Bobcats lost at home on Saturday.
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
T-Birds drop Bobcats, 34-23
11/7/2015 5:48:00 PM | Football, General
Three unanswered touchdowns in the second half propelled Southern Utah to a 34-23 win over Montana State on Saturday in Bozeman.
The win keeps 18th-ranked SUU in first place in the Big Sky Conference at 6-0 (7-2 overall).
Chad Newell's second rushing touchdown of the game put the Bobcats ahead 17-13 midway through the third quarter. SUU responded with a 19-yard scoring dash by Malik Brown and a 26-yarder from Levi Te'o to make it 26-17 headed into the final stanza. The Thunderbirds put the game out of reach when Brown scampered 31 yards to make it 34-17.
In front of a crowd of 17,427, Brown led SUU with 89 yards rushing and Te'o added another 62. Meanwhile, quarterback Ammon Olsen was throwing for 243 yards including a 20-yard touchdown to Mike Sharp just after halftime. Sharp caught five passes for a game-high 95 yards.
The No. 24-ranked Bobcats (2-4, 4-5) won the battle of statistics, getting 23 first downs to SUU's 21, totaling 420 yards to SUU's 395, running 84 plays to SUU's 69 and controlling the football for over 36 minutes. But MSU was unable to overcome three interceptions by SUU's defense and four fourth-down conversions for SUU's offense.
Newell, who finished with 72 yards rushing, put the Bobcats ahead in the first quarter. Te'o tied it for SUU before MSU's Luke Daly gave the Bobcats a 10-7 halftime lead with a 32-yard field goal. In the third quarter, the teams traded touchdowns before SUU's offense took over. MSU's final score came on a 24-yard pass from Dakota Prukop to Beau Sandland.
Prukop rushed for a game-high 96 yards and passed for another 163. Gunnar Brekke, who missed the last two games with a concussion, hauled in six passes for 59 yards, while Mitch Griebel also caught six balls for 29 yards.
Sparked by Grant Collins, Blake Braun and Desman Carter, the Bobcats held SUU's offense below its season average. Collins got in on nine tackles while Braun and Carter were part of seven each. In addition, Mac Bignell, Jessie Clark and Tyrone Fa'anono all recorded a sack on Olsen, but none of the heroics were enough to keep MSU from dropping its first game at home this season.
SUU travels to Portland State next week before closing the season at home against Northern Arizona. The Bobcats are at Idaho State next week and finish the season at home against Montana on November 21.
The win keeps 18th-ranked SUU in first place in the Big Sky Conference at 6-0 (7-2 overall).
Chad Newell's second rushing touchdown of the game put the Bobcats ahead 17-13 midway through the third quarter. SUU responded with a 19-yard scoring dash by Malik Brown and a 26-yarder from Levi Te'o to make it 26-17 headed into the final stanza. The Thunderbirds put the game out of reach when Brown scampered 31 yards to make it 34-17.
In front of a crowd of 17,427, Brown led SUU with 89 yards rushing and Te'o added another 62. Meanwhile, quarterback Ammon Olsen was throwing for 243 yards including a 20-yard touchdown to Mike Sharp just after halftime. Sharp caught five passes for a game-high 95 yards.
The No. 24-ranked Bobcats (2-4, 4-5) won the battle of statistics, getting 23 first downs to SUU's 21, totaling 420 yards to SUU's 395, running 84 plays to SUU's 69 and controlling the football for over 36 minutes. But MSU was unable to overcome three interceptions by SUU's defense and four fourth-down conversions for SUU's offense.
Newell, who finished with 72 yards rushing, put the Bobcats ahead in the first quarter. Te'o tied it for SUU before MSU's Luke Daly gave the Bobcats a 10-7 halftime lead with a 32-yard field goal. In the third quarter, the teams traded touchdowns before SUU's offense took over. MSU's final score came on a 24-yard pass from Dakota Prukop to Beau Sandland.
Prukop rushed for a game-high 96 yards and passed for another 163. Gunnar Brekke, who missed the last two games with a concussion, hauled in six passes for 59 yards, while Mitch Griebel also caught six balls for 29 yards.
Sparked by Grant Collins, Blake Braun and Desman Carter, the Bobcats held SUU's offense below its season average. Collins got in on nine tackles while Braun and Carter were part of seven each. In addition, Mac Bignell, Jessie Clark and Tyrone Fa'anono all recorded a sack on Olsen, but none of the heroics were enough to keep MSU from dropping its first game at home this season.
SUU travels to Portland State next week before closing the season at home against Northern Arizona. The Bobcats are at Idaho State next week and finish the season at home against Montana on November 21.
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