Scouting the Weber State Wildcats

When the Utes return to Rice-Eccles Stadium this Saturday, they won't have to face another SEC foe, but they will have to face a top-10 opponent.

Yes, Weber State is an FCS squad, and Utah is expected to win comfortably, but this #7 ranked team is among the best among Division 1-AA.

The bread and butter of the Wildcats is similar to the recipe that has worked so well for the Utes over the years: pound the ball with strong running back play, and smother your opponent with a relentless defense.

Offense

The Weber State offense revolves around junior running back Damon Bankston. He burst into the scene in 2022 carrying the ball 126 times for 709 yards and 8 touchdowns.

This season, he is trending towards doubling or even tripling those numbers, as he already has rushed for 263 yards and 5 touchdowns in just the first two games of the season.

Despite facing one of the best rush defenses in the nation this week, expect to see the Wildcats do everything they can to get Bankston going.

At quarterback, Weber State has sixth-year junior Kylan Weisser, who is the regular starter for the first time in his lengthy Wildcat tenure. On the season, he has completed just more than 50 percent of his passes, going 23 for 43 for 295 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.

One of Weisser's top protectors is three-time All-Big Sky First-Team left tackle senior Noah Atagi. He is the stronghold of a veteran offensive line made up of four seniors and one sophomore.

Defense

Weber State's defense is led by the Big Sky Defensive Preseason MVP, senior linebacker Winston Reid. The former walk-on led the team with 113 tackles last season, and he already has 23 tackles this season, including 4.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks.

The 2022 sack leader, linebacker Jack Kelly, returns in 2023 and already leads the team in sacks this season after recording two against Northern Iowa last week.

The secondary has two elite corners, All-American senior Maxwell Anderson, who had 5 interceptions in 2022, and junior All-American Abraham Williams, who added another 2 interceptions.

Williams is also an extremely dangerous kick returner. Last season, he tied the FCS record with four 100-yard kick returns for touchdowns. This is certainly the kind of game where you want to see Utah kicker Cole Becker kick the ball through the end zone.

Summary

Weber State should not be taken lightly. This is a team that has made it to the FCS playoffs in six of the past seven years. They've finished in the FCS top ten rankings in five of the last six seasons. They have a solid running game, fierce linebackers, and ball hawks in the secondary.

However, there is a massive talent, size, and depth gap between Utah and Weber State, as is to be expected when FCS and FBS teams match up, so Utah shouldn't have any trouble as long as they take care of business.

If the Wildcats are able to produce anything offensively, they'll need to rely on the run, and that is going to be difficult against the Utes stout rush defense. That means Weber State may have to turn to the passing game, and up to this point, Weisser has only had moderate success throwing the ball, even against FCS defenses.

This should be a game for Nate Johnson to showcase his abilities in both the run and the passing game, but he'll need to be careful and not overlook the talented linebackers and corners in the Wildcats defense.

Utah will likely seek to set the tone early by imposing its will in the trenches while putting up points quickly and simultaneously shutting down Weber State's offense. The Utes should win easily, and have the opportunity to play some young players towards the end of the game, but this isn't a team they can sleepwalk through.