But No. 18 Weber State stifled No. 5 Northern Arizona in the second half and left town with a 25-21 upset that suddenly has the Wildcats looking to lock up a playoff berth in the season finale.

NAU averaged 39.4 points per game over the five-game winning streak that WSU ended; the Lumberjacks scored just 17 offensive points on Saturday.

“It was a crazy one, for sure,” WSU head coach Eric Kjar said. “Just the way some of the stuff went that you don’t want to have happen. … We had a couple big plays on special teams, a couple bad plays on special teams.

“But they kept fighting.”

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

Of all the wild things that transpired Saturday evening, the most wild might have been what happened after Northern Arizona (8-3, 6-2 Big Sky) forced Weber State (7-4, 6-2) into its second straight three-and-out.

With WSU leading 25-21, NAU got the ball back with 4:27 left and 80 yards to go. But three plays later, star quarterback Ty Pennington took a long rollout left and threw a ball straight to Weber defensive back Bones Marks for an interception. Pennington entered the game with only 10 career interceptions in 34 games.

“We were playing so good defensively, I had a lot of confidence in what we do, especially the second half,” Kjar said. “They really locked things up and did a phenomenal job. We were stopping them really well in the run game and got them a little more out of sync in the pass game.”

Weber State drove into NAU territory but failed at a final first down that would’ve ended the game. With 33 seconds left, Weber lined up for a 48-yard field goal to go up seven but a bad snap forced holder Henry Way to eventually fall on the ball.

NAU had 30 seconds to go 60 yards with no timeouts. Pennington passed the Lumberjacks to the WSU 36 for a spike with 6 seconds left. With possible revenge for the Spring 2021 “Hail Malone” on the table, instead WSU defensive tackle Kevin Johnson pressured Pennington, tipped his final heave, and Porter Small corralled it for an interception with time expired.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

Weber State tarried on the field to take pictures with the Red Rock Rivalry trophy, which WSU retained for a 3-2 lead in the series since the trophy’s inception. In the most competitive rivalry in the Big Sky, WSU now holds a 30-29 all-time lead.

Other than Pennington posting a 20% increase to his career interception total, the wackier set of plays that have likely never all occurred in the same college football game were as follows.

First, Weber State’s biggest play of the game. With NAU set to get the ball to open the third quarter, NAU sent Francisco Orduno Jr. out for a 52-yard field goal attempt for the final play of the first half, knowing he’d made from 55 in the dome earlier this year.

But the No. 1 kick-blocking team in the country had something to say. Ashden Oberg got his hand on the ball, which bounded wide to the left of play. WSU linebacker Da’Veon Ross was first to the ball, scooping it with nothing but green ahead for a 60-yard touchdown return.

WSU was flagged for celebrating after the play; NAU coach Brian Wright applied the penalty to the PAT attempt, which David Dellenbach missed from 35 yards. Still, instead of a 20-10 margin, WSU had it to 17-16 at halftime.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

NAU took the opening kick across midfield to set up the second of the night’s strange events. A Small sack helped put NAU into a fourth-and-10 at the Weber 41. The Lumberjacks lined up to go for it, but put receiver Joey Stout in motion deep behind Pennington, who pitched him the ball for a trick-play pooch punt.

But WSU defensive end Mapa Vaenuku was there and blocked the punt, recovered by teammate Zion Finau at the NAU 38.

That gives Weber State eight blocked kicks this season, with three returned for touchdowns.

Soon, Nate Dahle tossed a 25-yard touchdown to a diving Tate Kjar to put Weber State ahead 22-17, bringing us to the third strange play.

Trying to recoup the missed PAT to end the first half, Weber State went for two. Dahle scrambled to all parts of the field avoiding pressure, then fired across his body to the middle of the end zone. NAU defensive back Braylon Singleton was there to catch it in stride and take it 100 yards the other way for a two-point return, immediately cutting WSU’s lead to 22-19.

