OFFENSIVE COG: Morgan Welch, Sr. running back -- The senior from Canada came out of nowhere last season to set a Weber State season record with 1,629 yards rushing. Welch had three games in which he ran for more than 200 yards. He also scored a team-high 13 touchdowns.PLAYER ON THE SPOT -- OFFENSE: Cole Cooper, Jr. quarterback -- The transfer from Ricks College and Lehi High is battling San Diego State transfer Dusty Harris for the starting spot. But whoever gets the job will have to resurrect a passing game that was horrible last year in order to take pressure of Welch and the running game.
DEFENSIVE ANCHOR: Joel Barrow, Jr. defensive tackle -- Barrow earned honorable mention honors in the Big Sky last year after anchoring WSU's line and registering 60 tackles. A product of Bonneville High school, Barrow started 10 games and had four sacks and a pair of blocked kicks.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT -- DEFENSE: Keenan Gordon, Jr. safety -- Anyone replacing Scott Shields at Weber State will have a huge task. Gordon wasn't bad last year, with 36 tackles and an interception, but replacing Shields -- a multi-time all-American -- is not an easy chore.
SPECIAL TEAMS STAR: Mike Minnoch, Jr. kicker -- Again, he's going to try to fill the shoes of Scott Shields. The Bonneville High product was the Weber State kicker way back in 1994 when he connected on 10 of 16 field goal attempts and 22 of 27 PATs. Though he doesn't have the punting skills of Shields, he should fit in well on the kicking duties.
SCHEDULING QUIRK: The Wildcats will kick off the season on Sept. 2 when they host Western State -- two days before Utah and Utah State open and a week before BYU -- in Stewart Stadium.
KEY STRETCH: Sept. 25 - Oct. 9 -- Three games, two of them on the road in Montana -- will tell us whether Weber State is a contender or simply an also-ran. If WSU can get past the schools from the Big Sky state, the Wildcats will be in contention for a national playoff berth. If not, it's going to be a long season.
WILDCAT CLUBBERS HOPE . . . That the injury bug skips Ogden this season. Injuries killed the Wildcats last year after the 5-0 start. The team is healthy now, has had a full year to learn Jerry Graybeal's system and will make those that picked Weber State to finish near the bottom of the Big Sky eat their words.
Morgan Welch is back, and he was only the third-best running back on the team last year. Rusty Harris and Cole Cooper will help WSU forget the painful memories of last year's passing game.
Graybeal is a big-time coach, he's had another year to get his players into the program and with a veteran offensive line, the Wildcat offense will have plenty of time to develop into what Weber State is used to seeing. The Big Sky lost a lot of its best players and the traditionally powerful teams have come back to the pack. This is the year Weber State finally gets that Big Sky title.
THEN AGAIN . . . Sure, Weber State had a great start last year when it went 5-0. But look at how they did it. Wins over Montana and Sacramento State were nice but hardly looked impressive considering the 6-3 squeaker at Idaho State. And don't forget, two of those wins were against Montana Tech and Humboldt State.
The schedule this year is tougher and BYU transfers Ronnie Jenkins (Northern Arizona) and Drew Miller (Montana) are going to be tough to beat. Scott Shields is gone, the two new QBs have hardly any experience, and Morgan Welch ran out of gas halfway through the 1998 season. Where is Dave Arslanian when you need him?
"MUST-WIN" TO KEEP ALUMNI HAPPY: Southern Utah, Oct. 16 -- Weber State has never lost to the T-Birds. Dropping a game to the neighbors down south might be enough to keep everyone away from Stewart Stadium for the last two home games of the season.
CRYSTAL BALL SAYS: It could be huge year for Weber State for two reasons. If the Wildcats exceed expectations, it'll mean WSU is well on its way to becoming a player in the Big Sky Conference and will soon be making regular appearances in the I-AA playoffs.
On the other hand, if Jerry Graybeal fails to improve on last year's 6-5 record, the 'Cats could be faced with administrative apathy and another threat to drop the team could arise. And this time around, former coach Dave Arslanian isn't around to hold bake sales in order to save a program he grew up in and loves.
Weber State, if it can find consistency at quarterback, should be fine offensively. Morgan Welch and Derek Poole should be able to handle any rushing needs the team has, and the duo will be able to take some pressure off the passing game. But not for long.
On defense, replacing Scott Shields will be impossible. But Graybeal, a defensive-minded coach, recruited specifically with Shields' departure in mind.
The Wildcats may not have any household names or NFL draft picks on the team this year, but depth should be a tad better. Wade Davis and Keenen Gordon will be asked to handle the secondary leadership, while the middle of the field will belong to the likes of Shane Kojima and Teddy Michael-Joseph.
Another factor that could see the Wildcats improve is the resurfacing of Stewart Stadium. The old surface was directly blamed for several season-ending injuries last year. After stripping the surface clean and resodding, WSU is hoping to avoid injuries.