Northern Colorado had a late opportunity to tie the score, and the Bears’ offense delivered on the final drive to cut the Weber State lead to 1 point with 3 seconds left in the contest.  READ MORE

But the UNC extra point failed, and the Wildcats left the first night game at Nottingham Field history with a 30-29 Big Sky Conference win in the season-opening game for both schools in Greeley.

Trailing by seven points with 2:25 left in the game, UNC drove 80 yards in 15 plays as quarterback Kenny Lueth connected on a 12-yard pass to Trey Olsen to provide the Bears a chance to tie or win the game on the extra-point try.

After an unsuccessful challenge by Weber State due to Olsen’s left foot being out of bounds, Bear coach Ed Lamb elected to tie the game.  However, Weber State’s Zach Smith blocked Benson Ashley’s extra point kick to secure the Wildcat win.

It was the second Weber missed Bear extra point try of the game as Ashden Oberg blocked Landon Richardson’s attempt after UNC had scored to take a 13-10 lead with 93 seconds left in the first half on a two-yard touchdown run by Lueth.

Weber State scored 13 unanswered points to take a 23-13 lead with 2:56 left in the third quarter.  The Wildcats scored the winning points on a one-yard run by Mapa Vaenuku with 9:04 left in the game.

David Dellenbach’s foot provided the difference for Weber State, as he connected on all three extra-point attempts and field goals from 44, 42, and 39 yards.  Richardson missed a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter.  On seven kickoffs, only two of Dellenbach’s attempts were returned for a total of 47 yards.

Lueth completed 20 of 33 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 90 yards on 16 carries and a pair of short touchdown runs.  Mathias Price, who led UNC in rushing last season with 483 yards, had 106 yards rushing Friday for the Bears on 17 carries with a 31-yard scoring run as time expired in the first quarter.

UNC had possession of the football for over 38 minutes and compiled 485 total yards compared to Weber State’s 370 yards.  The Bears’ last three drives in the game produced a pair of touchdowns and a field goal as UNC compiled 215 yards on those three sorties.

Friday’s game was the first of two games for Weber State in Colorado, with the Wildcats playing at CU on September 12 in Boulder.