When Portland State hosted Weber State on Oct. 3, 2007, at PGE Park, most of those involved expected just another tightly-contested Big Sky Conference football game with two relatively untried freshmen quarterbacks.
That perception did not change, even as PSU scored late in the opening quarter to take a 7-3 advantage.
However, it was only the opening act to what turned into one of most exciting and unforgettable football games in the league’s history. The game ranks 17th on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “50 Greatest Men’s Moments.’’
“It was like a video game,” said Cameron Higgins, Weber State’s quarterback looking back at his team’s eventual 73-68 victory as the two teams combined to create the highest scoring football game in Division I history.
“Just throw it,” remembered Drew Hubel, who accounted for an incredible nine touchdown passes for the Vikings. “Stop worrying [about trying to keep up]. Just throw.”
The game was finally decided as Weber State recovered an on-sides kick with less than a minute to play.
“The way Drew was throwing, he would have had 10 [touchdown passes] had they got the ball again,” Higgins said.
Players on each side had little time to rest as points began to come in bunches. The two teams combined for 55 second-quarter points.
In what would become a pattern, Weber State needed 2 ½ minutes to score twice early in the second period, separated by a Viking touchdown.
It happened again late in the second quarter as the Wildcats took a 38-27 lead into halftime.
“It was wild,” said former Weber State coach Ron McBride. “I’m a believer in good defense. Every time we had control of the game, we’d give something away again.
“After it was over, [PSU offensive coordinator Darell “Mouse” Davis] said, ‘Wasn’t that the greatest game you’ve ever been involved in.’”
McBride’s answer was not fit for print.
“He was the happiest,” Davis said of McBride. “He had a smile on his face.”
It was a smile of relief.
The game was one of contrasts. Portland State, with Davis at the offensive controls, had refined its high-powered – and influential – run-and-shoot passing attack.
Meanwhile, Weber State offered a more balanced attack, running the football through gaping holes. The Wildcats’ offensive line also gave the athletic Higgins plenty of time to throw the football.
When it was over, both teams had combined for 141 points and 1,189 yards of total offense.
Higgins completed 22 of 36 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns. The redshirt freshman also ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns.
Weber State’s running back Trevyn Smith ran wild for 235 yards and a score, while receivers Tim Toone and Mike Phillips each hauled in eight passes for a combined 266 yards.
Bryant Eteuati added a 77-yard punt return for WSU to end the third quarter, giving the Wildcats a 52-41 lead.
“There was no defense on the field that day,” Higgins said. “Everything was working. Everything we worked on in practice.”
Still, Higgins scoffed when someone suggested WSU would score 70 points.
“I said, ‘No way,’” Higgins said.
Weber State had to score 73 points. Portland State just kept coming back.
Hubel, a true freshman who had just taken over the starting duties, also had a game for the ages. He completed 35 of 56 passes for 485 yards, though taking the game’s only sack.
The Vikings only ran for 17 yards, however, Tremayne Kirkland caught 13 passes for 177 yards and four touchdowns. David Lewis had eight receptions and four scores, including a 7-yard grab midway through the third quarter to give PSU its final lead, 48-45.
Weber State had a pair of 18-point leads late only to both vanish. Andy Schantz returned a Wildcat fumble 84 yards to bring Portland State to within five with 34 seconds to play.
“Drew was a bright kid,” Mouse Davis said. “He got more confidence as the game progressed. He was very into [the run-and-shoot] and had a good arm. We didn’t have a lot of real experienced receivers, but they were getting better.”
Hubel’s performance earned a College Sporting News' "Player of the Week" award and a Sports Network “Player of the Week” award in Football Championship Subdivision.
“It was a moment when I was making the adjustment between high school and college,” Hubel said. “Mouse helped square me away.
“There was a kind of pressure to keep up. You’d get done and then you’d be back at it. You couldn’t take a breath.”
Although the game set a NCAA record for all divisions, the mark lasted just two weeks. On Nov. 10, Hartwick and Utica scored 142 points in a four-overtime Div. III game. Then, on Nov. 24 in a Div. II playoff game, Chadron State beat Abilene Christian 76-73 in three overtimes.
Abilene Christian was involved in another record breaker the next season, beating West Texas A&M 93-68.
For Hubel and Higgins, their offensive assault was merely a precursor of what was to come later in their careers.
Weber State finished 2007 with a 5-6 record, 4-4 in the Big Sky. The next season, Higgins threw for 4,477 yards and 36 touchdowns and was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. He led the Wildcats to a BSC championship with a 7-1 mark.
It would prove to be his best season as Higgins finished his career with more than 12,000 throwing yards and a league record 98 touchdowns. The Wildcats would continue to contend, compiling an 18-6 Big Sky mark between 2008 and 2010.
“That year was the first phase of our rebuilding the program,” McBride said. “The next two years the team was really good.”
Higgins now works as a real estate agent in his native Hawaii as well as helping guide Kaiser High to a state championship as an offensive coordinator.
“It seems so long ago,” Higgins said of the record-setting game.
Hubel would not have the same fortune. In 2008, Hubel threw for nearly 3,000 yards, including a school-record 623-yard performance against Eastern Washington.
But injuries eventually took too much of a toll, and he wound up missing the entire 2010 season, finishing his career as a backup.
Hubel, who now works for the Pendleton, Ore., Police Department, did receive a tryout for the Oakland Raiders, but was cut.
“It was frustrating,” he said. “I just wasn’t the same player I was as a freshman or sophomore. The hardest part, I felt like I was letting the group down.”
Those involved still look back at the game with wonder, though it rankled the defensive-minded McBride and Portland State head coach Jerry Glanville.
“After the game, I told Glanville’s wife, watch Jerry. He might slit his wrists,” said Davis with a laugh.
