2018 Weber State Wildcats football team
The 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by fourth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for the Big Sky championship with Eastern Washington and UC Davis. They received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Southeast Missouri State in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to Maine.
2018 Weber State Wildcats football | |
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Big Sky co-champion | |
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 18–23 vs. Maine | |
Conference | Big Sky Conference |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 6 |
FCS Coaches | No. 6 |
Record | 10–3 (7–1 Big Sky) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Dave Schramm (1st season) |
Home stadium | Stewart Stadium (Capacity: 17,312) |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 6 Weber State +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 UC Davis +^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 17 Montana State ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montana | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cal Poly | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Arizona | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portland State | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Idaho | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Colorado | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Utah | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sacramento State | 0 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason
Polls
On July 16, 2018, during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in second place by both the coaches and media.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Eastern Washington | 134 (6) |
2 | Weber State | 124 (3) |
3 | Northern Arizona | 121 (3) |
4 | Idaho | 101 (1) |
5 | Sacramento State | 94 |
6 | Southern Utah | 91 |
7 | Montana | 82 |
8 | Montana State | 76 |
9 | UC Davis | 64 |
10 | Cal Poly | 40 |
11 | Northern Colorado | 30 |
12 | Idaho State | 29 |
13 | Portland State | 21 |
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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1 | Eastern Washington | 651 (27) |
2 | Weber State | 636 (19) |
3 | Northern Arizona | 535 (1) |
4 | Montana | 496 (2) |
5 | Idaho | 483 (3) |
6 | Southern Utah | 449 (1) |
7 | Sacramento State | 415 |
8 | Montana State | 391 (1) |
9 | UC Davis | 331 (1) |
10 | Idaho State | 170 |
11 | Cal Poly | 169 |
12 | Northern Colorado | 166 |
13 | Portland State | 103 |
Preseason All-Conference Team
The Wildcats had a conference leading six players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[2]
Iosua Opeta – Sr. OT
Trey Tuttle, – So. K
Rashid Shaheed – So. KR
Jonah Williams – Jr. DE
LeGrand Toia, – Sr. LB
Brady May – Sr. ST Specialist
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 30 | 6:00 p.m. | at Utah* | No. 8 | P12N | L 10–41 | 45,988 | |
September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly* | No. 10 | Pluto TV 244 | W 24–17 | 6,020 | |
September 15 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 22 South Dakota* | No. 11 | Pluto TV 235 | W 27–10 | 8,455 | |
September 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado | No. 7 |
| Pluto TV 235 | W 45–28 | 8,668 |
October 6 | 2:30 p.m. | at Northern Arizona | No. 6 | ELVN | L 24–28 | 10,000 | |
October 13 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 4 Eastern Washington | No. 13 |
| ELVN | W 14–6 | 8,211 |
October 20 | 4:00 p.m. | Montana State | No. 7 |
| ATTRM | W 34–24 | 8,062 |
October 27 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 22 North Dakota | No. 4 | Pluto TV 240 | W 35–30 | 8,650 | |
November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | Sacramento State | No. 4 |
| Pluto TV 235 | W 26–14 | 7,857 |
November 10 | 5:00 p.m. | at Southern Utah | No. 3 | ELVN | W 31–18 | 7,415 | |
November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | at Idaho State | No. 3 | Pluto TV 243 | W 26–13 | 10,077 | |
December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 20 Southeast Missouri State* | No. 3 |
| ESPN3 | W 48–23 | 8,838 |
December 7 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 12 Maine | No. 3 |
| ESPN2 | L 18–23 | 7,726 |
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- Source: Official Schedule
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game against Cal Poly was considered a non-conference matchup having no effect on conference standings.
Game summaries
At Utah
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 8 Wildcats | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Utes | 7 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 41 |
At Cal Poly
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 10 Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Mustangs | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
South Dakota
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 22 Coyotes | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
No. 11 Wildcats | 11 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 27 |
Northern Colorado
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bears | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
No. 7 Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 45 |
At Northern Arizona
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 6 Wildcats | 0 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 24 |
Lumberjacks | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
At Eastern Washington
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 13 Wildcats | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
No. 4 Eagles | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Montana State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bobcats | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
No. 7 Wildcats | 0 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 34 |
At North Dakota
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 4 Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
No. 22 Fighting Hawks | 0 | 20 | 3 | 7 | 30 |
Sacramento State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hornets | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
No. 4 Wildcats | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
At Southern Utah
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 3 Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
Thunderbirds | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
At Idaho State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 3 Wildcats | 3 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
Bengals | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
FCS Playoffs
Southeast Missouri State–Second Round
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 20 Redhawks | 7 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
No. 3 Wildcats | 0 | 27 | 7 | 14 | 48 |
Maine–Quarterfinals
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 12 Black Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
No. 3 Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 18 |
Ranking movements
Week | ||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
STATS FCS | 8 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Coaches | 8 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 |