In their final road game of the season, the Thunderbirds came away with a 38-31 upset victory over No. 24 Central Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.

First half

After receiving the opening kickoff, Central Arkansas would take a 7-0 lead on its first possession, courtesy of an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock.

SUU would respond with a field goal on its first chance with the football, making the score 7-3 with 4:29 on the first quarter clock.

The Bears would answer, however, taking a 14-3 lead in the final seconds of the period after orchestrating another time-consuming drive.

Southern Utah would get down to the 15-yard line on the following drive as they looked for a touchdown. UCA would keep them there, though, resulting in a field goal for the visitors to make it 14-6.

The Thunderbird defense was then able to force a three-and-out on the next Bears’ drive, giving the offense the ball back down just one score. 10 plays and 61 yards later, running back Targhee Lambson found the end zone from the 1-yard line with 5:32 left in the half. SUU opted to try a two-point conversion and was successful, knotting the score at 14 apiece.

It didn’t take long for UCA to respond, as they needed just over three and a half minutes to regain the lead with a touchdown, 21-14.

With just 1:50 on the clock, the T-birds dialed up a quick answer. Needing just two plays, Jackson Berry found an open Devin Downing for a 55-yard score to tie the game at 21 heading to halftime.

Second half

The SUU offensive show continued into the third quarter, with the visitors adding a touchdown through the air and a field goal to cap off 17 straight points.

First, Jackson Berry would toss his second touchdown of the game, finding Joshua Acord for a 16-yard score. The play wrapped up a 6-play, 51-yard drive just before the midway point of the frame.

The drive was made possible by a big defensive play, as George Ramirez forced a fumble that Rylen Sua-Filo recovered.

Southern Utah’s defense came up big again on the next UCA possession, as Lacarea Pleasant-Johnson intercepted a pass to give the ball back to the offense. The Thunderbirds’ Jayden Rogers hit a 37-yard field goal a few moments later, putting the visitors ahead by 10 (31-21).

The Bears would respond with a field goal of their own, cutting the deficit to 31-24 heading into the final quarter.

SUU would make it a two-score game on its second possession of the fourth quarter, thanks again to a Jackson Berry touchdown pass. This time Berry connected with Chase Merrell for a 14-yard score, pushing the lead up to 38-24 with 9:19 remaining.

It would take the Bears under two minutes to cut into the T-birds’ lead again, as they needed just three plays to make it 38-31.

Southern Utah was forced to punt on its next drive, giving the ball back to Central Arkansas with a chance to tie – or potentially – take the lead late. Instead, Raymon Crump intercepted a fourth-down pass to seal the SUU upset victory.

Top players

The SUU offense was led by a balanced attack through the air and on the ground.

Quarterback Jackson Berry contributed a solid outing, completing 17-of-28 passes for 242 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. Running back Targhee Lambson added another strong performance on the ground, totaling 161 yards and a score on 28 carries. Lambson has racked up 1,758 yards in this campaign, good for second all-time in a Thunderbird football season.

George Ramirez led the way on defense, tallying a team-high 9 tackles and forcing a fumble. Raymon Crump added 5 tackles and an interception in the win.

A long time coming

Not only did the win secure at least a .500 season for the T-birds, but it also snapped an 18-game losing streak to ranked FCS opponents.

Before taking down the No. 24 Bears on Saturday, SUU had not defeated a Top 25 team since a 48-20 win at home against No. 23 Northern Arizona on Nov. 18, 2017.

Coach Fitzgerald postgame

Up next

The T-birds (6-5, 5-2 UAC) will look to clinch a winning season and rivalry victory in Cedar City in the final game of the 2024 season.

SUU will battle Utah Tech on Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. MT, and 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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