Hosting the North Alabama Lions on Saturday afternoon, the SUU football team secured a 38-26 victory to move to 5-5.

First half

Southern Utah would take the lead in the first quarter, putting together a touchdown drive that took nearly half the period. Marching 64 yards in 18 plays, Targhee Lambson marched into the endzone with an 18-yard run with 4:01 on the clock.

The Thunderbirds would begin the second quarter with another score, thanks again to Lambson. Capping a 12-play, 72-yard drive, Lambson broke into the end zone from one yard out to make the score 14-0.

Southern Utah’s defense kept North Alabama off the scoreboard on the next drive, and the offense would capitalize on its final drive of the half. With just under two minutes in the half, Targhee Lambson found paydirt from two yards away for a 21-0 lead.

The Lions answered quickly with their first touchdown of the game, needing just two plays to cut the deficit to 21-7 heading into the halftime break.

Second half

Both teams traded punts on their first drives of the half, but the T-birds would get the first points of the third quarter on their second drive. With just under eight minutes on the clock, kicker Jayden Rogers nailed a 50-yard field goal to give SUU a three-score advantage (24-7).

North Alabama once again responded quickly, needing just two plays to find a touchdown on a 78-yard drive while making the score 24-13.

The offensive show continued on the next drive, as the Thunderbirds found a score through the air. With 5:33 on the clock, quarterback Jackson Berry delivered a 33-yard touchdown strike to Shane Carr to push the home team’s lead back to three possessions (31-13).

UNA responded with two more touchdowns in the quarter, cutting the SUU lead down to 31-26.

The T-birds’ defense would extend the lead early in the final frame, thanks to a 48-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Kameron Rocha with 10:51 to play to make it 38-26.

North Alabama attempted to come back late, but the SUU defense once again delivered. Raymon Crump ended any chance of late magic from the Lions, picking off a pass at the 4-yard line with just over two minutes remaining to seal the victory.

Targhee Lambson continued his historic season for the Thunderbirds, racking up 166 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries.

Jackson Berry also added a solid game through the air, completing 21-of-31 passes for 230 yards, a touchdown, and no turnovers.

While Southern Utah dominated on the ground, the T-birds’ defense held UNA to a mere 35 rushing yards, also forcing the only two turnovers of the game.

With the win, the T-birds improved to 5-5 on the season, including 4-2 in United Athletic Conference action.

SUU football postgame

Up next

The T-birds (5-5, 4-2 UAC) will battle No. 16/19 Central Arkansas on the road next.

SUU and UCA will face off on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 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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