Wes Salonen, for WSU Athletics

Few teams have looked less prepared to start a football game than Weber State did Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Emerging from Halloween, Northern Arizona had Weber State seeing spooky spirits early and a ghastly first six minutes were all that mattered as the Lumberjacks secured a 27-6 victory to retain the Red Rock Rivalry trophy at the Walkup Skydome.

Northern Arizona piled up a 21-0 lead before Weber State had even tallied 1 yard of offense.

“They’re good defensively and we can’t spot a team 21 points in the first six minutes,” WSU head coach Mickey Mental said in his postgame radio interview. “You’ve got to be smart and not put the ball in conflict, give the defense a shot to play defense.”

The game’s first play saw NAU sophomore quarterback Ty Pennington fake a zone-read give left, keep it right and find no WSU defenders in sight as he raced 75 yards for a touchdown.

Wes Salonen, for WSU Athletics

On the game’s next play, WSU sophomore quarterback Richie Muñoz eschewed a short pitch to fullback Colter May on a high-low route option, instead throwing deeper for Jayleen Record in double coverage. Northern Arizona defensive back DJ VanHook jumped the route, jarred the ball in the air and corralled it for an interception.

Five plays and 28 yards later later, Pennington tossed a backfield route for usual defensive lineman Tausagafou Ho Ching, who checked in as a fullback, and he dove for the pylon to put NAU up 14-0 at the 12:20 mark of the first quarter with a 9-yard touchdown reception.

Weber State’s next offensive play was another disaster. On a sideline route, Muñoz threw it too far upfield to be a back-shoulder throw and defensive back Mikale Greer was aggressive in picking the ball from the receiver for an interception.

The Lumberjacks (5-4, 3-2 Big Sky) needed six plays to convert the ensuing 30-yard field, capped when Pennington rushed in a 2-yard touchdown.

That made it 21-0 with 8:50 left in the first quarter and with the yardage total reading 143-0.

Wes Salonen, for WSU Athletics

After committing three turnovers over his first 11 college games (a lost fumble in his first start and two interceptions after), Muñoz tallied a whopping seven turnovers (four interceptions, three lost fumbles) over the nine quarters following his six-touchdown, national-player-of-the-week effort at Montana.

Weber State (3-6, 2-3) played NAU to a 6-6 knot over the final 51 minutes but its offense was not crisp or consistent enough to make its defensive efforts matter.

Damon Bankston rushed 16 times for 96 yards and Davion Godley added 69 yards on 13 carries. Muñoz finished 18 of 32 for 152 yards (5 of 13 for 81 yards through three quarters, 13 of 19 for 71 yards in the fourth quarter).

Weber State sacked Pennington four times but he threw 18 of 21 for 212 yards. He led NAU with 73 net rushing yards.

Following the two interceptions and 21-0 deficit, Weber State handed the ball to Bankston three times and Godley three times on three-and-out possessions ending in punts. The Wildcats did not record a first down until Bankston rushed for 11 yards across midfield on the final play of the first quarter and ran the ball nine consecutive times before its next pass attempt.

Wes Salonen, for WSU Athletics

That drive ended in downs at the NAU 31 when Muñoz had Jayleen Record open on a deep wheel route but had his throw tipped as he threw, and it fluttered to the turf for an incompletion.

Jalon Rock blocked an NAU field goal attempt and two plays later, Muñoz connected with Noah Kjar for a 41-yard go route to the NAU 40-yard line. Any perceived momentum was short-lived, however, when receiver Jacob Sharp was flagged for a 15-yard illegal blindside block on the next play, ultimately leading WSU to punt.

In a similar next sequence, linebacker Kevin Enriquez crunched Pennington for a third-down sack to force a punt and Bankston ripped a 50-yard rush up the right side on WSU’s next play.

But, nearing the halftime break and with WSU set to receive the third-quarter kickoff, the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize. From the NAU 17, Muñoz was off-target on a tough throw to Sharp in the end zone while rolling left. On third down, Muñoz had Record open in the end zone but the ball glanced incomplete off his fingertips.

So Kyle Thompson’s 39-yard field goal only made it 21-3 at halftime.

Wes Salonen, for WSU Athletics

“Once we got into a little bit of a rhythm in the second quarter, thought we did some good things but didn’t finish drives in the end zone,” Mental said.

Weber State’s offense roared out of the gates in the third quarter, rushing and passing down the field at will, again reaching the NAU 17 in a drive that included a 23-yard reception by Marcus Chretien. But that momentum again screeched to a halt when two runs netted just 4 yards and an end zone fade to Tajon Evans fell incomplete on third down.

Kyle Thompson’s 30-yard field goal made it 21-6 with 8:20 left in the third quarter; WSU possessed the ball for 6:40 and got just three points out of it.

Weber State’s defense held NAU to 36 yards in the third quarter and had the Lumberjacks facing a third-and-15 at their own 42 early in the fourth. But any hopes WSU had of a comeback were dashed in the next three plays.

Converting the third down, Pennington hit tight end Bryzai White for a 28-yarder up the middle of the field, then capped the drive with a contested 20-yard touchdown to Ta’ir Brooks. WSU blocked the PAT but with 12:25 left, the 27-6 margin was settled.

Weber State would run 25 of its 65 total plays in the fourth quarter, gaining 108 more yards but scoring zero points.

After NAU’s final score, WSU marched 14 plays with small gains, helped by a 23-yard Godley rush, but left the drive at the NAU 14 when Muñoz overthrew Chretien at the goal line on fourth-and-5.

WSU got the ball back with 2:45 left, gained 47 yards on 11 plays and turned the ball over on downs when a pass to Bird Butler went for 2 yards on fourth-and-3 at the NAU 37.

“Credit to them, they’re a good defense. We got behind the chains,” Mental said. “Of the 13 (third downs), we were probably third-and-long on seven of them.”

NAU only outgained WSU 361-332 but committed zero turnovers and finished most of its offensive opportunities.

Defensive ends Kemari Munier-Bailey and Brayden Wilson led Weber State with eight tackles apiece. Safety Angel King added seven tackles. Linebacker Tommy Elliss led NAU with nine tackles.

The loss ends Weber State’s streak of nine consecutive winning seasons. WSU is 9-11 under Mental and 6-7 in the Big Sky.

NAU takes a 29-28 advantage in the all-time series with Weber State and is 2-1 since the addition of the Red Rock Rivalry trophy, winning in 2023 and 2024.

The Wildcats return home to host Idaho State (4-5, 2-3) on Nov. 9. The Bengals were off this week after a 30-27 home win over Sacramento State.