Weber State football: WSU's Epperson does it all in loss to Cougars

"He's calloused for contact now," Sears said of Hoke. "He's ready to go the rest of the year, right? We've got to make sure we do a good job of protecting him. He can't take that many shots and expect to get through the whole season. But he's a big strong man now."

And while the Wildcats fell to 0-2 on the young season, things will get a little bit easier from here on out with these back-to-back games against FBS teams behind them now.

"We can't dwell on the past," Epperson said. "There's nothing we can do about what happened at Fresno, there's nothing we can do about what happened out there today.

"We've got to go in there, watch film, and make our corrections. Now we're back to playing (FCS) teams and now it's just business as usual. ... We're just looking ahead to McNeese State next week and just getting ready for them now."

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