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HAMMOND, La. — The Southern Utah University football team (0-2) lost 41-14 on the road to Southeastern Louisiana (2-0) on Saturday. SLU is ranked third in the FCS standings and proved to be a tough match for SUU. The Thunderbirds struggled to score throughout the game and also hurt themselves with four turnovers.
After weeks of confusion on who the starting quarterback would be for SUU, senior Aaron Cantu won the job for the second week in a row. Cantu started off with an interception on the first drive of the game, which directly led to an SLU touchdown, making it 7-0 in the first 13 seconds. SUU had a chance later in the quarter for a field goal, but kicker Trevor McGirr missed the 41-yard attempt. The next play, SLU made a 29-yard field goal, putting it ahead 10-0 heading into the second quarter.
SUU finally got on the board early in the second quarter. Cantu completed a 3-yard pass to Mitch Jessop for the touchdown. SLU got another chance at a field goal late into the second quarter and made the 24-yard attempt. SLU made a push for a touchdown before the half and succeeded, with SLU quarterback Bryan Bennett completing the 38-yard pass to Devante Scott, putting the score at 20-7 heading into the half.
The only score in the third quarter came from SUU. Raysean Pringle rushed one yard for a touchdown, with SUU now only trailing 20-14.
SLU broke loose in the fourth quarter and scored 21 points to complete the 41-14 beat-down of the Thunderbirds.
The SLU quarterback threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns while Cantu also threw for 224 yards but also had three costly interceptions. Second-string quarterback Ammon Olsen played a few snaps for SUU, completing one pass for five yards but also fumbled the ball in his short time in the game.
Although this was another rough loss for SUU, some players still stood out.
Chinedu Ahanonu and James Cowser led the defense with 11 tackles each. Cowser also had one sack.
Chris Robinson led with six receptions totaling 59 yards while Justin Brown had five receptions for 82 yards.
SUU will look to shake off the past two weeks as it heads back to Cedar City for its home opener against South Dakota State on Saturday. Contact Lindsey at lindspeterson4@gmail.com or on Twitter @LindsPetey.
