Weber State football: Early lightning strikes, run game lead WSU over Idaho
Weber State 38, Idaho 27
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- Weber State running back Seth Rigtrup scores a touchdown against Idaho during a Big Sky football game Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defenders Chevy Robinson (9) and Raimoana Tinirauarii (11) celebrate a stop over Idaho quarterback Israel Carter (1) during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State receiver Robert Young completes a catch against Idaho’s Khaled Rawls (4) during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State lineman Luke Sampson lifts running back Seth Rigtrup (32) to celebrate Rigtrup’s rushing touchdown against Idaho during a Big Sky football game Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defenders Teni Worthen (23) and Porter Small (54) are held up by Idaho linemen during a Big Sky football game Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State’s Marvin Sessions right, catches a pass against Idaho’s Isiah Bivins (21) during a Big Sky football game Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle runs the football during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood (3) pulls back to pass as Weber State’s Porter Small gives pressure during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defenders Zion Finau (90) and Raimoana Tinirauarii (11) celebrate a stop against Idaho during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii, right, tackles Idaho tight end Gus Donnerberg (88) during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defensive backs Tre Turner (1) and Tre Tribble (3) tackle Idaho receiver Ryan Jezioro (89) during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State safety Tommy Romano is seen wearing the team’s ‘State Connect’ helmet decal on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defensive players Teni Worthen (23), Tre Turner (1), Da’Veon Ross (24), Denzel Peoples and Tre Tribble celebrate a stop during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State linebacker Da’Veon Ross, left, celebrates with cornerback Denzel Peoples (26) after Peoples broke up a fourth-down Idaho pass during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle (13) drops back to pass as linemen Luke Sampson (78) and Jay Wade, center block Idaho defenders during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle passes against Idaho during a Big Sky football game against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
OGDEN — The start of Saturday’s game may have been stilted because of two lightning delays, but Weber State’s offense sure wasn’t.
Spencer Ferguson scored a 75-yard touchdown run on the game’s first play, WSU went up 14-0 early and used that advantage to lead from start to finish in a 38-27 victory over Idaho at Stewart Stadium.
Ferguson finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and Seth Rigtrup added 129 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. An offense known this season for tossing the ball around the field instead had two 100-yard rushers in one game for the first time since Josh Davis and Damon Bankston did it in a 2022 playoff win.
Weber State (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky) totaled 307 rushing yards, helping offset playmaking quarterback Joshua Wood of Idaho (1-5, 1-3). Wood finished 32 of 50 for 383 yards and four touchdowns through the air, and led his team with 52 rushing yards.
Ferguson’s 75-yarder was the first time Weber State scored a touchdown on its first offensive play since Kaden Jenks threw to Rashid Shaheed for a 73-yard touchdown pass against Northern Iowa in 2019.
“It’s just a shout-out to the O-line. They were making holes all day, just hitting the right spots, and they’re making our jobs really easy,” Ferguson said. “We’re just really confident running behind them. They’re the real deal.”
The first lightning delay cleared the stadium at 12:40 p.m., and the game scheduled for 1 p.m. kicked off 22 minutes late.
Ferguson took the game’s opening handoff around the right tackle, cut inside and won a footrace up the middle of the field.
After a holding penalty halted an Idaho drive inside the Weber 20 and the Vandals missed a 40-yard field goal, WSU marched on 13 plays and Rigtrup went left tackle into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown. That put the Wildcats up 14-0 with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
Immediately after David Dellenbach punched through the PAT, officials put the game under a second lightning delay. That lasted 1 hour and 3 minutes; the 30-minute clock resets every time a lightning strike occurs within 8 miles.
The game was different after the restart. WSU had 153 yards in the first 11 minutes but gained just 130 over the next 2.5 quarters, keeping the Wildcat defense on the field for long stretches. The Vandals ultimately ran 86 plays to Weber State’s 55.
Weber State’s defense made enough plays to secure a victory, though Idaho was plenty helpful.
