OGDEN — Just about every football team has the same goal when the season begins — win a conference championship.
At Weber State, that goal was a clearly stated objective back in September. Now, with the Wildcats holding a 1-3 record in Big Sky Conference games, it would take an unprecedented chain of events for that goal to be reached.
Accordingly, coach Ron McBride has reorganized the priorities for his team.
"Now, you worry about the game that's coming up," the second-year Weber State coach said. "You don't worry about anything else."
Worrying about the "next game" is something the Wildcats have been doing all along, of course, but as the conference title moved further and further from reality, WSU has been forced to adapt.
Montana State is the next team on Weber State's one-game-at-a-time priority list.
The Bobcats sent shockwaves through the Big Sky when they upset the Big 12's Colorado in the season opener. They struggled for a while after that, but are back in the I-AA top 25 at No. 24 with a 4-1 conference record and 5-3 overall.
The game Saturday, which kicks off at 1:35 p.m. and can be seen on Altitude TV, represents the first of four games the Wildcats must win to finish with a winning record.
"That's the big goal now," McBride said. "We need to win out to do it, but we can."
ETEUATI HONORED: Sophomore receiver and return specialist Bryant Eteuati was named the Big Sky co-special teams player of the week after his 100-yard kickoff return.
The pint-sized Northridge High product is leading the conference in kickoff return yardage with an average return of 29.5 yards. He has teased WSU fans throughout the season and finally broke free Saturday against Montana with a return that sparked the team's comeback attempt.
PIZARRO WORLD: After being benched for a few games, senior quarterback Ian Pizarro is back in the lineup as starter and appears to be the guy for the final four games.
"We had a vast improvement on offense," McBride said, highlighting the positives in WSU's 33-30 loss to Montana.
Pizarro's 238 passing yards included a pair of touchdowns and he showed some active legs, rushing for 24 yards despite being sacked three times for a loss of 20 yards.
STAT LEADERS: Eteuati is not the only Wildcat atop the statistical leaderboard.
Senior rover Tyler DeBry has 80 tackles through seven games and leads the league. Safety Ty Sparrow is second in the league in interceptions with three and Eteuati is second in all-purpose yardage with 135.3 yards per game.
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