Weber State football: Wildcats fall short on fourth-and-(gulp)

OGDEN — Weber State needed just 1 yard to get past Montana State and remain tied atop the Big Sky standings.

But the Wildcats went backwards — both on the game's pivotal play and now in the conference standings — on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing by five with 20 seconds left in the game, Weber State faced a fourth-and-goal at the Bobcats' 1-yard line. The Wildcats lined up in shotgun formation, and quarterback Cameron Higgins faked an inside handoff to Trevyn Smith and pitched outside to fullback Bo Bolen.

Montana State wasn't fooled, tackled Bolen for a 5-yard loss, and escaped Stewart Stadium with a 26-21 victory over Weber State. The loss drops the Wildcats to 2-1 in Big Sky play, and makes repeating as conference champions increasingly difficult. Montana State kept pace with Montana and Eastern Washington in a first-place tie with the win.

With the school's all-time leading rusher in the backfield in Smith, the Wildcats left themselves open to be questioned on their final play call. Coach Ron McBride sighed and took his time answering when he was asked about the pitch call to Bolen.

"They felt upstairs that we would be able to walk in (the end zone) in that situation," McBride said. "It's a gamble. It didn't work — obviously. It ended up being one of those calls you have to live with for a lifetime."

McBride said he'll never publicly criticize his coaches or players, and that Saturday's loss falls on his shoulders.

"If you can't find a way to get in the end zone on a fourth-and-1 on the last play of the game, you don't deserve to win. Period," McBride said.

The Wildcats started their final drive at their own 28-yard line with 3:09 remaining. Higgins completed four passes for 50 yards and the Bobcats committed two personal foul penalties to allow Weber State to quickly get to Montana State's 6-yard line. Smith almost scored on a 3-yard run on third down, but was stopped when he attempted to dive into the end zone.

The final drive and play were only a couple of opportunities the Wildcats failed to take advantage of against the Bobcats. Weber State had four turnovers, and scored just one touchdown in seven red-zone appearances.

"We didn't lose that game because of that last play," Smith said. "We lost that game because of four quarters of football. We made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers. We've got to play better for four quarters."