Charging into football

Kylan Weisser preparing to throw a football at Cal Poly in 2021. (Weber State Athletics)

In less than two months, Weber State University football will be back in Stewart Stadium kicking their 2022 season off against the Western Oregon University Wolves on Sept. 1.

The Wildcats were originally set to start their season on the road against James Madison University at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The two schools signed a home-and-home series back in 2019, and the Dukes last visited Ogden on Sept. 18, 2021.

The Wildcats were not able to return the favor after the Dukes announced their move to the Sun Belt Conference, officially as of July 1, and now play in the FBS. JMU requested to be released from the series after the move was announced.
With the Wolves replacing the Dukes, this will be the first matchup between WSU and WOU after Weber State announced the finalization of their schedule on March 31.

Western Oregon is a Division II school that belongs to the Lone Star Conference and is out of Monmouth, Oregon.
The ‘Cats will hit the road for their second game of the season and visit instate foes, the Utah State Aggies, in Logan on Sept. 10.

The Aggies have put up a historically tough fight for the Wildcats and have collected 14 wins against the Wildcats singular win in 1978.

The last matchup against the two schools was in 2016 when the Aggies collected a 45–6 win at Maverick Stadium.
To close out their preseason schedule, the Wildcats will host Utah Tech University, formally known as Dixie State, on Sept. 17.

This will be the third matchup between the schools and the Wildcats currently sit on a 2-game winning streak against the Trailblazers.

WSU last traveled down to St. George and handed UT a 41–3 loss in their 2021 season.

Kicking off Big Sky play, the ‘Cats will travel to UC Davis and take on a different team of Aggies.

The Wildcats previously fell to UCD 17–14 last season but were victorious in their last trip to California with a 36–20 victory.

Weber State will come back to Ogden and host the Eastern Washington Eagles. The last matchup between the schools was in 2021 when the ‘Cats caused an upset against the then-No. 3 Eagles with a 14-6 win in Cheney, Washington. The ‘Cats sit on a three-game winning streak against EWU.

Following their game against EWU, the ‘Cats will have a two-game road series against Portland State on Oct. 15 and Montana State on Oct. 22.

The ‘Cats fell to both schools hosting them at Stewart Stadium in their 2021 season.

To close out their Montana series, the University of Montana ‘Griz will travel down to Ogden on Oct. 29.

Between COVID and the rotation of teams to face in the Big Sky, the ‘Griz and the ‘Cats haven’t faced off since 2019 when Weber State knocked UoM out of the playoffs and advanced to the FCS Semifinals.

Like the ‘Griz, Sacramento State hasn’t faced the ‘Cats since 2019. The Hornets were also handed a loss from the ‘Cats 36–17 dub in Sacramento, California.

To close out their regular season play at home, the ‘Cats will host long-time rivals, the Idaho State Bengals, on Nov. 12. Weber State will be looking for their ninth consecutive win against the Bengals.

Rashid Shaheed made history in the Wildcats’ last game against the Bengals when they recorded their seventh career kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Wildcats final game of conference play will be on the road against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

NAU last saw the Wildcats in 2021 during an unprecedented spring season for the conference.

After the last few years of being a dominant presence in the FCS division, the Wildcats shocked their fans with loss after loss and finished the season 6-5 overall.

With people looking for change and not finding it in Matt Hammer, the Wildcats hired Mickey Mental after Hammer left the program.

Mental is coming from Notre Dame College, a Division II school out of Ohio. They spent their final two years at the helm of the program but had spent a total of 13 years involved in the program.

Like the Wildcats, the Falcons played in the 2021 spring season. They finished ninth in the country. However, the offense finished sixth in the country for averaging 40.6 points per game.

The Wildcats football program will put Mentals experience and play style to test on Sept. 1 against Western Oregon.