Weber State football battles but falls short 31-24 at No. 8 Idaho
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- Weber State running back Damon Bankston, center, picks up yards without his shoes while Idaho’s Andrew Marshall (7) pursues on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Idaho quarterback Jack Layne (2) throws a pass as Weber State linemen Steven Bryant (50) and Brayden Wilson (94) bear down on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State players pile on top of quarterback Richie Muñoz, bottom center, in an attempted goal line QB sneak against Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State running back Damon Bankston, center, picks up yards without his shoes while Idaho’s Malakai Williams (15) and Dwayne McDougle (22) pursues on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State running back Damon Bankston, center, picks up yards without his shoes while Idaho’s Malakai Williams (15) and Dwayne McDougle (22) pursues on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State tight end Keayen Nead (45) celebrates his touchdown against Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State defensive end Kemari Munier-Bailey, left, tackles Idaho quarterback Jack Layne (2) on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State’s Keayen Nead (45) and Bronson Childs celebrate Nead’s touchdown reception against Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
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- Weber State receiver Marcus Chretien (87) tries to haul in a pass against Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Moscow, Idaho.
Weber State football played its best game in more than a month Saturday night at the Kibbie Dome but it wasn’t enough to overcome the No. 8 Idaho Vandals.
With the return of its top quarterback Jack Layne, Idaho prevailed over a tough WSU challenge 31-24 to unofficially clinch a playoff spot, complete a regular-season home slate unbeaten for the first time since 1996, and send the Wildcats to their fifth straight loss.
“I love these kids. They played their butts off for 60 minutes,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said. “Just need to make one or two more impactful plays to get either another score — I thought we wasted a couple field position possessions offensively. We’ve got to be able to put up points and separate a little bit going into the half up 14-10.”
Despite the halftime lead, Weber State couldn’t sustain enough drives to keep up when Idaho ultimately punched through an improved-looking WSU defense.
After trading punts, Idaho (8-3, 5-2 Big Sky) got on the board first when Layne hit Mark Hamper with a downfield ball and Hamper scooted past two defenders crashing into each other for a 36-yard touchdown pass at the 6:39 mark of the first quarter. The Vandals wouldn’t score another touchdown for nearly three quarters.
With 2:19 left in the first, Noah Kjar returned a punt 43 yards to the Idaho 40.
It took Weber State (3-8, 2-5) all of 10 plays and five minutes to cash in but, on fourth-and-goal from inside Idaho’s 1, sophomore quarterback Richie Muñoz play-faked to Damon Bankston and tossed an easy pitch to tight end Keayen Nead for a touchdown. That made it 7-7 early in the second quarter.
WSU walled up Idaho’s next drive but Cameron Pope knocked through a 50-yard field goal to put Idaho up 10-7 with 2:41 left in the half.
A 17-yard pass to Noah Bennee helped Weber State get to the red zone again. Muñoz punched in a third-and-goal sneak from the 1 only to have it reversed on video replay, then did it again and crossed the goal line on fourth down to put Weber State ahead 14-10 at halftime.
Troubles came for WSU’s offense in the second half. Despite Idaho kicking away from Kjar and giving WSU a 57-yard field, the Wildcats’ offense turned in the first of three straight three-and-outs to open the third quarter.
In fact, of Weber State’s 12 possessions, the Wildcats only gained first downs (12) on their four scoring drives. Seven others ended in three-and-outs with punts, and the eighth was a turnover on downs early in the fourth quarter when Jacob Sharp was pulled down by his jersey on a Muñoz sideline pass near the Idaho 30 with no flag.
Idaho began to loosen up WSU’s defense but the Wildcats held Pope to field goals of 48 and 36 yards — enough for the Vandals to take a 16-14 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Vandals finally returned to the end zone with 8:28 left, taking a 10-play drive inside the 20 and negating a Matt Herron tackle for loss with a 16-yard Layne to Hamper dump-down screen for a 23-14 lead.
Weber State’s first first down of the second half came with about six minutes left when Muñoz launched a 30-yarder to Jayleen Record to convert a third-and-17 from WSU’s 14. That got the sticks moving but a third-and-1 attempt to Marcus Chretien fell incomplete and the Wildcats elected to kick a field goal from Idaho’s 14.
Kyle Thompson made his kick from 31 yards, making it 23-17 with 3:34 left.
WSU’s defense held Idaho to a third-and-4 at its own 26 and the Vandals called timeout with 2:02 left. The Wildcats had two timeouts and a defensive stop would also stop the clock at the two-minute warning.
Instead, Layne turned to Hamper one more time and, while WSU seemed to be disoriented lining up before the play, Hamper’s tunnel screen to the right side turned into a yards-after-catch bonanza. Hamper went 76 yards to seal the game 31-17 with 1:40 left.
It wasn’t quite over there. Muñoz gained 22 yards on three completions before lining a perfect long ball to Sharp up the sideline, threaded just past two Idaho defenders and allowing Sharp to jog in for a 57-yard touchdown, creating a 31-24 margin with 43 seconds left.
WSU didn’t get much of a chance to recover the ensuing onside kick, however, and Idaho celebrated its home-field success.
Muñoz finished 20 of 32 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, with receptions going to 11 players. Sharp had 67 yards on three catches and Davion Godley 35 yards on six receptions.
Bankston rushed 11 times for 54 yards and left the game banged up in the fourth quarter. Idaho held WSU to 78 net rushing yards.
Layne threw 18 of 27 for 283 yards for Idaho, with Hamper’s big plays helping him rack up 187 receiving yards on eight catches. Art Williams rushed 10 times for 67 yards.
WSU won the turnover battle with Ishaan Daniels picking off Layne in the second half. Idaho outgained WSU 419-296.
Weber State finishes the 2024 season hosting Cal Poly. The Mustangs are 3-7 after beating Sacramento State 26-23, their first win over the Hornets in six years.
“These kids play hard and continue to make strides, and I know the results don’t show it all the time but they continue to battle,” Mental said. “We’re going to find a way to honor our seniors here in the last game.”
Elsewhere in the Big Sky, No. 2 Montana State (11-0, 7-0) wrapped up at least a share of the Big Sky championship, and the league’s automatic playoff bid, surviving a rally from No. 4 UC Davis (9-2, 6-1) with a two-point-conversion stop for a 30-28 win.
No. 10 Montana (8-3, 5-2) trailed Portland State (2-8, 2-5) by a 3-0 score at halftime but survived for a 28-17 victory.
Eastern Washington (4-7, 3-4) scored touchdowns on all 11 of its possessions, set the program’s modern-day and Division-I scoring record, and rushed for a school-record 478 yards in a 77-42 home win over Idaho State (5-6, 3-4).
Northern Arizona (7-4, 5-2) neared a possible playoff berth by thrashing Northern Colorado (1-10, 1-6) in a 44-3 decision. The Lumberjacks host Eastern Washington to close the regular season.
