But there might be more pressing matters for Weber State football as the Wildcats prepare to face Southern Utah in a nonconference matchup.

Former Texas Tech pitcher Will Burns is now slinging the pill for the Thunderbirds, taking over the starting job this year, while San Jose State transfer Floyd Chalk is attempting to give SUU the nation’s top running back for the third straight year.

The numbers tell the story.

Last week in a 28-21 loss at No. 2 Montana, Burns was 24 of 34 for 251 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and rushed 15 times for 119 yards. Chalk had 100 yards on 25 carries.

Bad news for a Weber State defense that allowed 5.6 yards per carry last week at Northern Colorado.

“Coach (DeLane) Fitzgerald knows exactly who he wants to be as a coach, offensive-wise. They have a clear identity of wanting to run the ball,” said Tanner Jacobson, WSU’s associate head coach and linebackers coach. “It pops out on film; the quarterback is a really good player, the running back’s a really good player.”

Jacobson said they’ve got an eye on just how much the Wildcats can improve from Game 1 to Game 2, typically the week when young teams grow the most. But Southern Utah’s scheme puts playmakers, including the QB, on the move in a way that opens a clear option to the signal caller on each play.

“You’ve got a great player like (Burns), it’s probably unrealistic to expect to shut him down completely. But we have our goals with quantitative data of what we want,” Jacobson said. “Our linebackers just have to play within the scheme. Trust the guy next to you to do their job; you’ve got to have 11 guys doing their job, tackling with a high effort.”

It helps to have emerging playmakers beyond the run game, and SUU had to have Montana feeling somewhat lucky that the T-Birds didn’t score more points.

Northridge High alum Joshua Acord proved a deadly target for Burns, catching six passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns from the tight end spot. Davis High alum David Spjut caught three passes for 29 yards as a slot receiver, and former BYU transfer Devin Downing had five catches for 61 yards.

“We’ve got some schematics, how to try to bottle up the quarterback in certain situations that we’re practicing for and want to execute on Saturday,” Jacobson said. “But the mentality doesn’t change that much. A little awareness, preparedness, but at the end of the day you’ve got to trust your scheme and have great preparation. You win the game during the week.”

One shining plus from the win at Northern Colorado was special teams.

Newcomer David Dellenbach thudded field goals of 44, 42 and 39 yards with seeming ease, while returning punter Henry Way averaged 47.7 yards on three boots. Oh, and the Wildcats blocked two PATs and mixed a NoCo missed field goal in there, too.

Jacobson, who is also WSU’s special teams coordinator, was happy.

“We hit a lot of our goals. It wasn’t perfect but I thought our specialists played exceptionally well. The players executed at a high level,” he said. “Any time you can end the game with special teams — both the block and the hands team was really good.”