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CEDAR CITY — Before Saturday night, Southern Utah and Western Illinois were both winless in 2023. But the Thunderbirds had a strong defensive performance to end the season's losing streak with a 37-17 win.
The Thunderbirds and Leathernecks were locked up 17-17 at the halftime break before Southern Utah went on a 20-0 scoring run in the second half to pull away for the win.
Southern Utah received to start the game but only managed to get to the Western Illinois 14-yard line. Tyler Graham put the ball through the uprights for a field goal to give the Thunderbirds an early 3-0 lead.
The Leathernecks then had just two successful plays before quarterback Matt Morrissey fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Southern Utah's Rylen Sua-Filo, which gave the Thunderbirds great field position to set up a touchdown pass from Justin Miller to Zach Mitchell. The rest of the first quarter was a good defensive showing as neither team scored.
Western Illinois did not cross the 50-yard line in the first 15 minutes.
Leathernecks kicker Owen Valek got the second quarter scoring going with a 49-yard field goal to get Western Illinois on the board. But Southern Utah answered back five minutes later with a touchdown by running back Targhee Lambson.
The Leathernecks still had some momentum, though, as shown by a 44-yard touchdown pass from Morrissey to Jaylin Jackson.
Western Illinois scored once more in the half on a rushing touchdown by Ludovick Choquette to tie the game up 17-17, and had a chance to take the lead with a field goal after Miller threw an interception, but Valek missed the 42-yard attempt.
Neither team did much in the third quarter until Southern Utah's Lambson scored a touchdown with 1:26 left in the quarter. The Thunderbirds added two more scores in the final minutes of the game, including a 43-yard pass from Miller to Isaiah Wooden and a pick-six score by Cody Coleman for his first pick six of his career.
Western Illinois had a promising drive to open up the fourth quarter, but an interception in the red zone into the arms of Jordan Washington quickly changed the momentum.
Southern Utah's defense sacked Morrissey five times for a total loss of 38 yards, in addition to forcing five quarterback hurries.
Southern Utah, now 1-3, will set their sights on the University of Central Arkansas next week in hopes of getting a winning streak going. After falling to 0-4, Western Illinois will face off against the University of North Dakota following a bye week.
