After five straight losses, what is there left to be said about the Weber State football team? Surely this season has been a massive setback by any measure. High hopes in August and September have given way to frustration, disappointment, and worst of all, apathy, in November.
That being said, the Wildcats showed
signs of life in Moscow on Saturday. The Wildcats gave the #8 ranked Idaho
Vandals more than they bargained for, who perhaps expected the Cats to roll
over and die. As I watched the game on Saturday, I wasn’t really frustrated
with the Wildcats. This was by far the best they had looked since the Montana
game. We kept the game interesting into the fourth quarter and saw some great
individual performances. Now, I’m not really “moral victory” guy. The Wildcats still
lost, which sucks, no matter what your record is. However, while watching the
game, I did notice several positives and improvements from previous games. Instead
of coming on here and writing about all the areas we didn’t play well, I
want to highlight some of the aspects of the game I thought we did play
well.
Quarterback play
Richie Munoz went 20/32 for 207
yards and 2 TDs. That’s a 63% completion percentage—Not bad. The ball was
spread all around the field, with 11 different players having receptions. I
have to remind myself sometimes that Munoz is just a sophomore. Munoz is a good
quarterback. He plays with poise and toughness, which I love. The thing I like
most about him is that he plays fearless. He isn’t scared to make the
long throw or chuck it while being flushed from the pocket. We are fortunate to
have a talented passer in Munoz, because for so long, the Wildcats have been a very
run heavy offense. To put it into context, Richie, in just 15 starts, is 16th
all time in career passing yards at Weber State. His QB rating this year is an
impressive 135.1 with 23 TDs and 5 INTs. I’ll say it again—Munoz is a good
quarterback. His size may limit him from receiving a lot of interest from
higher levels of college football, which is good news for the Wildcats. I
really hope he stays for two more years. By the time this kid is a senior—watch
out.
Individual Defensive Efforts
While giving up 31 points isn’t especially
impressive, there were some impressive individual efforts on the defensive side
of the ball. Sophomore linebacker Mason Hitchens was all over the place and had
a career high 10 tackles, doubling his previous high of 5. LB Garrett Beck had
6 tackles and one QB Hurry. Ever reliable DE Braydon Wilson also had 6 tackles.
Senior DE Kemari Munier-Bailey had 4 tackles, one of which was a tackle for loss
and 2 QB hurries. And of course, the defensive highlight of the game – Freshman
Ishaan Daniels with an interception.
Special Teams
A point of conversation on the
broadcast was how Weber State always seems to have good special teams. I think
we, as Wildcat fans, have gotten so used to having stellar special teams play
that we take it for granted sometimes. If it weren’t for the special teams in
this game, the score would have been much more lopsided. Noah Kjar had two very
impressive returns of 43 and 47 yards, and the Vandals stopped kicking to him
in the 2nd half. Kyle Thompson was perfect on the day – hitting a 31-yard
FG and 3/3 on PATs. Oscar Doyle, one of the best punters in FCS football played
a huge role in flipping the field position in this game, with 7 punts, 2 inside
the 20 and a long of 63. Give the often-forgotten Special Teams guys some
credit, they played about as well as you could have hoped.
I’m really hoping these
positives continue and lead to a much-needed victory on Senior Day this coming
Saturday vs Cal Poly. Senior Day is emotional day in College Football, for the
players, their families, and the coaches. For most of young men in their early
20s, college will be the end of their football careers. There are seven seniors
on our current 2-deep roster (the lowest number of seniors in the Big Sky).
Quick highlight of each one:
Jacob Sharp – Weber State’s
leading receiver this season has been a consistent producer on offense for
three seasons. Over his career, Sharp has caught 112 passes for 1,723 yard and
17 TDs including two 3TD games (2023 @ Cal Poly and 2024 @ Sac State). Sharp is
current 25th in all time receptions, 20th in all time
receiving yards. Sharp should be selected as an all-conference player this year
and will be sorely missed.
Zeke Birch – Defensive Tackle
who has been with Weber State for all 4 seasons of his college career and
logged significant playing time in the last 3 seasons. Birch has totaled 75
tackles, of which 28 were solo tackles, and 1.5 sacks. No doubt a major
contributor to Weber State’s stacked defensive line.
Steven Bryant – Another interior
lineman who has stacked up tackles for the last 3 seasons. Bryant has totaled
39 tackles including an impressive 4.5 sacks. Bryant also has a pass deflection
and a fumble recovery. Another key piece of Weber State’s stacked D Line.
Kemari Munier-Bailey –
While we only got to witness Defensive End Kemari Munier-Bailey play in the purple
and white for one season, it won’t be long forgotten. In my opinion, Kemari was
the breakout player of the year on the defensive side of the ball, and logged
some impressive stats—45 tackles, 39 solo and a jaw dropping 7.5 sacks, which
is top 25 in all of FCS for this season. The Englishman will have one more game
to add to his short, albeit impressive legacy at Weber State.
Garrett Beck – The Wildcats
menacing Linebacker who stacked up impressive numbers despite battling some injuries
in his senior season. Beck is one of those players who can dominate the field
on any given play and will sorely be missed. In his career at Weber State, Beck
totaled 163 tackles, 80 solo, 2 pass deflections, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles,
2 interceptions and ever 2 returns for TDs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beck gets
placed on an all-conference team this year, even with the missed time for injuries.
Kyle Thompson – Now correct
me if I’m wrong but didn’t senior kicker Kyle Thompson just become the all-time
leader in point scored at Weber State this season?! Kyle has been booting FGs
and PATs for 5 seasons now. Kyle has kicked 62/87 FGs for a 71% FG percentage,
and 156 PATs.
Grant Sands – 4 year starting
long snapper Grant Sands has been nothing but automatic for the Wildcats
special teams during his career. Perhaps the most underappreciated and
forgotten position on an entire football team is the long snapper. A big reason
our punting game has been so good the past 4 seasons is because Sands has been
automatic and near flawless in his position.
I’ll be rooting for the Wildcats,
and especially these seniors to have a great game this coming Saturday. And
while this season hasn’t yielded the results we all wanted and were expecting, the
Wildcats need to win their final game of the season to carry at least a little
bit of momentum going into the offseason. Who knows what this team will look
like next season, but for our one remaining game, I think the Wildcats can get
the W. Cal Poly isn’t that good (join the club) and hopefully will cower in the
cold Utah weather. For one last time this season, I’ll be watching and hoping
for a Weber State victory.
Go Wildcats
Michael Garlick
Great Article Michael!
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