Previewing Utah’s Opponents: Weber State Wildcats

This game is a reunion of sorts for former Utah Utes head coach and current Weber State head coach Ron McBride.  McBride coached the Utes for 12 years, spanning from 1990-2002.

His overall record for the Utes was 88-63, and his best season was in 1994, when Utah won 10 games and finished eighth in the country.  McBride can also be linked to Urban Meyer's success with the way Coach McBride recruited.

He will receive a nice welcome at Rice-Eccles before his team takes the field against a superior opponent.  Weber State, from the Big Sky Conference, is usually a solid team, but they went 5-6 last year.

 

Offense

Coach McBride is known for smashmouth football, so look for the Wildcats to use their running game against the weakest part of Utah’s team: their defensive line.  Weber State did score 27 points per game last year, but their defense could not hold up.

The main player for the Wildcats is their quarterback, which they have two of.  First is last year's starter Cameron Higgins, who threw for just under 2,000 yards, and then there is Alabama transfer Jimmy Barnes, who saw limited time partly because he joined the team late last summer.  As of now, the starter is still Higgins, but there is some pressure from the backup spot.

The running game will be Weber’s best friend.  It all starts with Trevyn Smith, who ran for 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns.  The amazing feat is that he averaged 5.0 yards per carry, which could hurt the Utes if that same type of running attack can be duplicated against them.

 

Defense

This is the area of improvement most needed for the Wildcats—last year they gave up 29 points per game.  Against Utah the team will struggle mightily to keep the game close.  The biggest deficiency was stopping the passing game while giving up the big play, which they will struggle with against the Utes.

 

Early Prediction

There is no reason for Utah not to dominate by at least 30 points.  This will be a good point in the season to get backups work and to rest some key players.