Throwing for 12,467 career yards at Ridgeline High School in Millville should have made that feel a little more certain, but he had enough recruiting interest in the end and eventually made it to Weber State.

So what did he do with his first Division I snap?

“I fell,” said Dahle, a succinct summary. “I tripped.”

Starting quarterback Devin Brown lost his helmet during a play in the season opener at Northern Colorado, and Dahle entered from the bullpen to take the next snap.

Robert Casey, Weber State Athletics

The designed draw would’ve seen Dahle pick up a first down, and probably more. Not the best first play.

“We just laughed it off,” Dahle said. “Then, when Devin got hurt, I felt pretty dialed.”

Dialed has turned out to be an accurate adjective. The left-handed freshman threw for 200 yards in the first half at Southern Utah, and finished 20 of 48 for 244 yards and three touchdowns at Colorado.

He’s had freshman moments but, by and large, Dahle was ready for the moment.

“He’s grown so much the first two games,” WSU quarterbacks coach Zach Larson said. “Getting thrown in the fire is not ideal as a true freshman, but we felt completely confident. When we made the decision before we went into Week 1, we asked ourselves: is he good enough to win and compete? And we knew he was.

“It’s super fun because he’s such a competitor. The Colorado game, just a competitor and gutsy. He made some big-time throws. He made some mistakes, but took some big shots throwing from the pocket and just kept coming back. We know he’s just scratching the surface.”

Dahle played baseball, basketball and football since he was small, with football entering the picture around 9 years old. He carried that and baseball through high school.

He finished about 500 yards behind Austin Kafentzis as Utah’s career preps passing king. (Kafentzis, of course, was Eric Kjar’s quarterback at Jordan High School.) But somehow, Dahle’s certain plan to play DI football took a while to materialize. He’d attended all of Weber State’s events but it was Eastern Washington that gave Dahle his first offer in May 2025 as he wrapped up his junior year of high school. Dahle soon committed to the Eagles.

“I was a little pissed that they hadn’t offered me earlier,” Dahle said about Weber State.

There were reasons Weber State hadn’t offered Dahle — things Larson finally had the chance to explain to Dahle come November when the Wildcats were in interim-head-coach mode and Larson himself offered the Ridgeline star a scholarship to WSU.

A few days later, Dahle helped Ridgeline’s offense score 48 points in a playoff semifinal win over Provo, then 56 to win the Class 4A championship the next week. Two weeks after that, Dahle signed to Weber State in the early signing period.

“I always thought I should be offered here, and wanted to; I knew it was a great place to be. Once I got a couple things worked out, I committed,” Dahle said.

“It played out the way it played out,” Larson said. “We had a window and felt like going after Nate was the right thing to do, and we’re super happy to have him. I’m glad he’s with us, because he’s a hell of a player and he’s got a huge ceiling.”

So what’s next?

First, Dahle knows what throws he’s left on the field that are the difference between being “good for a freshman” and being good, period.

“I’ve been hearing like, ‘you’ve been doing great as a freshman’ and all this stuff, all this noise, but at the end of the day it’s two games we haven’t won. So what’s next is putting up more points so we can win games,” he said. “That’s the main goal for me right now.”

But Larson has no doubts he’ll get there, and soon. There’s a reason Dahle got the No. 2 job out of camp.

“A lot of what we do is understanding when to throw the football and how to throw it, and he has a really good feel for that,” Larson said. “His best trait, in my opinion, is his timing, his anticipation and his accuracy. He just has a great feel for the passing game, and he’s done a great job earning our trust as coaches.”

The elephant in the room, of course, is what happens when Devin Brown is healthy, and his right hand is healed and ready to throw again.

Brown (who set Utah’s single-season high school passing yards record with Kjar at Corner Canyon) threw for 175 yards in his only full half of football while shaking off the years’ worth of rust since he was last a starting quarterback.

“The focus right now is making sure Devin gets healthy and ready to go. He’s done a great job, but right now, Nate’s the guy so we’re focusing on him and how we win games with him,” Larson said. “Coach Kjar and I will cross that path when Devin’s healthy and evaluate the room and where it’s at.

“Right now, Devin is day to day. He’s made a lot of progress and we’re happy with how things are going.”

Dahle, set to start in this week’s home opener against Northwestern State, is on board with whatever the near future brings.

“Mentally, I’m always going to prepare like I’m the guy and just do what the coaches ask me to do,” Dahle said. “If they go with Devin, he’s a great player, great person, great leader. He can definitely win games for us, and I think I can win games for us as well.

“Whatever way they go, I trust the coaches and the decision they make. I just want the offense to succeed.”