• CA Forever
    670
    Week 4 of the season and the Aggies travel to Ogden, Utah to take on the Wildcats of Weber State. In the latest coaches poll to come out WSU is ranked #18 whereas they are ranked #23 in the STATS poll. The Wildcats come into this contest with a 2-1 record, blowing out NAIA Montana Western (1-3) 76-0, losing to Cal (3-0) 20-33, and narrowly escaped Sac State (1-2) 31-24. Outside of SDSU, WSU will be the Aggies biggest task so far this season. Here are some of the Wildcats that we should be keeping an eye out for.

    RB Treshawn Garrett (Jr) - Weber State's main running back, although they have a handful of guys that can do damage. Hasn't had any huge gainers on the season so far (long of 12 yards), but he is consistently solid (averaging 5.2 yards per carry).

    QB Stefan Cantwell (Sr) - The main part of the Wildcat's offense. He'll get it done through the air and on the ground. He has passed for just over 700 yards on the season and he is leading the team in rushing attempts as well. Similarly to facing PSU and Eason, we are going to have to contain him the only issue being that he is a much better passer than Eason.

    WR Rashid Shaheed (RFr) - Big play wide receiver. He only has 6 receptions on the season, but leads the team in receiving yards with 163. Defense is going to have to keep their eyes on him because if you miss coverage he will make you pay.

    TE Andrew Vollert (Sr) - Watching the WSU vs Sac game, the commentators were saying that Vollert looks like an NFL tight end. He's big and athletic and is the go to guy for Cantwell. Leads the team in receptions by a good margin and is just barely 2nd in reception yards.

    DT McKay Murphy (Sr) - Already looking like one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in the Big Sky this season. 3 games into the season and he has 6 tackles for losses and a sack on top. Our offensive line for the most part did a good job of handling PSU's Davond Dade, but they are going to have another tough week against Murphy.

    CB Keilan Benjamin (Jr) - The junior CB leads the team in tackles and has an interception, forced fumble, and sack in his stats sheet. If Murphy is getting consistent pressure on Maier we're going to have to make sure to not force the ball in Benjamin's direction.

    GO AGS!!!

    Also latest coaches poll leaves UC Davis in the dust with 0 votes, but the STATS poll has us with 12 votes now.
  • agalum
    332
    Thanks for the summary, good info.
  • CA Forever
    670
    Also this is kinda neat. The UC Davis @ Weber State game was nominated for game of the week over EWU @ Montana on the Any Given Saturday website. Just a couple games into the Hawkins era and we are starting to turn heads.
  • DrMike
    742
    i remember last year not being overly impressed with their QB, but he moved the team and put points on the board. something about how he moved or his throwing motion made me think we should have been able to stop him (we did in the 2nd half, but he had his way in first half). hopefully we get 2nd half Cantwell this weekend.
  • Riveraggie
    250
    Not much in their record this year that seems impressive. Against sac they had less than 300 yards of offense, and had low gain per carry and short completions. Perhaps they just played really conservative as they got a quick lead due to a trick play and a blocked punt. Almost saw their lead slip away. Seem to have little faith in their field goal kicker, as they went for two on their early touchdowns. I think they have a freshman kicker.
  • The Big Easy
    16
    I saw that and thought the same thing. I had to take a second look...game of the week?...UC Davis?...Allllrighty Then!

    Weber St was ahead something like 27-0 when I checked in on the Weber St vs Sac St game. I wonder if they put in the backups and Sac St was able to put some points on the board as a result,
  • DrMike
    742
    they had 430 yards of passing vs cal with several LONG plays (4 receivers had longs of 55, 52, 36, and 25). cantwell was only 57% but threw alot (and apparently DEEP). he had 60 rushing yards, of their 120 rushing yards. then turned around and seemed to struggle vs. Sac. even their 76-0 win over montana western wasn't statistically that impressive (montana had 4 interceptions). should be interesting.
  • Bige70
    69
    Not sure how much of their team carries over from last year, but we only lost to them 35-38 in the Field Gould era. I didn't catch any of the Sac State game, but I watched a lot of the first half of the Cal game, in which Weber held a 20-17 lead at halftime (before losing 33-20). I think both teams are improved.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    I watched part of their game at Sac. When I first turned it on Weber was up 16-0 midway through the first quarter. I thought it was going to be a blowout but Sac rallied and pulled within 3 in the second half before giving up a final TD.

    Neither team looked all that impressive to me but Weber went toe to toe with Cal so we know they have talent. They looked a bit flat against the Hornets and Sac gained confidence at the game went on. I think this is a winnable game for the Ags but we know all to well that the games are won on the field of play.
  • DrMike
    742
    last year's game was the beginning of the downward spiral. we were up 10-8 after the 1Q, then they outscored us 17-0 in the 2Q to lead 25-10 at the half. took the 2nd half kickoff and jam it down our throats in 2 minutes to go up 32-10. lots of folks left. midway through the 3Q we settle for a FG (on oft-typed phrase from the recent past), 32-13 heading to the fourth. 3 TD (one of KO return after their FG) and a 2-pt conversion and we're tied at 35 with 1:35 to go. we stop them, force a punt, we fumble, they kick a field goal....and...its a long drive back home. don't think the players recovered from that one.
  • movielover
    534
    We often seemed to come out flat.
  • Bige70
    69
    Wow @DrMike. I wasn't at that game and honestly by last year I wasn't following all that closely. What a gut punch. And @movielover, I totally agree. You could tell by the players' body language and posture before games that they were just not up for the game. Oh well - like childbirth, let's just make that era a suppressed memory and keep our eyes on what is shaping up to be a bright future.
  • SochorField
    170
    I have a good feeling about this game. I'm sure the players do too. This is a completely different football program than 1 year ago....coaching level and swagger.

