Southern Utah Runs for 344 Yards and Beats Winless Utah Tech
Utah Tech piled up 572 yards, threw no interceptions, and is still 0-5. Southern Utah won 46-33 while passing for only 124 yards, because it ran for 344 on 44 carries and got a kickoff return for good measure.
The early going was a trade. Utah Tech kicked a field goal, Will Burns answered with a 75-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion, and the lead changed hands four more times, never once tied. Asa Chatman scored on a 2-yard run to put Utah Tech up 10-8, Mark Bails got Southern Utah back in front, and Chatman caught a 9-yarder from Deacon Hill to flip it again at 17-15. Then Ran Sawyer returned the next kickoff 99 yards, 17 seconds later, and the Thunderbirds led 22-17. Utah Tech never got back in front.
Southern Utah took a 29-20 lead into halftime on a Burns touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the second quarter, and stretched it to 32-20 with a third-quarter field goal. Chatman scored again early in the fourth (32-27), but Joshua Acord caught a 27-yard touchdown from Burns and Floyd Chalk ran in from 24 yards to make it 46-27. A late Chatman touchdown catch from Bronson Barben (the two-point try failed) made the final look closer than it was.
Take away the 99-yard kickoff return and the 75-yard run (two-point conversion included), and Southern Utah's 46 points shrink to 31. Big plays carried it. Utah Tech also lost a fumble to Southern Utah's one interception, and the box score says it was the better offense by 104 yards. It was not the better team on the scoreboard. Southern Utah is 2-3, Utah Tech 0-5.