BOZEMAN, Montana — Jay Hill had a strong feeling his football team would turn disappointment into destruction.
Destruction of the opposition, that is.
Hill has established a well-earned reputation as one of the most consistent coaches in the Big Sky Conference and one of the best small-school re-builders in the country. He took over a Weber State football program that had two playoff appearances in its history and helped the Wildcats make the playoffs five seasons in a row.
WSU won the Big Sky Conference in 2017, 2018 and 2019, then again in the spring of 2021. Hill has led Weber to five playoff wins, including quarterfinal berths in 2017 and 2018 and a semifinal berth in 2019.
So when the Big Sky put five teams in the FCS playoff field last season and one of them was not Weber State, it could’ve been cause for concern. But the Wildcats have won enough under Hill that entering this season, the feeling around the program was one of stark optimism. And last year’s 6-5 finish, hindered by a 2-4 start, provided fuel entering this current campaign.
“I think last year, it’s been spoken probably too often about, but it was a little bit of a disappointment how everything went down,” Hill said. “We thought we had a good team. We did have a good team. But everything didn’t fall the way we envisioned it. But this team came back right away in winter conditioning, spring ball hungry, ready to go.”
Two of those losses the first half of 2021 during the 2-4 start were heart-breakers; Weber lost 17-14 to No. 12 UC Davis to fall to 1-3. And WSU lost 13-7 in a knock down, drag out against No. 9 Montana State to cap that 2-4 first half.
But WSU ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the FCS. Weber State won four of five, including beating No. 2 Eastern Washington 35-34 n Cheney and thrashing Southern Utah in Cedar City as a parting gift in the last Beehive State matchup for Utah’s Big Sky schools before SUU jumped ship.
“I even took for granted how cool and how awesome it was to win four Big Sky championships,” senior wide receiver Ty MacPherson said earlier this week. “Coming out of winning another one in the spring into last fall, we thought, ‘We do what we do and we are going to win a Big Sky championship.
“So when we had those struggles, lost those games, we didn’t make the palyoffs, in the off-season, a lot of the guys who played, we were like, ‘it sucks not contending, playing for a Big Sky championship.
“The off-season was fantastic, so many guys working their butts off. And it was because we missed the feeling of having that Big Sky championship.”
And that momentum has carried over into this season. Saturday, Weber State comes to Bozeman, Montana for a highly anticipated showdown with No. 3 Montana State.
WSU has won six straight contests and is one of the last undefeated teams left in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Wildcats had one of the non-conference wins of the season by an FCS squad when they destroyed Utah State of the Mountain West 35-7. Weber is also 3-0 in Big Sky Conference play with wins over UC Davis, Eastern Washington and Portland State.
“I think everything that’s gone on the last year or so has influenced is in a positive way because there’s no room for being comfortable,” Weber State junior Eddie Heckard, a two-time first-team All-Big Sky cornerback, said at the Big Sky Kickoff in July. “Maybe winning four championships made us a little bit comfortable.
“We went 6-5 last year but that’s a losing season for us. When I’ve been here, we have always won 10 games a season. I like the challenge. Nobody is comfortable. Everybody is ready to win.”
Each team has an argument as a top contender in the Big Sky. Each team runs the ball with authority. Each team plays opportunistic defense. And each team wants to compliment each other on offense, defense and special teams.
Hill complimented Brent Vigen for his steadiness and the identity of the Bobcats under his guidance when breaking down the game on Saturday. Now Montana State, a team that played for the FCS national title last season and is off to a 6-0 start against FCS play (6-1 overall), stands in the way of Weber State’s continued march toward re-ascending to the top of the Big Sky mountaintop.
“Our guys have taken a business like approach to everything they are doing,” Hill said. “They work hard, they practice well and I see players in here every day watching film. It’s paid off. When they see things like that showing success, which they have, they usually continue to do them. This team has been a good example so far of hard work paying off.”
For Weber State to take another step toward recapturing a league championship, the quest will begin in Bozeman on Saturday.
“Just seeing all those championship rings we got, everybody wants to get back to that quest,” Heckard said.
