Weber State football: Wildcats fall to Southern Utah in 47-42 rollercoaster
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- Weber State running back Spencer Ferguson, left, tries to outrun Southern Utah linebacker Logalima Lesa (44) in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle (13) looks to pass in a nonconference football game against Southern Utah on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State receiver Noah Kjar, left, hauls in a pass against Southern Utah safety Parker Vance (22) in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State safety Trevian Tribble, left, tackles Southern Utah quarterback Will Burns (7) in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State safety Trevian Tribble (3) celebrates tackling Southern Utah quarterback Will Burns (7) for a loss in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Teammates celebrate as Weber State defensive end Mapa Vaenuku (6) punches in a rushing touchdown against Southern Utah in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State linebacker Teni Worthen, center left, tackles Soutehrn Utah running back Floyd Chalk in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State running back Spencer Ferguson, center, looks for a hole against Southern Utah defenders Manasa Pela (43) and Amarion York (2) in a nonconference football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Cedar City. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
CEDAR CITY — A lot of numbers indicated that the predictions favoring Southern Utah — whether they be by seven, 10 or up to 15 points — would hold true as the Thunderbirds hosted Weber State on Saturday night.
The Wildcats, however, turned in several big plays to counter the SUU offensive onslaught and led in the fourth quarter.
But despite two freshmen stepping up again, in quarterback Nate Dahle and linebacker Zach Smith, WSU ran out of chances and Southern Utah got away with a 47-42 victory on a beautiful September night at Eccles Coliseum in front of 5,805 fans.
Dahle threw for 200 yards in the first half and finished 21 of 44 for 282 yards, two touchdowns and one interception (a deflected ball in the final moments), getting the start as fifth-year QB Devin Brown was not dressed to play after suffering a finger injury on his throwing hand last week.
SUU couldn’t stop Noah Kjar; the junior receiver caught nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Spencer Ferguson totaled 91 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Dahle added 81 yards on 12 carries. WSU totaled 460 yards.
“He’s a freaking baller,” Ferguson said of Dahle. “I don’t know, he’s 18 years old, something like that, and he just doesn’t blink. He just does his thing, he slings it, makes quick decisions. He’s a really good player who’s only going to get better from here.”
But the Thunderbirds gashed WSU on the ground, allowing dual-threat quarterback Will Burns to pepper in the pass game around the run attack for 514 total yards of offense. Floyd Chalk racked up 183 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, and Burns had 148 on 13 carries. Burns also passed 10 of 18 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and one intereception.
In a game when both offenses had their way in large segments of time, turnovers and other miscues loomed the largest. So even though Weber State (1-1) led 29-20 at halftime, those mistakes went the way of Southern Utah (1-1) in the third quarter.
The Thunderbirds, led by the talented Burns, racked up 206 yards and 21 points in the third quarter. That was keyed by a Robert Young fumble after picking up a first down, which SUU quickly turned into points on a 40-yard field when Burns hit Northridge High alum Joshua Acord for a 16-yard touchdown throw, putting the home team ahead 34-29.
Dahle picked up a quick chunk run and a 30-yard pass to Ammon Munyer to set up a quick answer, which came on a Ferguson 1-yard TD to put WSU ahead 36-34.
SUU answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped with a Burns-to-Devin-Downing 16-yard score and a 41-36 margin.
After the Young fumble earlier in the quarter, WSU compounded problems when — after Seth Rigtrup covered a fumble that would’ve given SUU another short field — Weber went for it on fourth-and-5 from its own 30. Munyer had the rush attempt and was stopped 2 yards short, giving SUU a short field anyway.
The third quarter ended just in time to prevent the Thunderbirds from a 28-point quarter, and the break allowed the Wildcats to regroup.
One minute into the final frame, Burns threw into coverage at the goal line and that’s where Smith was again a hero, grabbing an interception and returning it 91 yards near the SUU 10. It’s the third-longest interception return in program history.
That followed Smith — who had the game-winning PAT block last week at Northern Colorado — also returning a blocked punt 25 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter to give WSU a 15-7 lead (Porter Hadley broke through to block the kick).
A penalty late in Smith’s interception return didn’t hurt much; Dahle threw 24 yards to Kjar for a touchdown on the next play, good for a 42-41 lead with 13:53 left.
But SUU answered in nine plays, capped when Chalk sprinted through a large hole to the right for a 22-yard score and the final 47-42 margin.
As high-scoring as the game was, and as much as Weber State’s defense struggled, the back-and-forth stopped there. WSU’s defense mounted two stops, giving the offense the ball back with 4:56 and 1:55 remaining, but the Wildcats couldn’t take advantage.
On the first opportunity, WSU appeared to have the ball near the SUU red zone when Dahle hit Kjar on a fourth-and-12 pass but Kjar hadn’t quite turned his head around as he ran his route open across the field; the ball hit his shoulder and fell to the turf for a turnover on downs.
“I thought we did good all game, offensively, but when the defense gave us a couple stops in a row, we couldn’t capitalize,” Ferguson said. “It might look like offense had a great day, defense didn’t have such a good day, but in the end, we’ve got to capitalize when they give us the opportunity.”
Linebacker Teni Worthen finished with 11 tackles, including two for loss, to lead the WSU defense. Will Cornelson and Trevian Tribble each had nine tackles.
Weber State next readies for a third straight road game, going to Colorado next week.
SCORING PLAYS
FIRST QUARTER
10:40 — SUU: Burns 11-yard rush (SUU 7-0)
0:36 — WSU: Vaenuku 1-yard rush (7-7)
SECOND QUARTER
13:30 — WSU: Smith 25-yard blocked punt return. Dellenbach two-point rush. (WSU 15-7)
13:18 — SUU: Burns 75-yard rush. Pass failed. (WSU 15-13)
10:24 — WSU: Ferguson 28-yard rush. (WSU 22-13)
6:18 — SUU: Chalk 4-yard rush. (WSU 22-20)
0:20 — WSU: Kjar 16-yard pass from Dahle. (WSU 29-20)
THIRD QUARTER
13:14 — SUU: Chalk 39-yard rush. (WSU 29-27)
10:55 — SUU: Acord 16-yard pass from Burns. (SUU 34-29)
9:00 — WSU: Ferguson 1-yard rush (WSU 36-34)
2:49 — SUU: Downing 16-yard pass from Burns. (SUU 41-36)
FOURTH QUARTER
13:53 — WSU: Kjar 24-yard pass from Dahle. Pass failed (WSU 42-41)
9:13 — SUU: Chalk 22-yard rush. Pass failed. (SUU 47-42)
