With all three FCS schools playing their final home games of the season on Saturday, all three came away with victories as the season nears its end.

Utah Tech

Facing Tarleton State in their home finale, Utah Tech pulled out a win in a back-and-forth contest, 34-28. The victory pushes the Trailblazers’ winning streak to three games.

After falling behind 7-0, Utah Tech responded, tying the score when Victor Gabalis found Joey Hobert for a 19-yard touchdown at the 4:02 mark of the opening frame.

The Texans scored the next touchdown to retake the lead before the Trailblazers tallied the following 10 points for their first lead of the game.

Connor Brooksby kicked a 21-yard field goal with one minute left in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-10 before Darrius Nash returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown with just four seconds left to make the score 17-14 Trailblazers.

Second half

After seizing the momentum towards the end of the first half, Utah Tech came out and increased its lead just under three minutes into the third quarter. Gabalis again connected with Hobert, tossing a 16-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 24-14.

It took over 10 minutes for either team to add points, which once again were scored for the home team. Running back Quali Conley scored on a 35-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes to go in the third, putting the Trailblazers up 31-14.

Utah Tech added a Connor Brooksby field goal from 22 yards out just four minutes into the fourth quarter to make the score 34-14.

Tarleton State made the game interesting in the final period, scoring two touchdowns to cut the lead to 34-28 with 1:11 on the game clock. The Texans weren’t able to recover the ensuing onside kick, however, sealing a Trailblazers win.

Quali Conley led the rushing offense for Utah Tech, notching a career-high 215 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

Victor Gabalis completed 22-of-36 passes, tallying 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the aerial assault. Gabalis’s favorite target in the game was Joey Hobert, who caught 10 passes for 140 yards and two scores.

More records broken

After multiple records fell last week in the win over Southern Utah, more were rewritten on Saturday against Tarleton State.

Sophomore wide receiver Joey Hobert broke multiple records on his own after a big performance in the win. With his 10 receptions and two touchdown catches, Hobert is now first all-time in single-season touchdown catches (14) and receiving yards (1,158) in Utah Tech history. He also broke the single-season records for receptions (79) and scoring (84 points) in the win.

Meanwhile, Quali Conley became the first running back to eclipse 1,000 yards (1,034) in a season in Utah Tech’s NCAA era, while also recording the first 200-yard rushing performance in the program’s Division I tenure.

Up next

The Trailblazers (4-6, 2-2 WAC) close the season with a trip to Provo to face FBS and in-state foe BYU.

Utah Tech will battle the Cougars on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1:30 p.m., and the game can be seen on either BYUtv or ESPN3.

USU football: Aggies edge Hawai’i, record moves to .500

Southern Utah

Taking on Lincoln University in their final home game, Southern Utah routed the visitors 55-0 and snapped a five-game losing streak.

The T-birds took control early and never looked back, taking the lead just 1:23 into the game. With Lincoln driving, the SUU defense forced a fumble that Aubrey Nellems scooped up and ran into the endzone for the 7-0 lead.

The T-birds added a score via a pick-six before the offense added points to the board at the end of the opening quarter.

Justin Miller delivered a 24-yard scoring throw to Brennon Hutchings to cap an 11-play, 89-yard drive for the 20-0 lead with 52 seconds remaining in the first.

Miller added a second touchdown to Hutchings in the second quarter before finding Tim Patrick for a two-yard score at the end of the half to give the home team a 34-0 lead.

SUU added three more touchdowns in the second half to seal the shutout win. Miller added a passing touchdown to Marcus Phillips Jr. (27 yards) before Tosh Wright (24 yards) and Jackson Berry (15 yards) added scores on the ground.

Justin Miller led the T-birds on offense, completing 22-of-25 passes for 208 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception.

While SUU’s offense put up plenty of yards – 450 total, including 229 rushing – it was the defense that led the way to a win.

Southern Utah’s defense allowed just 74 total yards in the game (38 passing, 36 rushing) while forcing four turnovers.

Up next

The T-birds (4-6, 1-3 WAC) close out the season with a road matchup against Sam Houston State.

The game against the Bearkats will take place on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.

Utah football: Utes dominate Stanford to close out home slate

No. 7/10 Weber State

Battling Idaho State in their home finale, Weber State ran away with an easy 45-7 win.

The Wildcats stormed out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back in defeating the Bengals.

After Idaho State scored their first points of the game right before halftime, Weber State answered by scoring the next 24 points to seal the victory.

The Wildcats racked up 455 yards of offense in the game, highlighted by 206 rushing yards. Running back Dontae McMillan tallied 139 yards and a score on the ground for Weber State, while quarterback Bronson Barron completed 19-of-31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.

Weber State improves to 8-2 with the win, including 5-2 in Big Sky Conference games.

Up next

Weber State will close out the regular season by facing Northern Arizona on the road.

The Wildcats and Lumberjacks will battle on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. The game can be streamed via ESPN+.

Week 10 Bowl Projections: Postseason destinations for BYU, Utah, and USU

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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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