Weber State football: Colorado strikes early and often in win; WSU offense shows signs
Colorado 52, Weber State 21
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle, left, tries to escape the grasp of Colorado lineman Lamont Lester Jr. on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State linebacker Teni Worthen (23) sacks Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis (10) and forces a fumble on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State receiver Robert Young (0) smiles after catching a touchdown pass at Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle (13) throws a pass past Colorado’s Gideon Lampron on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State receiver Noah Kjar, center, follows the block of Luke Sampson (78) against Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State receiver Robert Young (0) hauls in a touchdown reception in front of Colorado’s Naeten Mitchell (4) on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
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- Weber State quarterback Nate Dahle runs away from Colorado defenders on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, in Boulder, Colo. (Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics)
Weber State football couldn’t slow Colorado early and the Wildcats fell to the Buffaloes 52-21 on Saturday at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.
Colorado scored touchdowns on two of its first three offensive plays and had the Wildcats chasing tails for the entire first half, while freshman quarterback Nate Dahle threw three touchdown passes for a WSU offense that helped cover the spread as it shows signs of being hard to defend.
Julian Lewis threw touchdowns of 66 and 63 yards in the game’s first 3 minutes to put Colorado (2-0) up 14-0.
WSU’s biggest defensive play came when linebacker Teni Worthen sacked Lewis and forced a fumble, recovered by defensive tackle Zion Finau to give Weber a 28-yard field. Dahle soon threw a 13-yard touchdown to Robert Young to get the visitors on the board.
Lewis soon threw a 48-yard touchdown to speedster Ernest Campbell for a 21-7 Colorado lead after one quarter.
Lewis became the first QB in Colorado history to throw four touchdowns in a first half. His 212 passing yards in the first quarter also set a new CU record (Joel Klatt had 211 first-quarter passing yards in a 2005 game.)
A 70-yard heave from Dahle to Noah Kjar set up Kjar for a 6-yard TD reception and a 28-14 score early in the second quarter. A WSU (1-2) timeout preceded its offense going three-and-out, which gave time for the Buffs to tack on a late touchdown for a 42-14 halftime lead.
Omar Shah rushed for 43 yards on a fourth-quarter drive that set up another Dahle-to-Kjar scoring connection midway through the frame, this from 12 yards, for the 52-21 final score.
Dahle finished 20 of 48 for 244 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Kjar hauled in seven of those balls for 121 yards, while Young had six catches for 66 yards. Shah finished with 65 yards on 12 carries. Worthen’s eight tackles led the defense.
Lewis was 17 of 23 for 366 yards and his four touchdowns. Joseph Williams (four catches, 123 yards, two TDs) and Deandre Moore Jr. (four catches, 107 yards, one TD) each eclipsed 100 receiving yards, while Micah Welch’s 55-yard touchdown run helped him to 106 rushing yards on 11 carries.
OFFENSE SHINES
At times, Dahle struggled to make connections (as evidenced by his 42% completion rate) but overall, Weber State’s offense again looked like something that Big Sky teams will have to reckon with.
Consider the following:
Last week at home against Colorado, Georgia Tech totaled 13 points on 288 yards. Last year against FBS opponents, Weber State totaled 10 points on 148 yards at James Madison, and three points on 184 yards at Arizona.
In the first half alone Saturday, Weber State totaled 14 points on 233 yards.
Adjusted to remove sacks, WSU’s run game averaged 5.3 yards per carry.
Oh, and the Wildcats did that without several starters from the Game 1 depth chart, including QB1 Devin Brown, starting running back Spencer Ferguson who was held out with a knee sprain, and one of four starting receivers in Tate Kjar.
“We were able to hold up in protection (early),” Eric Kjar said. “So they went to more of like a four down with pressure-type look, and the bracket (on Noah Kjar). … I think it was a good sign for us, from an offensive line standpoint, that they felt like they needed to pressure.
“It was kind of telling that they felt like they couldn’t just stay in that base bracket, that they needed to do more. And they did, they changed it up and made it harder on us. We missed some things, protection-wise but also … got better throughtout the game of handling and managing the pressure, and I got better as a playcaller.”
STILL NOAH DOUBT
Noah Kjar did it again, even with defenses tracking him all around the field. He has 385 receiving yards and six touchdowns through three games, good for a per-game average of 128.3 yards and two touchdowns.
YOUNG TOUCHDOWN
Young, the sophomore receiver, scored 35 touchdowns in 14 games as a senior at Roy High School. That came from 18 rushing touchdowns, 12 receiving, three housed kickoff returns and two passing touchdowns.
His scoring was so inevitable that the nickname “Touchdown Bob” became something referenced often at the Standard-Examiner.
Well now, Touchdown Rob — please, he’s in college now — got his first collegiate TD with his first-quarter reception.
“He played really, really good today,” Eric Kjar said. “We need to continue to get him involved more and I think our outside guys, too. We’ve got to do more things to help them get involved in the pass game more, especially because more and more teams will tilt their coverage toward Noah and leave those guys in some matchups that are going to be good for us offensively.”
YOUNG BLOOD
The first three quarterbacks to take the field Saturday were 18-year-olds: Dahle, Lewis and then Kaneal Sweetwyne, who got Colorado’s No. 2 reps in the second half. Sweetwyne is a Utah product from Skyridge High in Lehi.
It wasn’t until WSU junior Cash McCollum took the field with 6:13 left that anyone older played quarterback, and the Buffs followed by putting in former Corner Canyon quarterback Isaac Wilson, who played for Eric Kjar, for its final two possessions.
INJURIES MOUNT
WSU enjoyed the return of fifth-year linebacker Raimoana Tinirauarii (four tackles, two QB hurries) and sophomore tackle Zion Finau (one tackle). But more injuries, especially defensively, marred an already struggling unit.
Fifth-year cornerback Tajon Evans, a starter, suffered a knee injury last week that led him to announce his retirement from football. Transfer CB Bones Marks (four tackles) took his place this week, and he, too, left hurt. Marks limped off with about 10 minutes left in the third quarter, coming up from a crash on the sideline dragging his right leg as he hobbled all the way across the field.
Freshman linebacker Zach Smith (seven tackles) went out after a collision, and freshman running back Semisi Kinikini went down clutching his right knee after a swing pass from McCollum; his reaction was so instant that he fumbled the football.
The status for all three is unknown. WSU was also without starting linebacker Da’Veon Ross, who got knocked out of the game at Southern Utah next week on a big collision.
UP NEXT
After three road trips, Weber State finally heads home for a game at Stewart Stadium and will host lowly Northwestern State, the FCS team from the Southland Conference that has a loss to an NAIA team this season.
The contest should allow WSU a breather to get some players healthy. One would hope it could provide the possibility of getting Brown some low-pressure reps at QB to ease back from his hand injury as well.
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Weber State football: Colorado strikes early and often in win; WSU offense shows signs
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