ROBERT CASEY, Weber State Athletics

Northern Arizona appeared to cash in on the momentum swing, driving to the Weber State 14 before the Wildcats forced the Lumberjacks into a fourth-and-1 decision.

NAU went for it, trusting in the same Pennington legs that rushed for 202 yards over their two previous games. But WSU linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii won the play, knifing through the line and catching Pennington from behind for no gain and a turnover on downs.

Pennington finished with 6 net yards on eight carries.

“I’ve been part of a lot of games, and sometimes they can get that way. Especially when you’re on the road against a top-five team,” Kjar said. “I love the way things came out and the way they finished things out. A lot of it is to have the ability to have some grit, play tough down the stretch, bow up and be able to make plays and take care of business, and take a ‘W’ home. That’s really what it was all about today.”

WSU tried to wrest control in a drive sparked by Spencer Ferguson crossing 100 yards in his return from injury with runs of 28 and 11 yards. (He finished with 125 yards on 20 carries).

But that stalled at the NAU 30 crossing into the fourth quarter, so Dellenbach put through an important 47-yard field goal for a 25-19 lead with 14:11 left.

With the ball back, NAU converted two third-and-longs, going to 6 of 9 on third downs for the game — but couldn’t get a third and WSU forced a punt. NAU missed on its final four third downs of the game.

JaSire Peterson soon sacked Dahle on second down, leading to a Way punt and yet another oddity. The snap was low and by the time Way picked it off the turf to kick it, NAU’s Joseph Ramirez was there to block it.

Fortuitously for Weber State, the ball shot backward and rolled over the back line of the end zone before NAU could get to it, resulting in a safety and a 25-21 score with 9:09 left.

Dellenbach helped make up for it, booming the ensuing kickoff from the WSU 20 all the way to the NAU 3, and coverage dropped the return at the NAU 16, which aided Weber State in quashing any potential snowball effect.

Pennington finished 23 of 35 for 300 yards through the air. But after going 11 of 11 for 188 yards in the first half, Weber State forced him to a much less efficient 12 of 24 for 112 yards in the second half. Stout caught nine passes for 85 yards and tight end Jeter Purdy six for 76. Quran Gossett rushed 18 times for 78 yards.

For Weber State, Dahle threw 19 of 30 for 229 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Noah Kjar was the playmaker, catching nine passes for 135 yards. Robert Young added seven catches for 52 yards.

Marks added to his INT with a team-high nine tackles and Tinirauarii had eight.

Weber State’s planned departure at 2 p.m. Friday didn’t happen until around 9 p.m. due to disrupted national flight communication that grounded all airplanes for a large chunk of time Friday. Though WSU didn’t settle into Flagstaff until about 11 p.m., which was 7 hours later than planned, the kickoff was only moved 2 hours to 4 p.m.

Still, the Wildcats were there to nearly go drive for drive with homestanding NAU, taking the opening kickoff 17 plays but stalling for a Dellenbach 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Weber State’s second-half defense (allowed 163 yards and zero points) was impressive after how the Lumberjacks looked in the first half. Pennington led a quick, six-play drive and threw 18 yards to Jeter to put NAU up 7-3 late in the first quarter.

WSU answered with a 75-yard touchdown bomb to Noah Kjar, who won a jump ball and ran the final 30 yards untouched — then taunted the defender before crossing the goal line, drawing a flag and negating the touchdown.

“Does he get to come to Sunday dinner?” radio voice Carl Arky asked postgame.

“No,” Eric Kjar said.

Still, three plays later it was Noah Kjar catching another joust for 6 yards and a touchdown, putting WSU up 10-7 early in the second quarter. That gives Kjar 12 receiving touchdowns, which ties WSU’s program record for receiving TDs in a season (Al Pupunu, 1991).

But NAU looked unstoppable, driving eight plays for a Gossett 3-yard TD plunge and a 14-10 lead. Orduno put through a 46-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the half, setting up the Ross block return at the halftime buzzer.

Weber State finishes the regular season at home hosting Utah Tech.