# 2023 Weber State Wildcats football team

The 2023 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by first-year head coach Mickey Mental and played at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah. Mental took over for longtime coach Jay Hill who left for the defensive coordinator job with BYU.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Wildcats were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Sky by the coaches and sixth by the media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana State | 120 (10) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 96 (1) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 94 (1) |
| 4 | Weber State | 91 |
| 5 | Idaho | 89 |
| 6 | Montana | 84 |
| 7 | Eastern Washington | 52 |
| 8 | Portland State | 45 |
| 9 | Northern Arizona | 44 |
| 10 | Northern Colorado | 37 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 25 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 15 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana State | 447 (26) |
| 2 | Idaho | 410 (8) |
| 3 | Montana | 359 (2) |
| 4 | Sacramento State | 334 (3) |
| 5 | UC Davis | 330 |
| 6 | Weber State | 320 |
| 7 | Eastern Washington | 216 |
| 8 | Northern Arizona | 178 |
| 9 | Portland State | 167 |
| 10 | Northern Colorado | 109 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 103 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 69 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Central Washington* | No. 13 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | W 35–10 | 6,316 |
| September 9 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 21 Northern Iowa* | No. 12 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN+ | W 34–17 | 7,967 |
| September 16 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 12 (FBS) Utah* | No. 9 | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | P12N | L 7–31 | 51,532 |
| September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 Montana State | No. 10 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | L 0–40 | 10,905 |
| September 30 | 1:00 p.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 13 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 28–21 | 3,375 |
| October 7 | 6:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona | No. 13 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | L 10–27 | 7,694 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | UC Davis | No. 22 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | L 16–17 | 7,121 |
| October 21 | 5:00 p.m. | at Eastern Washington | | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | L 23–31 | 7,514 |
| November 4 | 4:00 p.m. | at Idaho State | | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | ESPN+ | W 33–21 | 8,233 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Idaho | | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | W 31–29 | 8,741 |
| November 18 | 6:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly | | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ | W 48–21 | 4,829 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 22 | RV | | | | | | |
| Coaches | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 23 | — | | | | | | |