2022 Weber State Wildcats football team
{{Short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{only primary sources|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 2022
| team = Weber State Wildcats
| sport = football
| image = Weber State Wildcats wordmark.svg
| image_size = 250
| conference = Big Sky Conference
| short_conf= Big Sky
| STATSRank = 9
| FCSCoachRank = 9
| record = 10–3
| conf_record = 6–2
| head_coach = Jay Hill
| hc_year = 9th
| off_coach = Mickey Mental
| oc_year = 1st
| off_scheme =
| codef_coach1 = Grant Duff
| codc1_year = 2nd
| codef_coach2 = Joe Dale
| codc2_year = 2nd
| def_scheme =
| captain =
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| bowl = NCAA Division I Second Round
| bowl_result = L 25–33 vs. Montana State
}}
{{2022 Big Sky Conference football standings}}
The 2022 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by ninth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah. The Wildcats began the regular season ranked number 20 in the FCS rankings. On September 10, the Wildcats defeated the Utah State Aggies, their first win against the Aggies since 1978, and their first win against an FBS opponent since their victory against Nevada in 1993. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a record of 9–2, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs, their fifth appearance under Jay Hill. The Wildcats defeated North Dakota in the opening round, but were defeated by Montana State the following round. After the season, head coach Jay Hill announced he would step down as Weber State head coach to accept the Defensive Coordinator position at BYU. Offensive coordinator Mickey Mental was announced as Hill's successor.
Preseason
=Polls=
On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Wildcats were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.{{cite web|title= Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media|url= https://bigskyconf.com/news/2022/7/25/football-montana-tabbed-big-sky-preseason-favorites-by-coaches-media.aspx|date=July 25, 2021|access-date=July 25, 2021}}
| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Coaches poll |
| align="center"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Weber State Wildcats|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}} |
| align="center"
| 1 | Montana | 111 (3) |
| align="center"
| 2 | Sacramento State | 110 (4) |
| align="center"
| 3 | Montana State | 109 (5) |
| align="center"
| 4 | Weber State | 84 |
| align="center"
| 5 | UC Davis | 82 |
| align="center"
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 76 |
| align="center"
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 62 |
| align="center"
| 8 | Idaho | 45 |
| align="center"
| 9 | Portland State | 42 |
| align="center"
| 10 | Cal Poly | 33 |
| align="center"
| T-11 | Idaho State | 19 |
| align="center"
| T-11 | Northern Colorado | 19 |
| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Media poll |
| align="center"
{{CollegeSecondaryHeader|team=Weber State Wildcats|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}} |
| align="center"
| 1 | Montana | 356 (14) |
| align="center"
| 2 | Montana State | 352 (13) |
| align="center"
| 3 | Sacramento State | 335 (4) |
| align="center"
| 4 | Weber State | 261 |
| align="center"
| 5 | UC Davis | 255 (1) |
| align="center"
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 236 |
| align="center"
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 191 |
| align="center"
| 8 | Portland State | 146 |
| align="center"
| 9 | Idaho | 142 |
| align="center"
| 10 | Cal Poly | 85 |
| align="center"
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 71 |
| align="center"
| 12 | Idaho State | 66 |
=Preseason All–Big Sky team=
The Wildcats had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.{{cite web |title=Wildcat football picked fourth in Big Sky preseason polls|url=https://weberstatesports.com/news/2022/7/25/football-wildcat-football-picked-fourth-in-big-sky-preseason-polls.aspx |website=weberstatesports.com |access-date=July 27, 2022 |language=en |date=25 July 2022}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
Offense
Noah Atagi – OL
{{col-end}}
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| rankyear = 2022
| rankdivision = NCAA Division I FCS
| poll = STATS
| timezone = Mountain
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = {{Tooltip|September 1|Thursday}}
| time = 6:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| nonconf = y
| rank = 20
| opponent = {{cfb link|year=2022|team=Western Oregon Wolves|title=Western Oregon}}
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 41–5
| attend = 6,522
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 10
| time = 4:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| nonconf = y
| away = y
| rank = 16
| opponent = Utah State
| stadium = Maverik Stadium
| cityst = Logan, UT
| tv = MW Network
| score = 35–7
| attend = 17,781
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 17
| time = 6:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| nonconf = y
| rank = 12
| opponent = Utah Tech
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = KJZZ
| score = 44–14
| attend = 9,035
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 24
| time = 8:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank = 12
| away = y
| opponent = UC Davis
| stadium = UC Davis Health Stadium
| cityst = Davis, CA
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 17–12
| attend = 8,822
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 8
| time = 6:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank = 7
| homecoming = y
| opponent = Eastern Washington
| opprank = 24
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = KJZZ/ESPN+
