Weber is winless, but the Aggies aren’t fooled

It’s funny how college football works.

When Weber State visits UC Davis on Saturday (6 p.m.) for the first Big Sky Conference game ever played at Aggie Stadium, the head coaches — Jody Sears of the Wildcats and Bob Biggs — could not be at more different points in their careers.

Sears is an interim coach, in his first year at Weber after spending the past decade as an assistant under Davis High graduate Paul Wulff at Eastern Washington and Washington State. Sears was hired as the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator in January — a position he still holds — then elevated to head coach in April when John L. Smith took the same job at Arkansas.

As for Biggs, local fans know by now that he will retire at the end of the season. The former Aggie quarterback has been with the program as a player, assistant and head coach since 1970.

But at this point in time — Week 5 of the 2012 season — UCD (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) and Weber State share more than a few similarities. Most notably, both are looking for their first win over a fellow Football Championship Subdivision squad, especially after each nearly pulled off the feat last week.

Weber State is 0-4, but has played an incredibly tough schedule that featured Fresno State and BYU of the Football Bowl Subdivision, and ranked FCS opponents McNeese State and Eastern Washington.

“Its interesting with Weber State, you look at a record 0-4 and you think they’re a team that might be struggling this year,” Biggs said. “The truth is, they are very talented. They’ve had a very difficult schedule, probably as difficult anyone at the FCS level.

“They look very well-coached I’ve just been very impressed watching them on film for the last couple of days.”

The Wildcats fell behind during the first three quarters last Saturday against Eastern Washington, then turned it on in the final period. Like the Aggies against Cal Poly the same day, Weber State had the ball with less than two minutes to play and a chance to complete the comeback. However, quarterback Mike Hoke was sacked and fumbled the ball away.

Hoke is a dual-threat QB who has thrown for an average of 153 yards per game, and picked up another 168 rushing yards if you don’t count sacks. Hoke and Jordan Adamczyk, who has played in three games completing eight passes for a total of 128 yards, have three strong pass-catching options in tight end Jordan Clemente (22 catches, 158 yards) and receivers Shaydon Kehano (11-149) and Xavian Johnson (11-155).

On the ground, Weber relies on 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior C.J. Tuckett.

Though the Wildcats don’t have big offensive numbers, the experience gained against such tough competition is beginning to show.

“Our kids are showing a lot more character, leadership and toughness, mentally,” Sears said recently. “Now we just have to keep building on it.

“Our whole objective is to make sure we are taking care of our daily business. Yeah, absolutely we’ve got to have a plan for (UCD quarterback) Randy Wright and their running back(s) … and a good defense that plays hard. But at the end of the day, we have to take care of ourselves and our process.”

Notes: Wright nearly brought the Aggies back in a 28-20 loss to Cal Poly last Saturday. He finished with 278 yards passing including a 67-yard touchdown to Corey Galindo. … After defeating Division-II Asuza Pacific, 41-3, in the season opener at Aggie Stadium, UCD has played three straight games on the road and lost each one.

— Reach Chris Saur at csaur@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8049.