Taking on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday, the T-birds came away with a 42-21 win to improve to 3-4 on the season.

First half

After SUU was forced to punt on the opening drive, EKU drove down to the 31-yard line. Facing fourth-and-six, the Colonels decided to gamble but were unsuccessful, giving the ball back to the T-birds via a turnover on downs.

Southern Utah used the big defensive stop to fuel its next drive, marching 69 yards in 12 plays. Running back Targhee Lambson capped the possession with a 3-yard scoring run, putting the home team in front 7-0 with 4:31 to play in the opening frame. The drive included a fake punt on fourth down for the T-birds, where Niko Alailefaleula ripped off a 36-yard run to keep the drive alive.

Eastern Kentucky drove the ball down to the 2-yard line on its next possession, but the SUU defense was able to hold them there and force a field goal attempt. The Colonels converted a 34-yard field goal, making the score 7-3 just under a minute into the second period.

SUU extended its lead on the following drive, taking nearly eight minutes off the clock. Quarterback Jackson Berry finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown toss to Gabe Nunez, putting the T-birds up 14-3 with 6:03 remaining in the half.

EKU kicked a 47-yard field goal with two seconds left in the quarter, cutting the T-birds’ lead to 14-6 heading into halftime.

Second half

The Colonels kept their late first-half momentum going into the third quarter, scoring a touchdown on the opening drive. EKU went for two following the score and were successful, tying the score at 14 with 11:23 on the clock.

Southern Utah answered right away, using a 9-play, 75-yard drive to retake the lead. Berry found Devin Downing for a 12-yard score, putting the T-birds up 21-14 with just under seven and a half minutes left in the period.

After taking the lead on offense, it was the T-birds’ defense time to shine. On the second play of the EKU drive, the defense forced a fumble that SUU’s Parker Andrus recovered.

 

Just seven plays later, Targhee Lambson broke through for an 8-yard touchdown run with just over three minutes on the third quarter clock to make it 28-14.

Southern Utah continued to ride the momentum in the final frame, adding another score to make it 35-14. Near the midway mark of the quarter, Jackson Berry found Shane Carr for a 38-yard touchdown pass.

The Colonels answered with a touchdown on their next drive, cutting the T-birds’ lead to 35-21 with just under six minutes left.

Southern Utah was not finished, however, using the next four minutes to drive for another touchdown. Driving 75 yards in nine plays, Targhee Lambson capped the drive with a 1-yard score – his third touchdown of the game – to make it 42-21.

With only two minutes remaining and trailing by three scores, Eastern Kentucky turned the ball over to seal the SUU win. George Ramirez recorded the interception with 1:30 to play and the T-birds ran out the clock for the victory.

Top performers

Running back Targhee Lambson once again led the SUU offense, racking up 170 yards and 3 touchdowns on 34 carries.

Lambson has now surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the season (1,098) and has recorded 12 touchdowns.

Quarterback Jackson Berry played a solid game to lead the passing attack, completing 13-of-23 for 204 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no turnovers.

Kameron Rocha led the defensive unit, recording 8 total tackles and 2 pass breakups. George Ramirez added 5 tackles and an interception in the win.

The game was also notable for SUU head coach DeLane Fitzgerald, who recorded his 100th career victory.

Coach Fitzgerald postgame

 

Up next

Southern Utah (3-4, 2-1 UAC) will be on a bye next week. Following the bye, the T-birds will travel to battle new conference member West Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The game will kick off at 12 p.m. MT and 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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