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Ogden • Ogden • In stark contrast to one week prior, Weber State hardly lit up the scoreboard in its game with visiting Sacramento State on Saturday.
On the other hand, it was a victory — and a first for the year for the Wildcats as Weber got a late touchdown run from quarterback Jadrian Clark for a 14-7 win over the Hornets.
"Wins are always good. In college football, you take 'em how you can get 'em," said Weber State coach Jay Hill, whose team lost a double-overtime 52-49 shootout at South Dakota the week before. "Tonight wasn't the prettiest and we've still got a lot we've got to clean up. We outgained them 515 to 270 — usually when you do that, the games are much more lopsided."
In the Wildcats' sixth possession of the second half, Weber drove 87 yards and Clark covered the last 39 himself.
With 1:46 remaining, Clark slipped past the Sacramento State defender on the right side and rushed from the 28 down to the Hornets' 10. On the next play, the senior QB found a hole in the middle and found the end zone for the game-winner.
The touchdown was a reprise of an earlier play on the same drive, when Clark converted a fourth-and-one with a seven-yard draw that moved the ball to the Sacramento 32.
"It was just wide open, I didn't do anything special. You could have drove a bus in there," said Clark, who finished with 375 yards passing and 84 on the ground.
Last year, Weber — also at home — scored a much easier 32-14 victory.
"I would say we came out flat and underestimated them," said Wildcats' receiver Cameron Livingston, who finished with 108 yards on six receptions.
Sacramento State (0-3) started the scoring when Demetrius Warren rushed nine yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Weber State (1-2) tied the game on a 7-yard pass from Clark to Drew Batchelor with 9:05 left in the second.
Batchelor actually looked like he had a second touchdown reception in the bag when Clark bought some time with a scramble and found the wideout alone downfield just before half.
But Batchelor, with 1:29 remaining, dove for the end zone and lost control of the football while stretching out paydirt. The play was ruled a touchback and Sacramento State was awarded the ball at the 20.
Weber sill managed to put together another late drive just before intermission, but Clark was intercepted with four seconds left on the clock just in front of the Sac State goal line.
"I was not happy [at halftime]," Hill said. "Those mistakes, we've got to get cleaned up. It's happened too often, where we have a real chance to bury someone, stupid mistakes are really costing us." • Weber State earns its first win of the season when quarterback Jadrian Clark scored on a 10-yard run with 1:42 left in the game.
• Both teams scored a touchdown in the first half, but Weber also missed on a couple of opportunities deep in Hornets' territory just before intermission.
• The game was between Big Sky opponents, but it was played as a non-conference contest. Weber State won 32-14 last year in the meeting with Sacramento State.