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- Southern Utah defeated Utah Tech 37-34 in double overtime, with Jayden Rogers' decisive field goal.
- Targhee Lambson set Southern Utah records with 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
- Utah Tech's Reggie Graff achieved a career-high 386 passing yards in the intense rivalry.
CEDAR CITY — Two rivals battled on the field into double overtime, where Southern Utah's Jayden Rogers put the winning field goal through the uprights, earning his Thunderbirds a 37-34 victory.
"You can throw the records out the window when two rivals are playing each other," Southern Utah head coach DeLane Fitzgerald said. "I've been telling myself all fall that an ugly win is better than a pretty loss, and now I've got to tell myself that all offseason, too."
Utah Tech built a 14-0 lead before Southern Utah had an answer. Southern Utah ran away with 31 consecutive points and appeared to have the game won, until the Trailblazers battled back to tie it with just a minute on the clock.
Southern Utah's Rogers and Utah Tech's Ilya Uvaydov traded field goals in the first round of overtime, but Rogers was allowed to take the glory after the Utah Tech offense had a scoreless second round.
The game featured two opposite styles of offense, with Southern Utah owning the running game and Utah Tech relying on their passing. Targhee Lambson did the bulk of the work for the Thunderbirds, picking up 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.
His performance earned the senior a spot in the Southern Utah record books by making him the leader in single-season rushing attempts and rushing yards, and tying him for first in single-season touchdowns.
Quarterback Jackson Berry contributed with 94 rushing yards of his own to go along with his 194 passing yards.
"When you've got a (running) back that runs the rock that way, you know you're doing it right up front," senior offensive lineman Lyle Santos said of the historic season.
Trailblazer quarterback Reggie Graff completed 54% of his passes for 386 yards, a career high and the only time he has surpassed 300 passing yards in a game. His favorite target was Eni Falayi, who scored all three of Utah Tech's receiving touchdowns and collected 133 yards.
Southern Utah's George Ramirez set a new career high for himself with 14 tackles — eight solo and six assisted. Together, the Thunderbirds defense sacked the quarterback twice, broke up nine passes, and hurried the quarterback 13 times.
Brevin Hamblin led all players with 16 tackles for the Trailblazers, including two tackles for loss.
And after all that, the game still came down to the kickers. Uvaydov went a perfect 4-of-4 on extra point attempts in addition to two field goals, one of which gave him the new career high of 53 yards. Rogers, just two weeks removed from setting the all-time Southern Utah record for longest field goal, secured the winning points with his third field goal of the game.
UAC-trailing Utah Tech came out swinging.
The first quarter saw Utah Tech score on the opening drive before forcing Southern Utah into a three-and-out. When they regained possession, it took the Trailblazers just three plays to score again, and Falayi had scored twice before the Thunderbirds even earned a first down.
The Southern Utah offense started to get its act together, and finally responded with Lambson's first touchdown of the day. The defense followed suit and made Andy Day punt it away for Utah Tech, setting up an opportunity to tie the game. Berry connected with Shane Carr for a 40-yard touchdown, but Rogers missed the kick, leaving the visitors up by one.
Utah Tech woke up as the third quarter wound down, and broke into the red zone off a 62-yard pass to Bretton Stone, who was finally brought down at the Southern Utah 13-yard line.
They found themselves on fourth down twice, and both times Southern Utah committed fouls resulting in first downs. Graff took advantage of his opponent's mistake and finished the drive with a rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 31-21.
The Trailblazers scored the next touchdown, too. Falayi tracked down an 11-yard pass from Graff after another fourth-down penalty by the Thunderbirds, and just 3 points separated the teams.
After the two-minute timeout, Utah Tech had the ball at midfield. Graff completed two passes before missing three in a row, and the Trailblazers were faced with fourth-and-10 at the Southern Utah's 35-yard line. Uvaydov, from 53 yards out, secured the game-tying field goal with just one minute left.
Southern Utah had enough time to make it to the Utah Tech 34-yard line, where they sent out kickoff specialist Daniel King. King attempted a field goal from 50 yards out, but setting up closer to the line of scrimmage proved costly as the Trailblazers blocked the kick and sent the game into overtime.
Fitzgerald and his Thunderbirds held strong by not allowing a touchdown after regulation, and Rogers' final kick decided the contest.
"We're headed in the right direction," Fitzgerald said. "Over the last 35 months, we've come a long ways. We're not done yet."
Southern Utah finished the regular season 7-5 overall and 6-2 in UAC play — their best season since 2017. Utah Tech, in head coach Lance Anderson's first season with the team, posted a 1-11 overall record and a 1-7 conference record.
