But had he not suited up, the Wildcats would’ve had just one of four captains dressed to play on the walk to midfield, where they met their Southern Utah counterparts for the pregame coin toss at sunny, windy Eccles Coliseum.

The injury to quarterback Devin Brown was well-known, but fifth-year linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii was unable to get back from being banged up last week and did not have on pads.

That sort of thing is already impacting the Wildcats more than any coach would want through two weeks of a season, even as Weber State has shown more signs of life under first-year head coach Eric Kjar than most of last season despite taking a 47-42 loss to SUU.

In the few moments Weber State’s defense had all four of its starting linebackers playing in Game 1 at Northern Colorado — Tinirauarii, Teni Worthen, Da’Veon Ross and Will Cornelson — the defense looked solid enough. And coaches generally felt good about the starting lineup WSU had ready to put on the field this season. But, it’s a tall task to keep all your top guys healthy for a full season.

If Tinirauarii does return next week, he’ll likely be replacing Ross. The junior college transfer got in a big collision during the second half and lay motionless on the field for some time; it would be surprising if he’s ready or cleared to play when WSU travels to Colorado.

Fifth-year cornerback Tajon Evans was worse for wear after the game, too. He left with an injury in the second half and was on crutches after the game.

WSU has players giving effort, no doubt. There’s hardly a player in the country with the level of big-play defensive impact that freshman linebacker Zach Smith has provided. But on a play-to-play basis, these injuries will only make it more difficult for a defense allowing 313.5 rushing yards per game.

WSU will need more from new guys to turn the tide.

“I think we just need to be more physical up front, be a little bit more gap sound and fit run better,” Kjar said after the game. “I think sometimes we’re getting out of gaps and getting up the field a little too much. … I thought there were a lot of good things they did at certain times. But any time you give up, whatever it was, 350 yards rushing, you’re not going to be super happy about that.”

To Tribble’s credit, by the way: even after hobbling off in pain several times Saturday, he came back time and time again, finishing with nine tackles and some key moments to get the defense off the field.

“He still has some stuff going on, but love the way he fought. That’s just how he is,” Kjar said about Tribble in his postgame radio interview. “He’s one of our captains; he’s going to fight for us and play hard. … Hopefully he can start feeling a little bit better.”

DAHLE SHOWS UP

Freshman quarterback Nate Dahle totaled 282 passing yards and 81 more on the ground in his first college start, leading running back Spencer Ferguson to call him a “freaking baller” and say that “he just doesn’t blink.”

“He actually played really, really well. I was happy with what he did,” Kjar said. “There were a few things that he’s probably upset about but I thought, overall, he just was really, really poised and played well and did a good job getting the ball out on guys, and really got the ball to our receivers in good spots.

“He played a little tight late, but I think the more he plays, he’s going to loosen up and be fine in those situations,” he said on the radio.

“He started playing a little outside the scheme, but he’s young. He’ll figure that out,” Kjar said on the field after the game. “We can be better around him, too, also, like receiver-wise, up front, there are some things we need to be better at in the run scheme, and things like that.”

NOAH DOUBT ABOUT IT

Wide receiver Noah Kjar is proving to be the guy, offensively, for these Wildcats. So far, the junior is averaging 132 receiving yards and two touchdowns per game. He’s been the go-to target for both Brown and Dahle through two games, and has an impressive 17.6 yards-per-reception average.

BURNS IS A DUDE

SUU quarterback Will Burns is my frontrunner for Big Sky offensive MVP, at this point.

In two games (at Montana, and home to Weber State), Burns is 34 of 52 for 397 yards, four touchdowns and one interception through the air.

Modest for a QB, but that’s not all he’s doing.

Burns also has 28 carries for 267 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground, and does so at 9.5 yards per carry. That’s an average of 198.5 passing yards, 133.5 rushing yards and three total TDs per game.

“He’s a handful, just with what he can do from an athletic standpoint. He can run it all over the field, and he’s super quick, a fast accelerator, which I think is really, really tough when you have those type of guys,” Kjar said. “This was a really tough game for us defensively to try to handle all that they do.”

WSU IS ‘FIGHTING’

Kjar can see all the places Weber State needs to improve but was still optimistic as he walked the half-mile from the stadium to SUU’s basketball arena, which is where the T-Birds put the visiting football locker room.

“I think they’re fighting, which I’m proud of them for. They’ve come together really good. I think they have a chance to get a lot better if they really realize what they could end up being, if we kind of lock in here and continue to roll through the season,” Kjar said.

“If we have a tough mindset — there’s going to be adversity on the way but I think Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, we can be pretty good if we continue to take steps forward. I like where we’re at and what we’re doing. We just need to keep improving and coaching hard.”