OGDEN — With the season opener at Southern Utah just nine days away, Weber State head football coach Jerry Graybeal put his troops through a 90-minute scrimmage Thursday night in Stewart Stadium.

"We needed to see who is ready to play and we got a really good look tonight, it was much more intense than last Saturday's scrimmage," said Graybeal.

The quarterback battle took a center stage with junior Tyler Gladwell and sophomore Tate Bennett taking all the snaps. Gladwell was 13-30 for 159 yards and threw three touchdown passes including a 41-yarder to sophomore receiver Justin DeFour, but suffered three interceptions as well. Bennett was 11-31 for 122 yards and threw a 16-yard TD pass to Chris McConnell.

Graybeal is pleased with the progress of his inexperienced receiving corps and defensive line, two areas which were of concern before Fall camp began.

With 61 passes thrown, the running game didn't get a great look, although veteran Johnnie Gray III had seven carries for 43 yards and one touchdown while former Bear River High standout Nick Chournos had five carries for 21 yards and three receptions for 16 yards. Gavin Brooks had five carries for 23 yards which included an 18-yard TD run.

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"Our running backs picked it up tonight. I was very pleased with the catches they made and the yardage after. That's a dimension we haven't had the past couple of seasons, but we have integrated it into our offensive scheme and fortunately we have some running backs who can catch the ball," said Graybeal.

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