Weber State football: Weber confident vs. Wyoming

The Weber State Wildcats took on two FBS (formerly Division 1-A) teams during their breakout season in 2008 — Hawaii and Utah.

The Wildcats lost both of those games but were respectable in each of them. Weber State opens its 2009 season today against another FBS team in Wyoming and is expecting to be much more than respectable.

"Coach (Ron McBride)'s made some good points," said Wildcat safety Beau Hadley. "He said last year we knew we were going to be better, but when we went into those games we didn't really believe we could win. And this year that's something we're focused on. We believe we can win."

The Wildcats have reason to be confident for today's game, which kicks off at 1 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium. The Cowboys are coming off a 4-8 season and have a new coach, former Missouri assistant Dave Christensen. Wyoming was horrendous against top Mountain West Conference teams Utah, TCU and BYU last season, losing to the three by a combined score of 138-14.

Then again, the Cowboys defeated an SEC team — Tennessee — 13-7 late in the season and, as an FBS team, should have more depth than the Wildcats. On paper, Wyoming has advantages, but the Wildcats aren't paying attention to them.

"I feel good," said McBride. "I like this team. You never know what's going to happen. If these guys play how they're capable, we'll be OK."

The Wildcats say they learned some lessons in their losses to Utah and Hawaii last season. Weber State actually led Hawaii 17-7 at halftime before being outscored 29-0 in the second half. The Wildcats hung with Utah for a little more than a quarter before the Utes built a 24-7 halftime lead.

Playing with confidence, and learning to play until the final whistle — no matter who the opponent may be — are what the Wildcats gleaned from those two defeats. Following the losses to Utah and Hawaii, Weber State went on to win a share of the Big Sky championship and reached the FCS quarterfinals.

"Last year, we'd go into it (games against Hawaii and Utah) and start doing well and we'd be like 'OK, here we go,' " said receiver Tim Toone. "We've learned how to play the whole game, and I think it'll help us with being able to finish."

The Cowboys expect to be a more explosive team with Christensen running the offense. Wyoming will feature a no-huddle, spread offense that Christensen ran at Missouri. It's a difficult offense to defend, and the Wildcats are somewhat thankful they've had more time to prepare for it than if this game were being played in midseason.