CEDAR CITY— Weber State made a winner out of Ron McBride.
In his first season with Weber State, the former Utah coach led his team to a 6-5 record with a 27-10 win over Southern Utah on Saturday.
Adrian Conway rushed for 115 yards and scored on runs of 3 and 9 yards to pace WSU's offense.
The game's opening play from scrimmage had both the home fans and the visitors out of their seats for one of the few times all day.
After Weber State fumbled the opening kickoff, SUU quarterback Wes Marshall handed off to Bobby Pond, then snuck out of the backfield to catch a 25-yard pass from Pond to get the T-Bird fans cheering.
The play wasn't over.
Weber's Shane Barkdull not only forced a fumble but recovered the loose ball, giving the Wildcat faithful something to cheer about.
Those two plays, taking a total of 19 seconds, looked like the highlights of the game for both teams, as opportunities were few and far between, usually squelched by a penalty or an offensive breakdown.
The Wildcats didn't exactly scorch the turf offensively, managing just 243 yards of total offense, but they were able to take advantage of enough opportunities to score two late touchdowns.
SUU struggled offensively all afternoon, but despite the offensive woes, the T-Birds pulled to within 13-10 early in the fourth quarter as Jerome Eason hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass from Zac Connors. But a key turnover gave the Wildcats the boost they needed at the end.
Punter Brandon Perkins had the ball stripped while attempting to run for a first down, giving WSU the ball at the SUU 31 with 3:44 remaining.
"I can't fault Brandon. He was doing everything he could do for us to win," SUU head coach Wes Meier said. "Our kids never gave up . . . We were in it to the end, but penalties and no-calls really hurt us at the end.
"I can't really say anything because I might get in trouble, but they were holding and grabbing our guys all day long."
Despite finishing the season with a 1-9 mark (1-4 in Great West Conference play), Meier is optimistic about the T-Birds' future.
"Even if we don't get anybody (on the recruiting trail), we will start spring ball next year in much better shape then we did this season" Meier said.
For SUU, starting quarterback Wes Marshall and backup Zac Connors combined for 181 passing yards, while the running game was held to just 80 yards for the day.