| score = 45–21
| attend = 10,724
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 15
| time = 3:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank = 6
| away = y
| opponent = Portland State
| stadium = Hillsboro Stadium
| cityst = Hillsboro, OR
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 42–7
| attend = 4,067
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 22
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| away = y
| rank = 5
| opponent = Montana State
| opprank = 3
| stadium = Bobcat Stadium
| cityst = Bozeman, MT
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 38–43
| attend = 20,707
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 29
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank = 5T
| opponent = Montana
| opprank = 11
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 24–21
| attend = 11,722
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 5
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank = 5
| opponent = Sacramento State
| opprank = 2
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 30–33
| attend = 7,152
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 12
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank = 7
| opponent = Idaho State
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 45–7
| attend = 7,756
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 19
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| away = y
| rank = 7
| opponent = Northern Arizona
| stadium = Walkup Skydome
| cityst = Flagstaff, AZ
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 33–31
| attend = 5,217
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 26
| time = 2:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| nonconf = y
| rank = 9
| opponent = North Dakota
| opprank = 20
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| gamename = NCAA Division I First Round
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 38–31
| attend = 4,495
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = December 3
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| nonconf = y
| away = y
| rank = 9
| opponent = Montana State
| opprank = 3
| stadium = Bobcat Stadium
| cityst = Bozeman, MT
| gamename = NCAA Division I Second Round
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 25–33
| attend = 16,397
}}
}}
Game summaries
=Western Oregon=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Wolves
|R1=2
|R2=0
|R3=3
|R4=0
|Home=No. 20 Wildcats
|H1=14
|H2=10
|H3=7
|H4=10
}}
{{Clear}}
=At Utah State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 16 Wildcats
|R1=13
|R2=0
|R3=15
|R4=7
|Home=Aggies
|H1=7
|H2=0
|H3=0
|H4=0
}}
{{see also|2022 Utah State Aggies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=Utah Tech=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Trailblazers
|R1=7
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=0
|Home=No. 12 Wildcats
|H1=21
|H2=3
|H3=13
|H4=7
}}
{{see also|2022 Utah Tech Trailblazers football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At UC Davis=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 12 Wildcats
|R1=7
|R2=7
|R3=3
|R4=0
|Home=Aggies
|H1=3
|H2=3
|H3=6
|H4=0
}}
{{see also|2022 UC Davis Aggies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 24 Eastern Washington=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 24 Eagles
|R1=7
|R2=7
|R3=7
|R4=0
|Home=No. 7 Wildcats
|H1=14
|H2=7
|H3=10
|H4=14
}}
{{see also|2022 Eastern Washington Eagles football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At Portland State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 6 Wildcats
|R1=14
|R2=7
|R3=14
|R4=7
|Home=Vikings
|H1=0
|H2=0
|H3=0
|H4=7
}}
{{see also|2022 Portland State Vikings football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At No. 3 Montana State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 5 Wildcats
|R1=17
|R2=7
|R3=8
|R4=6
|Home=No. 3 Bobcats
|H1=9
|H2=18
|H3=16
|H4=0
}}
{{see also|2022 Montana State Bobcats football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 11 Montana=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=No. 11 Grizzles
|R1= 3
|R2= 7
|R3= 3
|R4= 8
|Home=No. 5T Wildcats
|H1= 7
|H2= 3
|H3= 7
|H4= 7
}}
{{see also|2022 Montana Grizzlies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 2 Sacramento State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 2 Hornets
|R1=7
|R2=9
|R3=7
|R4=10
|Home=No. 5 Wildcats
|H1=7
|H2=0
|H3=7
|H4=16
}}
{{see also|2022 Sacramento State Hornets football team}}
{{Clear}}
=Idaho State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Bengals
|R1=0
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=0
|Home=No. 7 Wildcats
|H1=7
|H2=14
|H3=10
|H4=14
}}
{{see also|2022 Idaho State Bengals football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At Northern Arizona=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 7 Wildcats
|R1=14
|R2=7
|R3=6
|R4=6
|Home=Lumberjacks
|H1=0
|H2=21
|H3=0
|H4=10
}}
{{see also|2022 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team}}
{{Clear}}
FCS Playoffs
=No. 20 North Dakota – first round=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 20 Fighting Hawks
|R1=0
|R2=14
|R3=3
|R4=14
|Home=No. 9 Wildcats
|H1=7
|H2=24
|H3=7
|H4=0
}}
{{see also|2022 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team|2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season}}
{{Clear}}
=At No. 3 Montana State – second round=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 9 Wildcats
|R1=3
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=15
|Home=No. 3 Bobcats
|H1=7
|H2=9
|H3=10
|H4=7
}}
{{see also|2022 Montana State Bobcats football team|2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season}}
{{Clear}}