"I'm mad, real mad," Graybeal told the Ogden Standard-Examiner following the Wildcats' 34-31 season-opening loss to Southern Utah last Saturday in Ogden. "Bottom line: I know one thing about teams I've coached here, they don't take themselves out of ballgames because of a lack of discipline. We lost our composure tonight. Our lack of discipline tonight cost us the ballgame."
Southern Utah's offense averaged nearly 7 yards per snap behind quarterback Casey Rehrer, who threw for 266 yards and four touchdowns. The T-Birds piled up 490 yards of total offense, knifing through Weber's defense to score on their first three possessions. Each time, Weber responded with a field goal and found itself down 21-9 at the half.
Weber was able to cut the lead to 27-24 with a couple of third-quarter touchdowns, including a 4-yard run by Nick Chournos, who rushed for 119 yards. But Weber could never get over the hump.
"As bad as we played, we had chances to win the game and we just didn't do it," Chournos said. "I had a chance to take over the game and I didn't do it."
A silly penalty might have been all that stood between Northern Arizona and an upset of in-state rival Arizona of the Pac-10.
Arizona, playing its home opener under new coach Mike Stoops, led just 7-3 late in the third quarter. NAU running back Roger Robinson broke loose for 30 yards to the Arizona 5, but apparently celebrated too much for the Pac-10 officiating crew's liking and was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, a call the Arizona Republic termed "charitable" for Arizona. On the next play, NAU receiver Kory Hahr took a hard hit from safety Darrell Brooks and fumbled. Arizona recovered. The Wildcats tacked on two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 21-3.
"First off, we don't take moral victories from a game," NAU coach Jerome Souers told the Arizona Daily Sun. "We came down to win. I feel bad for our kids, because we played hard, but we didn't play well enough in critical situations to accomplish that."
NAU sophomore quarterback Jason Murietta, last season's Big Sky offensive player of the year, was 20-for-37 for 176 yards, but was picked off three times.
"I've got to lead better," Murrietta said. "I've got to make better decisions. I can't have three turnovers. That's not me. That's not how I play football."
Both Idaho State and Eastern Washington were nearly out of their season openers before they knew what hit them.
Nicholls State needed just six plays and 50 seconds to score its first 21 points against Eastern Washington last Thursday in Thibodaux, La. The Colonels, who forced six turnovers on the rain-slickened field, led 30-0 at halftime and went on to win 37-14.
"When you make as many mistakes as we made tonight, to be honest, we didn't deserve to win," EWU coach Paul Wulff said. "We have to be better than that, and we are better than that."
Making the loss even more disheartening is the fact that Nicholls State was playing without 15 players whose eligibility is being questioned after an investigation into academic fraud that resulted in the firing of Coach Daryl Daye two weeks before the start of the season.
Idaho State was blitzed nearly as quickly. Playing in front of a record crowd of 57,000 in San Diego, the Bengals watched as San Diego State running back Michael Franklin took the ball 67 yards for a touchdown on the game's first play from scrimmage.
The Aztecs led 21-0 just six minutes into the game on their way to a 38-21 win.
"Other than that first quarter, I'm really proud of the way our kids fought," ISU coach Larry Lewis told the Idaho State Journal. "As the game went on, we got better and better."
Idaho State made the game respectable by throwing the ball 69 times, 62 by starting QB Mark Hetherington, who finished 34-for-62 for 300 yards and a pair of TDs. He was picked off three times.
"It's a quarterback's dream to throw that many times," Hetherington said.
His favorite target was Sale Key, who caught nine balls for 90 yards. Key now has a catch in 28 straight games, a school record.
ISU running back David Beverly had to be helped from the field in second quarter after taking a hard hit. He returned to the sidelines in the second half with a neck brace and appears to have suffered a concussion, Lewis told the Journal.
Running back Ryan Fuqua flashed some of his form of old in Portland State's 38-0 win over Division II Western State last Thursday. Fuqua rushed 18 times for 141 yards, including scores of 26 and 41 yards, as well as a 1-yard TD.
"A lot of things were working," Fuqua told the Portland Oregonian. "We were zoning them. The guards were pulling up and leading plays. They did a great job on all of this. I had vision. I had multiple options for cuts."
In all, the Vikings piled up 258 yards on the ground. But QBs Joe Wiser and Sawyer Smith were just 13-for-27 for 190 yards and two interceptions. The Vikings were also penalized 13 times for 131 yards, including two flags for end zone celebrations.
"Our expectations were much, much higher," PSU coach Tim Walsh said.
Quick kicks: Weber RB Chournos has rushed for more than 100 yards in six straight games. ... NAU's Souers is 5-2 in season openers with both losses coming to Arizona. ... NAU's only win over Arizona came in 1932, 7-6 on a neutral field in Phoenix. ... Before blanking Western State, Portland State's last shutout was in 2002.
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or by e-mail at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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