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Show A Year of Change r3j i 7 ixVjsj ft yy - r rl 1 V---' - e .y-,, X j, l 5 , 4 f v - - if X r x ""X J f- 3 - ' . i-v - r - .1 t ' ' I Football t K A' i $ 4D SignOff Tuesday, June 2, 1987 Optimism would inspire a talented Weber State football team in 1987; however, a positive outlook didn't go very far in the prevention of a 3-8 record. A trademark of Weber State coach Mike Price's enthusiasm, the 'Cats hoped to challenge for the Big Sky Conference championship. Instead, WSC would succumb to a rigorous schedule, the 10th toughest Division I-AA slate in the nation, and a 2-5 conference finish for sixth place. The 'Cats continued to be one of the top offensive teams in the nation and were sixth in the country in total offense, averaging 436.2 yards per outing. Weber State also ranked ninth nationally in scoring while rolling up 30.2 points per game, and were fourth in passing offense with 309 yards per game. The only problem came on defense where the 'Cats, unfortunately, gave up similar numbers. Opponents ran up 434.8 yards against WSC and 31.9 points which made for a long season. Coach Price may have been disappointed in the season's numbers and records but couldn't have been more pleased with his team's desire. "You look at the year that we had, and it's probably one of the more enjoyable years I've had in coaching," said Price, "because of the players' attitude on the team. They weren't 3-8 attitude players. "We weren't real great on the field all the time and only won three games, but again, we had no problems off the field. All the kids did a good job in the classroom; all the seniors that graduated really gave a good effort. "I just didn't feel as disappointed after the season as I really have been some other years. I felt really good about the effort that we had. The won-loss record didn't match. What I felt was the attitude of this team. "We were young and did make a lot of mistakes and in turn lost games, but certainly not from a lack of effort, we never gave up and were represented well in every area on the field and off. "We had a losing season but these kids are not losers." The 'Cats were successful against Adams State, 55-21; Montana State, 24-3; and Idaho State, 63-33; but lost four close games late in the second half. Falling to Portland State, 27-22; Boise State, 23-13; Eastern Washington, 41-31; and Nicholls State, 34-30 in second half rallies, WSC could easily have been winners on paper as well. Price's best memories came in the Idaho State blowout and remembers the great crowd support despite a -10 degree temperature in the MSU victory. The Wildcat coach would like to forget the team's 0-5 mark on television. Three teams dealing defeat to Weber State would make the Division I-AA playoffs as number one ranked Nevada-Reno, Idaho, and Nicholls State made appearances. Northern Arizona was the surprise team of the year, handing WSC its other loss. It was a good year for senior players. Chris Darrington led the nation in punt returns, averaging 18.13 yards; Russell Griffith was the Big |