No. 20 Weber State Football Prepares for Hungry Bears of Northern Colorado | News, sports, jobs

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

It's no secret that football is down in Northern Colorado.

The Bears have lost 18 straight games and are 1-23 in their last 24 games.

Ed Lamb, who helped Southern Utah to a conference championship in 2015, has yet to see his Bears win during his tenure. But that doesn't mean they don't compete.

Northern Colorado (0-6, 0-2 Big Sky) picked up a home win over current No. 10 Abilene Christian trailed when ACU scored a 54-yard field goal as time expired. That 24-22 loss was the only time the Bears topped the 20-point mark this season; Otherwise, they averaged 11 points compared to their other five losses.

UNCo also opened the season with a 28-7 loss to current No. 1. 15 Word Incarnate; The Cardinals averaged 36 points in their other four games and beat No. 24 Northern Arizona 38-14.

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

“They play hard. Ed does a really good job preparing his team. They played a lot of close games last year and we were obviously one of them,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said. “So we don’t take these guys lightly at all. The message is that any Big Sky team can beat anyone in a given week…we respect what they do.”

While he was happy to see players like Jayleen Record, Jacob Sharp and Kyle Thompson make plays in a big win at Montana, putting some mistakes from previous games behind them, Mental says each week the focus is on how every player can be better this week than they were before.

“These guys earned it in practice … when their moment came, it was growth,” Mental said. “But as soon as the game was over, as soon as we won, as soon as we celebrated and got to Monday, that was all over. It’s about how do I reset my process, attack this week, get better and not mix the outcome with your process.”

That's one way No. 20 Weber State (3-3, 2-0 Big Sky) looks to avoid disappointment against a winless team.

“If you allow the outcome into your process, you will be defeated,” Mental said.

MEET THE BEARS

Senior Kia'i Keone (No. 10) starts this week, the fifth quarterback to lead UNCo's offense this season. He is a senior transfer from Colorado Mesa (D2) and Hawaii native who completed a season prep at Skyline High in Salt Lake City. He is 41 of 63 (65.1%) for 382 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Last week at Montana State, Keone was 17 of 29 for 247 yards, a TD and an INT and was sacked twice.

Brayden Munroe (No. 88, 6-foot-2 sophomore) emerged as his top target, catching five passes for 84 yards. He leads the Bears with 20 catches for 267 yards and two of the team's four receiving touchdowns. Darius Stewart (No. 0, 5-foot-9 junior) is the team's leading rusher with 253 yards on 52 carries (4.9 per carry) and 50.6 yards per game.

Senior running back David Afari (No. 1), who led the Bears in rushing last season, appeared to have missed three weeks before completing four runs for 14 yards last week.

Senior linebacker Keyvon Lakes (No. 9) is the top tackler with 35 total, including four for loss. He has one of the team's three total sacks. Defensive back Franky Morales (No. 6) has 32 tackles and freshman defensive back Cam Chapa (No. 49) has 31.

TEAM VS. TEAM METRICS

Through six games, Weber State has scored 30.3 points per game, averaging 418 yards on 6 yards per play. Defensively, WSU has allowed an average of 24 points on 369 yards per game, with an average of 5.4 per play.

The Wildcats have seven defensive takeaways (five fumbles, two interceptions) and three offensive turnovers (one interception, two fumbles) for a plus-four turnover margin.

In six games for Northern Colorado, the Bears averaged 12.8 points on 290 yards per game and 4.3 yards per play. Defensively, Northern Colorado has allowed 36.8 points on 445 yards per game, with an average of 6.7 yards per play.

The Bears have a turnover margin of minus four. NoCo turned the ball over nine times (four interceptions, five fumbles) and forced five turnovers (two interceptions, three fumbles).

Odds and Predictions

Jeff Sagarin ranks Weber State 129th (up 10 from last week) in all of Division I (FBS and FCS, 263 total teams). Northern Colorado is No. 246. Taking home-field advantage into account, its formula favors Weber State by 25 points.

ESPN's Bill Connelly ranks Weber State at No. 12 (up three from last week) in the FCS (129 teams) and Northern Colorado at No. 114. His formula predicts a Weber State win at 40-9.

D Ratings predicts a 40-15 Weber State win with a 96% probability.

WEATHER

It's still warm, making this mid-October night game a pleasant experience. The high of 83 degrees on Saturday is expected to be around 80 degrees, with mostly sunny skies for kickoff at 6 p.m. The sun will set at 6:50 p.m. and the temperature is expected to drop to around 69° by the end of the game.

TV & RADIO

The game broadcast will be streamed on the ESPN+ subscription service, available via the ESPN app or WatchESPN.com, with Tony Parks and Riley Jensen on the phone. Weber State's radio call with Carl Arky and Jerry Graybeal airs in Utah on 103.1 FM and online at 1031thewave.com.

ALL TIME SERIES

Weber State is 11-1 all-time against Northern Colorado, suffered a home loss in 2012 and has won five straight since.

WSU won the last match 28-21, a 2023 game in Greeley in which the Wildcats scored 21 points in the final seven minutes. The last game in Ogden was a 48-17 WSU win in 2021.

Notably, the Wildcats have returned four interceptions for touchdowns in the last two meetings with the Bears.