Falling behind just two plays into the game, Southern Utah football needed to respond to adversity just mere seconds into their season.
And did they ever. Kicking off the DeLane Fitzgerald era in style, the T-birds routed St. Thomas 44-13, responding to the opening minute challenge.
SUU scored its first points of the game with just over six minutes left in the first quarter, converting a 27-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.
From there, it was all T-birds.
They took the lead for the first time in the final minute of the opening frame, courtesy of a 1-yard scoring run by Bobby Cole to go on top 10-7.
.@bobbycole21 launches himself into the end zone for the first Thunderbird TD of the game 🚀 pic.twitter.com/GN47lVBGUR
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) September 2, 2022
In the second quarter, quarterback Justin Miller found Isaiah Wooden for a 64-yard scoring toss, while a 31-yard field goal with just over five minutes left in the half gave the T-birds the 20-7 lead heading into the break.
What are we cooking up tonight? Oh, just another Thunderbird TD 😎 pic.twitter.com/Aq0afkO4xh
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) September 2, 2022
Second half
SUU extended the lead even further in the third quarter when Miller tossed a 6-yard touchdown to Mata’ava Ta’ase with just under 10 minutes remaining. A successful two-point conversion made the score 28-7. A 23-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining in the quarter gave the T-birds a 31-13 lead heading into the final frame.
You didn't think we were slowing down now, did ya? 💨 pic.twitter.com/gAuomipRLY
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) September 2, 2022
Justin Miller then threw his third touchdown of the game to Wooden from 25 yards out just under a minute into the fourth quarter for a 38-13 lead.
The finesse on this pass 🤌 @justinmiller_12 throws his third touchdown of the night pic.twitter.com/pXX0GTWKzn
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) September 2, 2022
The T-birds added one final score halfway through the quarter when Elijah Burns found the endzone from 1 yard out for the 44-13 advantage.
Total team effort 🦾 pic.twitter.com/1O84oV25an
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) September 2, 2022
Justin Miller went 23-of-35 in the game to lead the SUU offense, racking up 364 passing yards and three touchdowns. On the receiving end, Isaiah Wooden caught five passes for 142 yards and a pair of scores.
On defense, the T-birds tallied nine tackles for loss while forcing four turnovers (two fumbles, two interceptions) and allowed just six points after the opening drive.
Up next
SUU (1-0) will now travel up I-15 to face in-state foe Utah. They will play the Utes on Saturday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. and the game can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.
