Weaver returns home when Cal visits Pullman
PULLMAN, Wash. — When Cal nears the Washington State campus Saturday, it won’t need GPS to find Martin Stadium.
Junior inside linebacker Evan Weaver can handle the directions.
Though the Bears will be busing from Lewiston, Idaho, Weaver grew up making a similar trek from Spokane, where he compiled 393 tackles, 45 sacks and 14 forced fumbles and went 31-5 in three years at Gonzaga Prep.
“I think every game is a big game for Evan Weaver, to be honest with you,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. “I know coming back home, he’ll probably have a lot of friends and family there, but Evan plays hard every week. He prepares really hard every week. I don’t see it being different, in that regard.
“Evan is playing at a high level right now. He’s loves football. The guy eats up everything about football. He loves the physical part of the game. He loves hitting people. He’s a throwback guy.”
Weaver said he expects 40 to 50 family and friends to be at Saturday’s game when he leads Cal’s transformed defense against No. 10 Washington State’s pass-happy offense.
Washington State head coach Mike Leach aggressively recruited Weaver, but he came to Berkeley in hopes of turning around the Bears’ defense, which ranked among the bottom four in the nation in points and yards allowed his freshman season.
After switching from defensive end to outside linebacker under the new coaching staff last year and finally to one of the inside spots after a barrage of injuries, Weaver is living up to the promise he showed when he played in these parts.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder has 86 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, and five pass breakups. His 6.5 solo tackles per game rank fifth in the nation, and his 37-yard, gamewinning interception return for a touchdown against then-No. 15 Washington on Saturday helped him earn the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week award.
“Hitting people is fun,” Weaver said, before shifting his attention to the teammates who have made his accolades possible: the defensive line, secondary and the linebacker who plays beside him. “… Jordan Kunaszyk probably deserves it more than anybody else.”
Weaver and Kunaszyk form one of the most dynamic inside line backer duos in the country, having combined for 180 of the team’s 534 tackles. Kunaszyk has 94, Weaver has 86, and the next-closest defensive player is safety Ashtyn Davis with 36.
The linebackers’ 14.1 solo tackles per game are better than any other twosome in the nation.
“I think they push each other,” defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “Both of them take a lot of pride in how hard they work, how much they study tape and know an offense and how productive they are. There’s probably an internal competition between the two of them, which is a healthy thing. …
“Evan is a little bit of a hard head. Jordan is more cerebral. Evan will run through a brick wall to try to find a guy. JK is usually a little bit smarter. He’ll run around it and then get the guy down,” DeRuyter continued. “To have both of them on the team, you get a little sweet with sour.”
Their contrasting personalities were on full display after last Saturday’s upset of Washington as they shared the stage during a postgame news conference.
After Weaver provided a simple, “He threw the ball to me, and I caught it,” description of his interception, Kunaszyk chimed in to praise his teammates with a more eloquent response.
“He didn’t need anybody to block for him,” Kunaszyk said. “He was a man on a mission. He knew what he wanted. He’s a bad man.”
Weaver looked dreamingly at Kunaszyk and said: “What a nice guy,” in a comment that sparked a viral Twitter post about how everyone should find a friend who looks at him or her the same way Weaver looks at Kunaszyk.
After downing his Gatorade during the news conference, Weaver swapped out his empty one for Kunaszyk’s full one. “What? They got him another one. Lemon-lime is my favorite.”
Weaver said the seven-minute news conference sums up their relationship.
“I love the dude,” Weaver said. “He’s a great, great dude, on and off the field. Being able to play next to a guy who knows exactly what he’s doing, you don’t have to worry about where he’s going to be or if he’s going to mess up. It just helps you out and helps you play fast. …
“We’re so trusting in each other and each other’s ability. When we have trust like that, it’s endless what we can do on the field.”