Weber State football: Wildcats hope to avoid letdown against Sacramento State

SACRAMENTO — Weber State has no time to let up — or let down — after last week's heart-stopping, four-overtime win over Northern Colorado.

The Wildcats hope there are no lingering effects from last week when they play at Sacramento State tonight in the Hornets' Big Sky opener. It's never easy to bounce back from an emotional game — win or lose — and Weber State has to do that against a Sacramento State team looking to defeat an upper-tier team in the Big Sky.

Coach Ron McBride estimated there were about 240 total plays in last week's win over Northern Colorado, and that amount will take a toll on a team.

"That wears on you physically," McBride said. "It takes you awhile to get your guys back to where they need to be, get their legs back and everything. It takes a big toll on both teams. You just have to rebound."

Wildcat running back Bo Bolen said a quick start would be big in keeping his team from suffering an upset loss.

"We just got to come out and play fast," Bolen said. "That's what we struggled with all last year and we struggled with it a little bit this past game. We just got to play our game and not let our foot off the gas."

The Wildcats will try and click on all cylinders against a Hornet team that's had an interesting start to the season.

Sacramento State has a new quarterback after starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson suffered an ankle injury in the team's season-opener against Stanford. In came Jeff Fleming, who transferred from New Mexico State less than a month ago. Fleming is learning the offense, as well as his teammates' names, at the same time.

Fleming threw for 209 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in the team's 31-17 win over Western Oregon last week.

"He just needs time," said Sac State coach Marshall Sperbeck. "You don't come in and in 10 days light the world on fire in college football. We just need to keep feeding him the offense. He'll be fine as the year goes on."

The Hornets have long been a mediocre program in the Big Sky. This is the 15th season Sac State has been in the conference, and it has had just one season above .500 in Big Sky play. Sperbeck said a win over an upper-tier conference team such as Weber State will help establish the Hornet program.

McBride is leery of the Hornets.

"Every team in this league is good," he said. "Every team is comparable, so nobody in the conference can say, 'We should be able to beat this team or that team.' We have to bring our 'A' game to have a chance."

Wildcats on the air

Weber State (1-1, 1-0 Big Sky) at Sacramento State (1-1, 0-0 Big Sky)

Tonight, 7 p.m.

At Hornet Stadium, Sacramento

TV: none Radio: 1430 AM

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com