Weber State football: Wildcats have point to make

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Weber State head football coach Ron McBride had a message for his players following the Wildcats' costly home loss to Eastern Washington in their regular-season finale last week.

The defeat forced Weber State to play on the road tonight against a high-scoring and tough Cal Poly team, rather than host a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game at Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Stadium. It also meant the Wildcats had to share the Big Sky championship with Montana, and it snapped their six-game winning streak.

Those consequences were certainly disappointing, but McBride said there's no time to dwell on them.

"There are two types of teams — one is where you bury your head in a hole and feel sorry for yourself," McBride told his players. "The other is pissed off and is going to do something about it."

McBride is expecting the latter when 12th-ranked Weber State plays at third-ranked Cal Poly tonight. Kickoff is at 7:05 p.m. MST.

The Wildcats will play in their first FCS playoff game since 1991 against the Mustangs, the highest-scoring team in the nation. And rather than stew about its blown opportunity against Eastern Washington, Weber State is looking at tonight's game as a shot at redemption.

"It could be a blessing in disguise," quarterback Cameron Higgins said. "We play good on the road. It was a big wake-up call for us, for me especially. I pretty much lost the game."

No Weber State player is wanting redemption from last week's defeat as much as Higgins. He threw four interceptions against the Eagles, and one of them was returned for a touchdown. The timing was terrible for Higgins, the Big Sky's offensive MVP this season, to have his worst game of the year. But he's ready to rebound against a Cal Poly team the Wildcats will have little margin for error against.

"We're going to have to put up some points to stay in the game," Higgins said. "Defensively they're pretty confusing. We just got to stay focused. We can't have any three-and-outs. Every possession counts."

Higgins isn't kidding. Cal Poly has scored more than 40 points in seven of its 10 games this season. The Mustangs average 45.3 points and rush for 300.8 yards per game in their option-running attack. They will try and control the tempo and keep the Wildcats' high-powered offense off the field.

Weber State is the nation's ninth-highest scoring team and ranks eighth in total offense. No FCS defense has really slowed the Wildcats this season, and they believe they'll enjoy some success against the Mustangs.