 22 for 138 yards, adding 57 yards on 13 carries. Godley had 19 carries for 60 yards and Sylvester nine carries for 41 yards. Session caught three passes for 44 yards and Bennee had three for 43.

Defensively, linebackers Mayson Hitchens and Sione Hala each had six solo tackles. Kevin Johnson and Matt Herron each recorded one sack.

For UC Davis, Pinnick threw 16 of 27 for 288 yards and netted 48 rushing yards. Vargas picked up chunks with eight carries for 55 yards, adding two receptions for 60 yards. Gbatu’s home run gave him 112 yards on four receptions.

INJURIES PILE UP

In addition to Gilkey, several more Wildcats left the game hurt and did not return. That group includes starting offensive linemen Jacob Edmonds and Nelson Arapa, and starting defensive end Keahnist Thompson.

QBs GOING FORWARD

Redshirt freshman Cash McCollum has been listed as WSU’s backup quarterback all season but was not active Saturday due to a hand injury. Based on what Mental said after the game, it seems McCollum is not currently available.

“They’ll compete for it,” Mental said about Jennings and Tisdell. “We’ll find out what we’re going to do moving forward. … Dijon and Kingston bring you different elements and we’ll play to their strengths and call the game to their strengths.”

LOCALS GET CHANCES

Two freshmen from area high schools got opportunities Saturday thanks to injuries.

Redshirt freshman receiver Kash Gates entered the week listed as the backup slot receiver and caught one pass for 6 yards on a first-down throw.

Former do-it-all Roy High standout Robert Young, last year’s Standard-Examiner All-Area co-Player of the Year, also got some touches. Formerly an Idaho State commit, Young joined WSU’s roster this fall; due to the same Noah Kjar injury that put Gates on the depth chart, and Bird Butler going out with a banged-up knee in practice, the walk-on Young found himself returning punts Saturday.

His punt returns both came in the first quarter. The first was a learning experience; he fair-caught a punt at WSU’s 3-yard line. On his second, he turned upfield for a 10-yard gain that preceded Weber’s first scoring drive. Young also returned one kickoff in the third quarter, a short kick to his up-back spot that he moved 18 yards to the WSU 37.