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Weber State football: Muñoz gets national honors, Wildcats return to Top 25

By BRETT HEIN - Standard-Examiner | Oct 8, 2024

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Weber State quarterback Richie Muñoz throws the football against McNeese on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

Weber State’s thrilling overtime win over then-No. 8 Montana garnered plenty of attention for the Wildcats and their sophomore quarterback.

STATS Perform named Richie Muñoz the FCS national offensive player of the week for his day in Montana. Muñoz was 19 of 28 for a career-high 364 yards and threw six touchdown passes to zero interceptions. He became the first WSU quarterback to throw for six touchdowns in a game since Brad Otton in 1993.

Muñoz also made ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit’s list of top performers for Week 6. That list of eight consists of five FBS power-conference players, a power-conference defensive line, Heisman frontrunner and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty — and Muñoz.

Muñoz’s six touchdowns led Weber State to a 55-48 victory and gave the Wildcats some history: WSU’s 55 points are the most ever scored by a Montana opponent in Washington-Grizzly Stadium, which opened in 1986.

Muñoz has thrown 23 touchdowns and two interceptions in 328 attempts over 11 career games.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Weber State quarterback Richie Muñoz throws the football against McNeese on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.

Senior linebacker Garrett Beck also got a nod for his performance in the win, garnering the Big Sky Conference’s co-defensive player of the week award. Beck was part of a four-player group to lead Weber State with eight tackles in the victory and made game-winning play.

Beck beat his block on the left side of the offense, hit and stripped Montana quarterback Logan Fife, and got to the football first to finish the turnover and end the game.

Freshman receiver Noah Kjar returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, the first kick-return TD for any Big Sky team this season and the first Montana has allowed since 2017.

The Wildcats are now 5-1 in their last six against the Griz, a run dating back to 2015 that includes two road wins and one playoff win for WSU.

Weber State returns for homecoming as an again-ranked team, jumping back into the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 at the No. 20 spot. Weber State is 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky as they host winless Northern Colorado (0-6) at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Big Sky Conference now has a whopping seven teams ranked as the Wildcats returned to the top 25 while Northern Arizona remained after a narrow loss to Idaho.

Montana State remains atop the Big Sky pack at No. 3. UC Davis, which needed a contested touchdown pass as time expired to beat Portland State, checks in at No. 6. Idaho is No. 7, Montana is No. 14, Sacramento State was voted at No. 18, Weber is 20th and NAU moved up to No. 24.

South Dakota State and North Dakota State remain in their 1-2 positions as they have all season.

Weber State’s depth chart remains almost entirely unchanged heading into the matchup against Northern Colorado. The main change is Kjar’s entry as the second kick returner.

The running back spot remains junior Damon Bankston as starter and sophomore Adrian Cormier as his backup, though true freshman Davion Godley has taken the No. 2 reps for the last six quarters of game play.

Godley, who ran for 3,822 yards and 40 touchdowns on 10.2 yards per carry in his final two high school seasons, has 28 carries for 248 yards in his WSU career.