Football: Experience versus youth or dial 911

The battle of the CSUS and Weber State running backs ended in a draw, but the game went to the undefeated Wildcats 27-14.

Saturday's game brought the two best running backs in the division 1-AA together at Fred Anderson field and they did not disappoint.

CSUS sophomore running back Charles Roberts ran for 151 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. This was Roberts' 5th consecutive 100-yard rushing game and his 4th in a row over 150, bringing his season total after five games to 911 yards.

"Charles is one of the best college running back that I have ever seen," said Weber head coach Jerry Graybeal.

On the other side of the ball, Wildcat junior running back Morgan Welch rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. "He's a great vertical runner, not too many moves," Roberts said of Welch. "He's strong and comes right at you."

Coming into the game, Welch and Roberts were ranked No.1 and 2 in the nation, with 198.3 and 190 yards per game respectively.

"I didn't think about what he (Roberts) was doing, I just did what I had to do and let the defense take care of him," said Welch. "We had a game to win." His actions paralleled his words in the first half as he ran for 71 yards. The Wildcat defense held Roberts to only 33 yards, taking a 10-3 lead into the locker room.

"I came out a little tense in the first half, but we usually are a second-half team," said Roberts.

In the first play of the second half, Roberts put his slow start behind when he ran for 64 yards, giving the Hornets a chance to tie the game at 10. But a costly mistake by quarterback Garret White gave the Hornets a field goal instead of a touchdown.

The freshman failed to recognize that the 25-second play clock was running out, and the Hornets were hit with a delay of a game penalty on the Wildcat 4-yard line. The penalty bailed the Wildcat defense out of a goal line defensive situation and allowed them to put more pressure on the Hornets, eventually forcing a 29-yard field goal.

"This is the best defense we've faced so far this season," said Hornet head coach John Volek. "We had chances to turn our field goals into touchdowns."

The Wildcats came into the game leading the nation is rushing defense, allowing a stingy 49.3 rushing yards per game. They also lead the Big Sky conference in total defense with 81.7 passing yards, and only 10.5 points per game.

Trailing 13-6, the Hornets had their chances to get back into the ball game early in the 4th quarter. Welch, who had fumbled four times in the previous four games, coughed the ball up on two consecutive plays during the 11-play, 54-yard Wildcat scoring drive that made the score 20-6.

While recovering Welch's fumbles, the Wildcats managed to gain enough yards for a first down.

"The balls seemed to bounce their way all game," said Volek.

Even with the score 27-6 the Hornets never gave up, senior A.J. Bernhardt replaced White as quarterback and led them on a 13-play, 76-yard scoring drive that ended with a seven- yard touchdown run by Roberts.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Hornets tried an on-side kick that was recovered by the Wildcats, which finally ended the game.

"Last year they (CSUS) lined up four receivers and tried to pass deep every play. This year we had to respect their running game," said Scott Shields, the Wildcats' punter, place kicker. "They're a better team."

In last year's game, Weber scored the first 38 points of the game and held the Hornets to 53 yards of total offense in the first half of a 52-14 rout in Ogden, Utah.

"This year it was like looking in the mirror," Graybeal said of the Hornets' vast improvement.

Coach Volek says his players have nothing to be ashamed of-- they just have figure to out how to get over the hump.

"This team has been in the conference for 33 years," he said of the Wildcats. "It's our 3rd year in the conference, and we're right there with them now."