WSU football: McBride, 'Cats ready for true spring game

OGDEN — Four years into his re-building project at Weber State, Ron McBride has hit a significant plateau: He's got enough players to hold a true spring game.

The Wildcats, because of injuries, transfers and various other circumstances, have not held a spring game since McBride arrived in Ogden four springs ago. Now, for the most part, WSU is a deeper, stronger and healthier team as it wraps up three weeks of drills.

"We wanted to put some fun into the game and make it competitive, so instead of a glorified scrimmage we've made it into a real game situation," McBride said. "Because of injuries, we only have six healthy offensive linemen, so they will be playing for both teams. Other than that, we have enough depth to fill up both sides. It should make for a good game not only for the players but for our fans as well."

Of course, not every Wildcat is healthy. In addition to the offensive linemen McBride mentioned, WSU is without star running back Trevyn Smith, who has skipped the spring while recovering from shoulder surgery.

Smith's absence, though, has allowed backups Justin White and Eric Lee to get some valuable reps with the first team.

Sophomore Cameron Higgins, likewise, has benefited from his first season as the No. 1 quarterback in camp. In last week's scrimmage, he completed 14-of-19 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

After concluding this spring session of practices, McBride and the Wildcats will start planning for the season opener on Aug. 28 against Montana-Western.

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Weber State Purple and White Game

Where: Stewart Stadium

When: 1 p.m.

Admission: Free

Chalk Talk: Weber State coach Ron McBride will host a discussion of this year's spring drills and next year's Wildcat football team at 12:30 today. McBride will answer a few questions from boosters in the Stewart Stadium's 4th-floor skyboxes and then head down to the field for the annual spring game.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com