Weber State football: Despite Saturday's heroics, Toone expects more

OGDEN — Catching the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left usually constitutes a good game for a receiver.

Weber State's Tim Toone disagrees.

It was a surprising sight to see Toone doing up-downs after the Wildcats finished with conditioning at the end of their light workout on Monday. The exercise is reserved for players who are charged with "loafing" — as Toone puts it — in the team's previous game, and it is held with their teammates and coaches surrounding them in a circle.

Toone hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Higgins with 17 seconds left in Weber State's dramatic 36-29 win over Portland State on Saturday.

The winning score wasn't enough to make Toone feel satisfied with his effort.

"I just was not playing like I usually do, so I had to go in there (the up-down circle)," Toone said. "I felt like I didn't block and do all that I needed to do, all the little things that count. Maybe if I would have blocked a little more, some big plays would have sprung and we wouldn't have been in that situation (to need a last-minute touchdown)."

There certainly wasn't anyone else in the up-down circle that had eight catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns as Toone did against Portland State. It was a sign of leadership by setting an example from Toone, who leads the Big Sky with an average of 7.5 catches per game and is second in receiving yards with 398.

Toone has a school-record 23 career touchdown receptions, and that number is the 12th best in Big Sky history. Toone needs just 27 more receiving yards to pass Wade Orton as the Wildcats' all-time leader and 104 more to reach 3,000.

MUTCHER RETURNS: Weber State center Kyle Mutcher returned to action against Portland State for the first time since the team's season-opener. He had suffered some cartilage damage in one of his shoulders in a game against Wyoming.

It took a few plays for the all-conference center to shake off the rust, but he eventually settled in and played well against the Vikings.

"It was too long on the sidelines," Mutcher said. "I haven't been there for a long time. I had to knock the rust off early in the game, but I came back around. It just feels good to play."