Weber State Claims Fourth Consecutive Big Sky Football Title; Secures First-Ever Outright Championship
FARMINGTON, Utah (April 10, 2021) – For the fourth consecutive season the Wildcats of Weber State have claimed the Big Sky Conference Football Championship, finishing the Spring 2021 season with a perfect 5-0 league record. The victory also secures Weber State the Big Sky’s automatic bid to the FCS Playoff.
The Wildcats won the title with a 20-15 victory over Idaho State at Stewart Stadium on Saturday afternoon in Ogden.
This marks Weber State’s seventh overall Big Sky Conference title, with their first coming in 1965. That being said, it is the first time Weber State has been outright conference champions as they were named co-champions in the previous six.
While the wins weren’t always pretty, WSU found a way to grind out a victory in every single contest.
In their season opener against rival Idaho State, the Wildcats won by their biggest margin of the season with a 49-21 victory in Pocatello. Bronson Barron had a massive day through the air for the Wildcats against the Bengals the first time around, completing 17 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns.
In their first home contest of the season the Wildcats took down UC Davis in a close 18-13 skirmish. The Aggies jumped ahead 10-0 in the contest and held that lead at halftime, but the Wildcats climbed all the way back in the second half to move to 2-0.
Sometimes on the path to a championship, you have to get a little lucky, and the Wildcats found some of that luck when the hosted Northern Arizona and won on a 50-yard ‘Hail Mary’ pass as time expired to knock off the Lumberjacks and move to 3-0. Backup quarterback Randall Johnson, who made the start for WSU in the contest, found Justin Malone in the endzone to keep the Wildcats’ perfect season alive.
Against in-state rival Southern Utah, the Wildcats found themselves once again in a close contest. Trailing 16-9 heading into the fourth quarter, WSU saw Dontae McMillan score on a 43-yard run to cap off a three-play, 75-yard drive and Kyle Thompson nail a 19-yard field goal to put themselves ahead 19-6 and hold on to the victory.
Their final contest against ISU, a rematch between their regional foe, was tightly contested as well. However, with two minutes left in the game Daniel Wright broke into the endzone from six yards away to cap off a seven-play, 76-yard drive to give the Wildcats a victory.
The Spring 2021 Big Sky champion was crowned based on winning percentage, and every other team in the league has suffered at least one loss to this point.
The Wildcats were scheduled to play one more game this season, but saw their final contest against Cal Poly get canceled after the Mustangs pulled out of the remainder of their schedule.
Weber State will now await their FCS Playoff fate, which will be announced on Sunday, April 18 at 9:30 a.m. MT on ESPNU.
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