OGDEN — When it rains, it pours on the Weber State Wildcats.
On a cold, wet and windy day Saturday at Stewart Stadium, the Wildcats were thrashed by the Eastern Washington Eagles, 51-7.
Weber State's winless record (0-8, 0-5) ties its worse start in 29 years.
The Wildcats started the 1975 season with the same record. A loss next week at Idaho State would give this year's team a mark in school history.
Coming off a disappointing lost to Montana at home, Eastern Washington was hungry for a victory. Utilizing offense, defense and special teams, but mostly their running game, the Eagles began scoring in the first quarter and were in the end zone often. Before the Wildcats could clean the grass out of their facemasks, it was 35-0 at the half. Things got so bad that the Weber State band left the stadium at halftime, along with the majority of the 4,623 paid attendance.
The worst part was that Eastern Washington wasn't even playing with their most dangerous offensive weapons. The Eagles' two senior running backs didn't play due to minor injuries. Third-string sophomore back Dezmon Cole said he found out he was starting on Friday night and ended up having a career day. He ran 18 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman fourth-string running back Toke Kefu also contributed 89 yards and two more touchdowns.
Defensive back Nate McFarlane also contributed to the scoring with a 24-yard interception return and teammate Gregor Smith blocked a Weber State punt that teammate Kyle Long recovered in the end zone.
EWU's Eric Kimble also returned a punt 73 yards for a score.
"The holes were there. All I did was run," Cole said.
As for the Wildcats, things couldn't have been more disastrous for sophomore Ian Pizarro in his first start at quarterback. EWU came into the game with seven total quarterback sacks on the year and finished the game with nine, five in the first half alone. When Pizarro wasn't being thrown to the turf, his receivers were dropping passes. He finished the game 7-of-20 for 117 yards and one interception. Pizarro also had a 68-yard touchdown pass that was called back for offensive pass interference.
"We made enough mistakes in the first quarter alone to put him in a bad situation," coach Jerry Graybeal said.
Weber's only touchdown came when a Nick Chournos fumble was recovered in the end zone by offensive lineman Paul McQuistan. The score ended a nine-quarter touchdown drought for the Wildcats.
Chournos finished the game with 81 yards rushing. Eastern Washington coach Paul Wulff, who used to coach with Graybeal, was satisfied with his team's performance, but sympathized with the Wildcats.
"(The mistakes) can snowball for a young team when the offense struggles. The defense gets worn out," Wulff said.
Weber State kicker Joe Johnson was 0-for-2 on field-goal attempts for the game. Weber State's best statistical category was kickoff returns.
The Wildcats had 139 yards.