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Park City • In three seasons, coach Jay Hill has taken Weber State's program to the FCS playoff level. Now comes the tough part: contending for a Big Sky Conference championship.
One rival coach made the Wildcats his pick to win the 2017 title. The consensus is less favorable. Weber State is picked to finish fifth in the 13-team league in both the coaches' and media polls, published Tuesday as the Big Sky Football Kickoff concluded here. Southern Utah ranked seventh in each poll.
North Dakota, Utah's season-opening opponent Aug. 31, is the Big Sky's clear favorite, ahead of Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona and Cal Poly. Portland State, BYU's first opponent Aug. 26, is ninth in the coaches' voting and 10th in the media poll.
Weber State's season opener is Sept. 2 vs. Montana Western, then the Wildcats will visit California. Hill has gone 2-10, 6-5 and 7-5 in Ogden, including a loss to Chattanooga in the 24-team FCS playoffs as the Wildcats reached the postseason for the first time since 2009. "When you get to seven, eight wins, anyone can take that step," Hill said. "It's the last step that's the hardest."
WSU cornerback Taron Johnson likes the program's trajectory, though. "I feel like we're taking another step," he said. "Obviously, someone says that every year, but it's the truth. That's what we've been doing, taking steps."
Johnson and three other Wildcats were named to the preseason All-Big Sky team: tight end Andrew Vollert, linebacker Landon Stice and punter Jacob DeMaio. Vollert was the conference's Newcomer of the Year in 2016, catching 62 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns.
Southern Utah linebacker Mike Needham and defensive tackle Robert Torgerson received preseason honors. The Thunderbirds went 6-5 in coach Demario Warren's first year. The difference between SUU's record and Weber State's 7-4 regular-season mark was the in-state result, as the Wildcats rallied from 22 points behind in the last eight minutes for a 37-36 victory in Cedar City. That explains how "Leave no doubt" has become the T-birds' mantra.
"Every time we're working out, and it's kind of difficult, they remind us of that moment," Needham said.
SUU will have 40 freshmen on the roster, counting incoming players, returned missionaries and redshirts. They're part of "probably the deepest and most talented team we've had for a long time," said Warren, formerly an assistant to Ed Lamb, who won a 2015 Big Sky championship.
Entering his second season, Warren said, "I've got a little bit more clarity what I want in our program, which means I've got a lot more work to do to get all that on paper and come up with more concise ways of teaching, helping guys understand what we're looking for."
SUU opens the season Sept. 2 at Oregon. The T-birds will visit Weber State on Oct. 14.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Big Sky polls
Big Sky Conference football media poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. North Dakota (15) 298
2. Eastern Washington (5) 271
3. Northern Arizona (3) 236
4. Cal Poly 224
5. Weber State 209
6. Montana (1) 204
7. Southern Utah 175
8. Montana State 156
9. Northern Colorado 135
10. Portland State 104
11. UC Davis 62
12. Sacramento State 61
13. Idaho State 44
Big Sky Conference football coaches' poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. North Dakota (6) 130
2. Eastern Washington (2) 124
3. Northern Arizona (2) 119
4. Cal Poly (1) 108
5. Weber State (1) 103
6. Montana (1) 83
7. Southern Utah 80
8. Montana State 69
9. Portland State 62
10. Northern Colorado 60
11. UC Davis 35
12. Sacramento State 26
13. Idaho State 15