With the state’s three FCS programs – Southern Utah, Weber State, and Utah Tech – kicking off this week, here is the season’s first FCS football weekly recap.

Southern Utah Thunderbirds

SUU opened the season with a resounding victory, demolishing St. Thomas on Thursday night. Read more about the game here.

SUU football: T-birds crush St. Thomas in season opener

Up next

The T-birds (1-0) travel north on I-15 to Salt Lake City to face in-state and defending Pac-12 champion Utah.

The game takes place on Saturday, September 10, and starts at 11:30 a.m. MT. The game can be viewed on the Pac-12 Networks.

No. 20 Weber State Wildcats

Facing Division II foe Western Oregon on Thursday, Weber State kicked off the campaign with a 41-5 blowout victory.

After falling behind 2-0 via a safety caused by a blocked punt, the Wildcats forced an interception on the first drive for the visitors. Three plays later, Damon Bankston rushed up the middle from six yards out for a touchdown.

Weber State made the score 14-2 on the following drive when Josh Davis ran for a five-yard score with just under nine minutes left in the opening frame.

The home side extended the lead further in the second quarter, first with a 1-yard touchdown run from Kris Jackson. It was followed up by a 24-yard field goal on the next drive for a 24-2 halftime advantage.

After Western Oregon opened the second half with a field goal, Weber responded with another 1-yard scoring run from Kris Jackson to increase the lead to 31-5.

The Wildcats added two scores in the final period, first via a 39-yard field goal to extend the lead to 29 with just under 12 minutes remaining.

The home team then added the icing on the cake of a massive win with a 13-yard touchdown run by Steven Shoats-Thomas with just under seven minutes to go for the 41-5 final scoreline.

Weber State showcased a strong running game against the Wolves, racking up 178 yards on the ground and scoring all five of their touchdowns via the rushing attack.

The Wildcats also spread the ball around through the air, with nine different receivers catching at least one pass.

School record broken

Weber State allowed -34 rushing yards to the Wolves, setting a new single-game program record in the process.

They also forced three interceptions in the game while holding Western Oregon to just 95 total yards of offense.

Up next

The Wildcats (1-0) travel north to Cache Valley next, facing the Utah State Aggies. The game will be played on Saturday, September 10, and kick off at 5 p.m. MT.

Utah Tech Trailblazers

Utah Tech opened the season at No. 7 Sacramento State on Saturday, falling to the defending Big Sky champions 56-33.

Despite the blowout scoreline, the Trailblazers were able to show many positives in the game against the Hornets.

After coming into the game, quarterback Kobe Tracy completed 23-of-40 passes, throwing for 339 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.

Utah Tech was also able to rack up 579 yards of total offense in the game, while a pair of receivers gained over 100 yards. Deven Osborne caught six passes for 113 yards and a score, while Joey Hobert tallied 11 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown.

Up next

Utah Tech (0-1) will look for its first win of the season on Saturday, September 10. The Trailblazers will face Division II Chadron State at home at 7 p.m. MT. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

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Spencer Rodak
Spencer has always been passionate about sports, growing up playing and following various sports. He ran cross country in high school and began his journey in sports media in 2017 as a journalism intern at The Spectrum & Daily News. Since then, his work has been published in numerous outlets including Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, St. George News, Southern Utah Now, SUU's Thunderground, SB Nation's RSL Soapbox, FanSided's Venom Strikes, fan-insider.com, The Spurs Web, and Iron County Today. Spencer is the founder of Stadium Sportzz and both the Sportzz with Spencer and Mountain States Sports Report podcasts. His experience extends to public address announcing, having first served as the PA announcer for Southern Utah University soccer in 2017 and as a high school sports PA announcer. He is now entering his fourth year as a PA announcer at Utah Tech University, where he also occasionally takes on the role of in-game emcee. Spencer's versatility also extends to radio, where at The Fan Sports Network he produced high school and Utah Tech athletics broadcasts, hosted the weekly Region 9 Football Tailgate Show, and appeared daily on The Drive. Now working towards completing his Bachelor's degree in Media Studies, Spencer was recently named the Sports Director at Utah Tech University's 91.3 The Blaze for the 2024-25 year. He will host a weekly show and serve as a play-by-play broadcaster, continuing his dedication to sports journalism and broadcasting. When he isn’t talking, writing about, or watching sports, Spencer enjoys traveling and spending time with his amazing wife.

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