Vandals kicker Owen Forsman missed one field goal in each of the first three quarters. Idaho took five of its first seven possessions into the red zone but scored just once, a Wood to Noah West-Baranco 19-yard touchdown on a reverse flea-flicker early in the second quarter to make it 14-7.
Dahle soon threw an interception and the Vandals appeared to take advantage when Ferrari Miller scored on an 18-yard touchdown run. But refs flagged Idaho for a holding at the 5-yard line and, on fourth-and-3 from the 11, WSU freshman Denzel Peoples broke up a pass over the middle for a turnover on downs.
“I think they’re playing really hard, which is good. I think schematically, we’re still, as far as executing our scheme, we’re just not quite there all the way,” Eric Kjar said. “But we’re going to keep getting better, and that’s what I keep seeing.”
Rigtrup single-handedly marched Weber down the field to start the third quarter but WSU stalled at the Idaho 8 and Dellenbach put through a 25-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead.
After Forsman missed his third field goal, WSU gave the ball back on a short field when Mason Krahn hit Dahle from behind on a strip sack and Hikifo’ou Maile recovered to give Idaho a 39-yard field.
Wood connected with Tony Harste for a 39-yard touchdown and Idaho cut it to 17-14 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Eric Kjar said his philosophy is to use run dominance to go after big plays and feels WSU missed on several passing opportunities set up by a strong rushing attack. Dahle finished 10 of 19 for 99 yards.
“You try to still be aggressive … especially with your play-action pass stuff, you try to go after a few things,” Kjar said. “We misexecuted probably on three or four of them. One of them was an RPO we should have pulled and ripped a seam-ball on that would’ve been a big play, and the others were play-action passes we’ve got to execute.
“You’re going to still try to rip some balls down the field and be aggressive in it, because (Idaho) held the ball a ton.”
Weber State used two plays to finally push back Idaho’s mounting momentum.
First, WSU’s offense could not answer and went three-and-out, but Henry Way crushed a 62-yard punt under pressure to put Idaho at its own 7-yard line.
Second, Idaho opened the fourth quarter on a third down from its 13, and WSU safety Trevian Tribble stepped in front of Wood’s throw to the right sideline, picking it off and returning it to the Idaho 14.
Dahle hit Noah Kjar for a 14-yard scoring strike over the middle, and WSU led 24-14.
Idaho wasn’t done yet, going 4 for 4 on third down on its next possession, the final a third-down, 13-yard touchdown throw from Wood to Ryan Jezioro to make it 24-21 with 8:15 left.
Weber State’s offense finally had an answer. Rigtrup got around the right side for a 59-yard run on the next play and he soon had a 16-yard touchdown rush for a 31-21 lead at the 7:12 mark.
Idaho took the ball to midfield until Wood threw too high and off the fingers of Daveon Suparales; Tribble was there again for a pick. Tribble, the fifth-year safety, had played 40.75 games at Weber State with zero interceptions but got two in the fourth quarter Saturday.
“This is what we emphasize in practice and our coaches put us in a great spot to make that play, so that’s all hats off to them and just me getting the job done,” Tribble said. “It was what we needed in the moment, a big momentum shift.”
Ferguson did all the work from there, rushing six times and finishing with a 2-yard touchdown, sealing the game at 38-21 with 2:46 left.
With the game all but over, Idaho used a whopping 15 plays and the rest of the clock to add 69 yards and six points to the ledger for the 38-27 final after WSU safeties Jayden Mayberry and Tommy Romano each had near-interceptions during the drive.
Romano and linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii each had 10 tackles for WSU.
At 4-3, Weber State has equaled win totals from the program’s two straight 4-8 campaigns and the 3-1 league mark has already eclipsed 2025’s 2-6 record in Big Sky games.
Since Northern Arizona took down Montana at home on six Ty Pennington touchdowns, and Cal Poly won at Idaho State, WSU is tied for first with NAU, Montana and Cal Poly. Montana State and UC Davis, both 2-1, were off this week.
WSU’s road gets harder from here. The Wildcats host Idaho State and UC Davis, while traveling to Montana State and Northern Arizona, over the next four games.
