Oddly enough, a question for Weber State this offseason was how good the Wildcats were going to be on defense. It was that side of the ball Weber was known for and its strength helped the team to two straight FCS quarterfinals.
The 2018 defense was on another level. But gone from that unit are the likes of DT Filipe Sitake, LB Landon Stice, LB LeGrand Toia, DB Keilan Benjamin, DB Jordan Preator and DB Jawian Harrison. That's six First Team All-Big Sky players. Add in Third Team DB Parker Preator, and the Wildcats lost seven All-Conference players from last year.
[divider]MORE FCS:
[divider]
But Jay Hill and his coaching staff have shown the ability to reload because of strong recruiting. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the Weber State defense looks just as strong.
The Wildcats are allowing just 16.5 points per game this year, down from 21.2 in 2018. And before you say it's too early to make these kinds of stat comparisons, the Wildcats have had a brutally tough nonconference slate in their 2-2 start.
They lost by a combined 12 points to FBS opponents, allowing six points against San Diego State and 19 points versus Nevada. Weber has beaten Cal Poly 41-24 and Northern Iowa, who was ranked No. 9 at the time, 29-17.
Interception! Brody Burke with an INT!#WeAreWeber #BigSkyFB #PurpleReign pic.twitter.com/0fAh39lfiZ
— #️⃣4️⃣ Weber State Football ???? (@weberstatefb) September 29, 2019
New names have stepped up for the defense. Linebacker Conner Mortensen leads the team with 28 total tackles after having just 10 last year. Safety Preston Smith had 28 tackles last season and is already up to 26 in 2019. Linebacker Auston Tesch was a Third Team All-Big Sky player last year and has 25 tackles. And then you have safety Brody Burke, who had six tackles last year and is up to 24 this season.
Not to mention the two First Team All-Conference defensive ends from 2018: Jonah Williams and Adam Rodriguez. They have combined for 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Weber State finished 10-3 last year and had the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. With a lot of experience coming back on an improving offense, the Wildcats look set for another deep playoff run with how the defense is playing.
[divider]
NEXT: Top 15 Favorites To Win The National Title After Week 5
Listen to the latest episodes of B-Mac and Herd's FCS Podcast, which is also available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart, Stitcher and Spreaker.
SUBSCRIBE: HERO Sports FCS Podcast
