WSW Football Season Predictions
(Photo Courtesy of Weber State)
Although it seems like just yesterday that we were at Stewart Stadium watching playoff football game day is upon us. Coming off of a spring season that could be slightly classified as disappointing- the Wildcats exited in the first round of the FCS playoffs- we enter a fall season with lots of experience coming back. Expectations are once again high, but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Weber State Football in the last few years and by and large the team has produced.
Our esteemed panel gave us their season predictions. Let’s see what they have to say:
Chappy: 9-2. Ranked #4 and with a playoff seed. Share of the conference title. Losses to Utah and most likely Eastern Washington. Even if the 1 conference L isn’t to Eastern Washington it will be to somebody. Going undefeated in conference play is hard to do in the Big Sky, so they have to have a mulligan somewhere. They beat JMU at home and the hype train for the season is on. I genuinely think our offense is going to be 🔥 this season. Matt Hammer and Bronson Barron both had the spring season to work the kinks out and Josh Davis mentioned this week in the press conference that missed opportunities were a focus. Teams with inexperience struggle in the red zone and Weber had that in the spring. They know what to do to fix that and with the short turnaround time I think they’re going to be lights out. Bronson Barron hadn’t played a game in 3 years. He has an embarrassment of riches around him at WR and an excellent backfield core to open up the pass game. We have the QB we’ve lacked, Wildcat fans- things should be fun.
Jared Christensen (@jaredefined on twitter): 7-4. The Wildcats will squeeze into the playoffs with a much lower seed and the conference title goes to EWU (vomit). #18 finish in FCS regular season standings.
Losses will be Utah, James Madison, Eastern Washington and… Idaho State. My main concerns with this team is offensive play calling and overall toughness. Our OL and RB depth should help the toughness side of things, but if our play calling and game management is struggling, it can become a challenge, as we saw in the Spring. As a Wildcat fan, I want nothing more than to be proven wrong, especially the ISU and JMU games.
Weber state fans will still be snoozers and either not show or will be library-like quiet at home games. Hashtag: Normalize football crowd behavior at Weber State Games! :)
One thing we have is depth, so later in the playoffs Weber State will be seeing the benefits of that and will play like there is nothing to lose being the lower seed. As a result, I think they’ll make a run in the playoffs upsetting many higher ranked teams including a redemption game vs. JMU and hopefully EWU on their way to play the FCS championship game. Excited to be proven wrong about their record, go get that 5th Big Sky championship in a row! Go CATS!
Sean Lewis (@GRTx3 on twitter): 9-2 #5 national ranking, Outright Conference Champs, Playoff 2 seed. Like Chappy I see the 2 L’s as Utah and EWU. For context on the L’s: Utah as a body bag game, they should beat Weber 10 out of 10 times. What I look for in these games is 1) no major injuries, and 2) did the $600,000 game check clear as we leave the building. I honestly think Weber will beat the spread and give a first half scare to the U fans leading to a twitter meltdown which will be good side entertainment.
As for EWU Weber is 3-7 in the last 10 games against the Eagles and have lost 3 of the last four on that infernal red field. That said, the ‘Cats are riding a 2 game win streak against the Eagles, so I would love to be incorrect here.
Like Chappy I don’t see the Wildcats running the Big Sky Table, but the EWU game looks like the one I think they lose as the previous 2 games are on the road @ Poly and a big time short week home matchup with Montana State under the bright lights of ESPNU. EWU feels like the game where the ‘Cats run out of steam mid-season before gearing up for the playoff run.
I also see the Wildcats going unbeaten at Stewart Stadium this year, Regular season and playoffs. It’s going to be a fun season.
Emily Miller: 9-2. Overall, I am seeing a top ten national ranking but am hopeful for a top five. The first loss will be handed over by Utah and I am torn between a loss at home from JMU or a road loss against EWU. Weber is currently 0-2 against JMU with both games being on the road for the Wildcats. However, there’s no shying away from how the Wildcats feel about their win streak at home and how they’ll have to start the rebuild after falling to SIU. The outright conference title is ideal but I can see EWU creeping up behind the ‘Cats. In the Big Sky preseason poll, EWU rallied in at third right behind Montana and will face off against the Grizzlies unlike Weber.
The team that went against Utah back in 2018 was considerably younger and less experienced than the squad entering Rice-Eccles this evening. I’m hopeful that we’ll go through the first half with an even match up but may hit the brakes in the second half. I’m most excited for who we have as a QB right now. Bronson Barron is going into this season with quite a bit of trust from Weber State fans and his own teammates and I see him delivering.