Nov. 18, 2006
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID - A season frustration and close calls ended in both of those fashions, as Branden Jones missed a 37-yard field goal wide left with two seconds left, and Weber State held on to defeat Idaho State 30-27, the 20th time in 22 meetings that the Wildcats have defeated Idaho State.
The loss was just the second loss in eight senior night games for the Bengals. One year after ISU won on senior night on a 54-yard field goal with one second left, it looked like history might repeat itself as the Bengals drove from their own 33 to the Weber State 20 in 1:40, setting up Jones' tying attempt. Jones, who hit two earlier field goals, from 49 (career-long) and 43 saw his kick drift just to the left of the upright.
The game was close throughout, but the Wildcats (4-7, 3-5) looked to take a commanding 27-17 lead after scoring two touchdowns off of ISU miscue just 2:18 apart late in the third.
Weber State first took the lead on a 57-yard bomb from Ian Pizarro to Tim Toone. That was set up after Josh Barnett lost his fifth fumble in the final eight games. WSU got the ball back deep in ISU territory when, after a three-and-out, punter Dan Zeidman dropped the snap. He recovered and attempted to punt the ball away but he was tackled and fumbled, and Clint Knickrehm recovered but couldn't advance the ball anywhere.
Two plays later, Pizarro threw a second touchdown pass, this to B.A. Harrell. On the extra point, ISU's James Drake and Weber State's Jared Wilcox were both ejected, and that seemed to fire up ISU. The Bengals went right down the field, and Matt Gutierrez hit Akilah Lacey for their second TD combination of the game to make it 27-24. On the kickoff, Knickrehm stripped Tim Toone, and Amir Owens recovered the ball, setting up Jones' 43-yard kick to tie the game with 11:49 left.
Both teams traded punts before Weber State took the lead on a 40-yard field goal by Conor Foley. That was set up by a Trevyn Smith 34-yard run. Smith finished with 211 yards, making him the first Weber State freshman to hit the 1,000-yard mark. He finished the year with 1,129 yards, just ahead of ISU's Josh Barnett, who ended the season with 1,117 yards.
The Bengals took a quick 7-0 lead on a trick play, as Gutierrez handed off to Ken Cornist, who ran right, stopped, and threw back to Gutierrez for an 11-yard scoring pass. Smith responded with the first of his two touchdowns, and Jones capped the first quarter with a career-long 49-yard kick.
ISU led at the half when, after Smith made it 14-10 Wildcats, Lacey caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Gutierrez with just six seconds left in the half.
NOTES: Brandon Mennear caught a career-high nine passes for 96 yards ... Pago Togafau ended the game with 11 tackles, giving him 116 on the season ... Akilah Lacey's two touchdown receptions tied him with Brett Fowler for third on the all-time career receptions list with 25 ... Ken Cornist ended the season 2-for-2 passing for 35 yards and a touchdown, a 412.00 quarterback rating ... Lacey ended the season with 10 touchdowns and 753 yards receiving ... Dan Zeidman's final punting average was 43.6 ... ISU's kickers ended the season 11-for-15, with three of those misses from the 30-39 range ... ISU finished the season -12 in the turnover department.