    Going into Ogden and getting another road W would be so huge.
  • movielover
    534
    Yes! Lets not forget we also have Bob Foster and Sam Young! Talk about experience!

    How is Terry Tumey doing as the Fresno Athletic Director?
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.2k
    There's a part of me that is starting to believe again but it's as if I have PTSD and I'm almost afraid to get my hopes up. I'm happy with what I'm seeing and hearing but I'm keeping a low profile and taking it a game at a time.
  • movielover
    534
    +1. Follow the lead of Sochor. Play it low key, don't give our opponent fodder, don't get caught up in rankings or comparing our young underclassmen to NFL HOF players. Aggie Pride.
  • DrMike
    742
    the Young and Foster input is huge. I believe that their roles (at least Sam's) on the staff is to review the tape for upcoming opponents. so, they were scouting Weber last week, then adding any wrinkles from Saturday's game into their report. that means Hawk and staff have a detailed report created by two guys with a TON of experience at their disposal bright and early Sunday. That must really help in getting the final game plan prepared and implemented. Lucky to have them.
  • lucche
    31
    The Gould era was a total failure on gameday. It was run, run, pass. Pretty predictable and this really makes it almost impossible to execute plays if the defense knows what to plan for. Things like failure to go for it on 4th and inches is pretty bad, as it is almost impossible to stop.
    If I have the ball 4th and inches in their territory, I would do a play action pass. I would have the big boys huddle with the coach on the sidelines, and bring in the receiving offense after the timeout going straight line of scrimmage, and throw for the TD. First downs are nice but there is no better time for play action than 3rd or 4th and short, and lead the defense to thinking run. The defense either calls a TO, or the offense has a huge advantage with a wide open downfield.
  • WILDCAT
    2


    Jadrian Clark was our QB last season, Stefan Cantwell is at the helm this year
  • WILDCAT
    2


    Its not that Weber has no faith in their kicker, (who is 4-4 on field goals and 13-13 on pat's) Its more to do with Jay Hill being a special teams guy who loves to run trick plays on special teams. We went for two because Sac State had no answer for it.
  • WILDCAT
    2
    This is a very big game already in thus very young season. I am immensely impressed with what Hawkins has done out there in his first year. The Aggies like Weber have a legitimate shot at dark horse status this year.

    Im glad this game is in Ogden this year. The altitude has sort of helped us over the years against schools at lower elevations. Though Weber will need more than elevation to win rhis one.

    Im really excited for this game and playing at home again. Any Aggie fans making the trip? Would love to see a lot of Blue and Gold in the stands.

    GO WILDCATS
  • Riveraggie
    250
    The best argument that this game is the game of the week is that no one knows who's going to win. If there is a favorite here it's because you are at home. It seems you have a solid team; would you say they played conservatively after getting the big lead last week?
    I kind of assume everyone should hammer Sac State. To your teams credit they were able to stage a long drive near the end of the game to put it away.
  • CA Forever
    670
    Hey man welcome to the board! Should be a good game this weekend. I wish I could make the trip out there unfortunately got I got a bunch of stuff going on but I will definitely be watching online. Aggie fans haven't been this excited about the program in the better part of a decade so hopefully Jake Maier can put on a nice little passing exhibition for you guys 8-)
  • WILDCAT
    2
    I wish i could say that Weber kinda went conservative against the Hornets but i just dont think its true. I think Sac is better than previously thought, at least their defense is. To me it seemed Weber came out strong and then fell into a kind of melancholy on offense. Which may have been because of Sac's D. I think the hornets may surprise some people this year if they had a better offense they might actually be pretty good.

    After what you guys have done this season, home field is the only reason i give Weber the advantage, but it sure isnt a large one. Its been a very competetive series between our two schools and i expect it again this weekend.
  • WILDCAT
    2

    Thanks CA Forever.

    We Weber fans know all too well what its like to finally get excited about the football program, we've had to painfully wait through our fair shair of horrible seasons to be relevant again. And i do think Aggie fans have reasons to be hopeful.

    Hopefully our defense can show up to slow down that impressive offense you guys have displayed so far. If not its gonna be a looooooooong night
  • agalum
    332
    Anyone headed to the grad or elsewhere to watch the game?
  • Oldbanduhalum
    599
    The last few years I'd watch away games at home because I knew I'd either be disinterested by halftime or too grumpy to be around people. This year, yeah I may try and get to the Grad to watch the game.

    Go Ags!
  • DrMike
    742
    i see that the game is on 'Pluto TV' again, so sounded like it will be televised on DirectTV or the like.
  • agalum
    332
    i see that the game is on 'Pluto TV' again, so sounded like it will be televised on DirectTV or the like.


    Mike, the directv channel is eleven sports. Pluto is an app you need to download, then stream the game. If your smart tv cant do that, you can download to your ipad and stream on your big screen using apple tv.
  • DrMike
    742
    I just upgraded my flip to a smart phone so no smart tv yet. I have the Pluto app and will watch us again on it
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