Weber State's late-game comeback falls short as Wildcats lose to Montana State

OGDEN — A week after setting a school record with the first 6-0 start in program history, Weber State suffered its first loss, 43-38, of the season in a roller coaster battle with Montana State.

On a cold, wet and windy day in Bozeman, Montana, Weber State played perhaps its worst game of the season and still nearly came out with the win.

The Wildcats got the ball back on their own 10-yard line with a little more than two minutes left in the game. After three plays that went nowhere, the offense faced a fourth-and-10 situation when quarterback Bronson Barron hit receiver Ty MacPherson down the right sideline to gain a first down and to keep the drive alive.

A few plays later, the offense made its way down to Bobcats territory and Barron again faced a fourth-and-10. This time the sophomore quarterback connected with his big tight end, Hayden Meacham, for a first down at the Bobcats' 27-yard line.

Three plays later the Wildcats found themselves in yet another do-or-die fourth-and-10 scenario. Barron took the snap, rolled right under immense pressure and let a pass go to playmaker MacPherson deep enough for a first down.

The pass hit MacPherson in the hands, but he dropped the ball. Montana State entered victory formation, and the Bobcats escaped with the win to keep their undefeated home winning streak intact, while the Wildcats' eight-game road winning streak was snapped.

"At the end, we still had a shot to win it," said Weber State head coach Jay Hill following the game. "We had a chance, a good chance, to win it."

While the outcome of the game came down to the final drive, there were multiple times during this game when each team looked like they would run away with a win. On the third play of the game, Weber State cornerback Eddie Heckard intercepted Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott's pass and returned it deep into Bobcats territory. The offense couldn't convert but an easy field goal gave the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead.

On Weber State's next possession, the offense still couldn't get anything going and were forced to punt. Due to the wet, rainy conditions, long snapper Grant Sands hiked the ball far over his punter's head through the end zone for a safety. For most teams, one botched snap isn't cause for major concern, but little did the Wildcats know they'd help Montana State set a new NCAA record on the day.

The Bobcats recorded four safeties on the day as Sands struggled with his snap accuracy all game long. Montana State set a record for safeties without making a single tackle on any of them. Those errors made a significant difference on the outcome of the game — each safety got the Bobcats 2 points each time and they got the ball back and scored on the ensuing drive every time.

"Offense didn't sustain drives. We had to punt, when we punt, we snapped it over the punter's head," Hill said about the errant special teams plays. "I've never been in a game like that where we did it multiple times, let alone four."

Despite the issues, Weber State built up a commanding 24-9 lead by the second quarter and looked like they might go for more. Following Montana State's first touchdown of the day, sophomore Abraham Williams returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown — his second 100-yard kickoff return of the year.

After the Bobcats failed to get much going on their next drive, they punted and sophomore Hudson Schenck — filling in for injured punt returner Haze Hadley — returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown as well.

The Wildcats scored their first offensive touchdown shortly after on a 5-yard run by Damon Bankston and it looked bleak for Montana State. To top things off, on the Bobcats' following drive, Weber State blocked their field-goal attempt.

But not long after, Mollett took over.

For a Weber State defense that came into the game allowing, on average, less than 100 rushing yards per game, Mollett gashed the Wildcats' defense for 273 yards to go along with 140 yards passing. The coverage wasn't bad, but the defensive line and linebackers had a hard time containing Mollett as he ran wild to pick up first downs with ease and big plays with his legs.

After the Wildcats built up their lead, the Bobcats answered back with 18 points to take a 27-24 lead at halftime. Montana State kept it going to start the second half as the lead ballooned to 43-24 with about three minutes to go in the third quarter. Weber State seemed deflated and it looked like the Bobcats would extend their lead even more.

But Hill's squad kept its poise and the offense roared back with two touchdowns to trim the deficit. The defense found its life and the Wildcats had their chance to win; they were just one dropped pass too many to make it happen.

"A lot of fight in our guys," Hill said. "I was happy when we got down three scores. I thought they did a phenomenal job at just putting their heads down and fighting back. Offense had some really good drives there in the second half and at the end of the game. Defense got out of a couple drives, but there was about a 15-20 minute stretch where we were just making stuff up and not typical Weber State football."

Though it was one of the ugliest games of the season for both sides, the Wildcats came out on the wrong side of things. But the top five matchup that fans were hoping for delivered.

"For all the great things we did do we had way too many dumb mistakes," Hill said. "They had mistakes. In a game like this, with the crowd, the weather, just the weirdness of it, they made one more play than we did and that's reality."

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