The Weber State Wildcats had early trouble, but coasted to a 51-28 victory against the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks at Stewart Stadium for their fourth straight win.
Rain fell hard from the sky, and snow was steadily creeping down the mountains above as Weber took on NAU as they looked to stretch their win streak to four.
NAU won the toss and deferred to Weber. Weber’s offense immediately put the pressure back on the Lumberjacks as they ripped off a 54-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Josh Davis.
Davis running the ball would be the theme of the game as he would finish with 328 rushing yards on 9.6 yards a carry. Davis had four rushing touchdowns.
Davis ran for the fifth most rushing yards in a game in the history of the Big Sky Conference and the most by any FCS player this season. Davis is now the record holder for most rushing yards in a game in Weber State history.
“It’s just another game. We go to UC Davis coming up next, so we have to focus on that” Davis said.
As a team, the Wildcats had 443 rushing yards while the ‘Jacks only mustered 16 in what was a close game for three quarters.
Botched extra points and bad turnovers kept Northern Arizona in the game for the first half. NAU held a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
NAU had fumbled twice in the first half but was able to get back on the ball and retain possession. But WSU was able to finally get on the ball in the third quarter as the ‘Cats turned an NAU fumble into another Davis touchdown.
The rushing load wasn’t solely being carried by Davis however. Whenever Davis took a breather, redshirt freshman Kris Jackson didn’t let the defense do the same. He pounded the ball for 111 yards and three touchdowns.
“In a game like that where there is crazy rain and weather, I thought we handled it as good as you can, ” Head Coach Jay Hill said about his team’s overall performance.
Outside of a few big passing plays, Weber’s defense did a good job of making sure the Lumberjacks never got sharp on offense. WSU had four sacks and held NAU to 2-13 on third-down conversion attempts.
The adverse field conditions summarized NAU’s play throughout the game as they are still looking for their road win while Weber remains perfect at home. NAU will look to heal their pride next week against Portland State University as they now slip to 3-4 on the season.
Meanwhile, Weber State improves to 5-2 overall and is still undefeated against conference teams. They will go on the road to play the University of California Davis and Sacramento State University.
The ‘Cats are 1-2 on the road with both losses coming to FBS schools. The back to back road tests in the Bay Area will be pivotal as they look to change the tides of their road woes.
