It went right through his hands.
The ball sailed right through cornerback Tracy Ford’s grasping hands, and the pass that everyone, opposing head coach and quarterback included, thought was an interception, finished its fated route into the end zone and became the winning touchdown for the Weber State Wildcats.
“I thought we had a pick,” said a deflated head coach Jerry Glanville.
Portland State entered the game against the defending Big Sky Conference champion with a record of 1–2 with losses to Pac-10 Oregon State and Montana, perennial favorite to win the conference.
The Vikings also entered with the sixth-ranked passing offense in the NCAA—averaging 324.3 yards per game—and with the Big Sky’s top receiver, junior Raymond Fry.
Weber State came in with its weapons too. On their roster is the Big Sky’s leading rusher for the past three seasons, Trevyn Smith. Until Saturday, he had been averaging 115.7 rushing yards per game and needed only 110 yards to move from fifth into third place for career yards in Big Sky history.
“I don’t know if [Smith] has ever had a game like he did today,” said Glanville after the stout Portland run defense kept Smith to 30 yards with his longest run measuring a measly six yards. Smith was manhandled too. At one point, he had to sit out a few snaps to get a torn lip sewn up.
Though they may have scored the first points of the game on a Zach Brown field goal, the Vikings quickly fell behind.
The errors they made on the field did not help.
Brown missed two field goals and freshman fullback Ben Bowen, who finished the day with 100 rushing yards on 15 carries, fumbled the ball on the goal line. The Vikings also earned 104 total yards in penalties.
It was apparent that quarterback Drew Hubel felt the sting of the loss. His comments after the game that the team “left points on the field” were said with a forlorn look on his face, and he went on to say the Vikings shot themselves in the foot.
The Vikings struggled offensively until late in the third quarter. The Wildcats led 28–10 with 1:38 minutes left to play in the third, but from that point on, the pieces seemed to fall into place for the offense and defense. With a three-pronged attack, the Vikings scored 19 unanswered points in the next 15 minutes.
First came senior Aaron Woods with a touchdown on the kick return followed by cornerback DeShawn Shead’s interception of Wildcat quarterback Cameron Higgins at the Weber State 31-yard line that he returned for a touchdown.
On their second possession in the fourth quarter, led by Hubel, who would finish 17–26 for 353 yards with two touchdowns, the Vikings marched 60 yards in five minutes for a touchdown. During the drive, Hubel threw for 45 yards, they converted a fourth down attempt for three yards and fullbacks Bobby McClintock and Bowen ran for 15 yards.
Aaron Woods was the recipient of the last touchdown pass that put the Vikings up over the Wildcats. Woods is always a favorite of Hubel and he says Fry’s recent success has freed him up to make the big plays, like the one in the fourth quarter, because Fry draws so much coverage. Woods was also the target during the crucial fourth down completion.
With 1:12 minutes left in the game and starting on their own 16-yard line, Weber State began their winning drive. Higgins had been picking on the left side of the secondary all day. Shead, who normally plays the right side of the field, had been ineffective there and Ford had replaced him.
Glanville admitted Shead “got into trouble” on the left and made it clear he will not try to move him in future games.
After throwing a commensurate number of completions and incompletions, Higgins let fly the pass that would have been an interception in the final 20 seconds of the game. Ford read it all the way and was ready for it.
It is unclear why the ball did not wind up in Ford’s hands, but it is clear that it found its way into those of Weber State receiver Tim Toone in the end zone.
Hubel and Woods felt great sympathy for Ford after the game. “I love that guy,” Hubel said. “He works harder than anyone else on the team.”
The agony of the defeat was best summed up by Glanville post-game. “No statements, just disappointment,” he said.
The Vikings are 1–3 on the season and host Sacramento State, who are 0–3, at 1:05 p.m. this Saturday.