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As the clock ticked under 2:00, Weber State kicker Josh Kealamakia lined up a field goal. The scoreboard might not have shown it, but there was a lot riding on the kick, at least for one team. The attempt sailed wide right sending Southern Utah players in widespread celebration. Josh Thornton high kicked down the field, players chest bumped and cheered.

If fans weren't paying attention, they may have thought SUU had scraped by with a two-point win. Instead the players celebrated the one thing they still had left to play for — a shutout.

The T-Birds got just that, flying into Ogden and torching Weber State, 44-0.

"That was so important for us," linebacker Matt Holley said of keeping the Wildcats off the board. "A shutout is rare to come by, especially playing against Weber, a rivalry game — you never see it."

Other things you don't often see: five interceptions, two pick sixes and a fake punt return (actually that one is getting a little more common), all of which were present on Friday night.

For the fourth time in five games, the SUU defense was dominant. In their last 12 quarters, the T-Birds have given up just 10 points, and if you take out the South Dakota State lost, Southern Utah has given up just 13 offensive points on the season.

LeShaun Sims intercepted Weber State freshman quarterback Justin Shaw in the second quarter and ran it back 26 yards to make 14-0. Then in the fourth, Taylor Nelson intercepted Shaw and took it 19 yards to paydirt, making it 38-0, and really sealing the victory.

And there were plenty of defensive plays in between. Kyle Hannemann had a diving interception in the end zone, Mike Needham jumped a route for an interception and Holley did his darndest to get into the end zone himself.

On a botched Weber State hand off, Holley collected the ball with no one between him and the end zone, but the dreaded turf monster came, causing the linebacker to lose his balance. But instead of giving up on the play he tried to lateral to a teammate (it worked, but it was a forward pass and was called for a penalty).

Then when Holley added to the T-Bird interception total, he tried to take to make a house call, even attempting a spin move on a tackler, before being forced out of bounds.

"Slowest thing you probably ever seen," Holley said."I fell earlier, trying to get a fumble and I threw it forward, and I don't know what that was. It was just pure excitement. Whenever you get an interception you are always thinking touchdown. I tried to make something happen, 30 lbs ago probably, but now, not so much."

Shaw finished the night 0 for 4, with three interceptions. Weber's starting quarterback, Jadrian Clark, wasn't much better going 12 of 20 with two picks.

The offense was also effective for most of the night, keeping Weber's defense off-balance and on its heels, but it was the T-Birds' specials teams that really gave the first spark of the night.

In the first quarter, with the score tied at zero, Weber punted the ball and its coverage team gunned straight for normal SUU return man Brady Measom. The ball never came. On the opposite side of the field, Naia Ursua fielded the ball and took it 68 yards for the touchdown.

"We practiced that all week," Ursua said. "We have always had that in, that type of scheme. What was going through my head was just don't get caught by No. 73."

And what was going on in all the T-Birds' heads at the end of the game was don't give up a score. Mission accomplished on both accounts. State bragging right and a 2-0 Big Sky record now belong to the T-Birds.

Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter, @millerjryan.