By Spencer Rodak , Stadium Sportzz
DAVIS, Calif. – Hitting the road for a matchup with UC Davis, the Southern Utah football team dropped a high-scoring affair on Saturday night, 50-34.
The Aggies got on the board first, scoring a touchdown on their first drive just over four minutes into the game.
It wouldn’t take long for the Aggies to add another, as an SUU turnover turned into seven more points and a 14-0 lead for the home team midway through the opening frame.
The T-birds would cut the deficit in half with just over two minutes on the first quarter clock, when Bronson Barron found Gabe Nunez for a 28-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.
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Southern Utah’s momentum would continue into the second period, where an eight-minute possession would see the visitors tie the score. Capping a 16-play, 80-yard drive, Barron delivered a 15-yard scoring toss to Braedon Wissler to make it 14 all.
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UC Davis would answer with a touchdown just a minute later, retaking the lead and adding a two-point conversion to bring the score to 22-14.
The Thunderbirds had an answer on the next drive, as running back Joshua Dye broke into the endzone from eight yards out with 1:15 to play to make it 22-20. SUU would go for two but were unsuccessful, and the score would hold until halftime.
Second half
The Aggies ran out firing in the third quarter, and it took just 12 seconds to add to their lead. On the first play of the half, Jordan Fisher ran the ball 75 yards for a touchdown to extend the Davis lead to 29-20.
Southern Utah would answer on its next drive, cutting the deficit to 29-27 with a 1-yard Will Burns touchdown run.
The game wouldn’t get any closer from there, however, as the Aggies turned the game into a one-sided contest. UC Davis would score the next three touchdowns to make it 50-27 with 9:29 to play in the game.
SUU would get a late garbage-time touchdown, but the Aggies would easily run away with a 50-34 victory.
Two turnovers proved costly in the loss for the T-birds, but the offense had no issues moving the ball down the field.
Overall, the offense racked up 549 total yards (316 pass, 233 rush), while running back Joshua Dye had another standout performance.
Dye would total 155 yards and a score on 20 carries, while quarterback Bronson Barron led the aerial attack, throwing for 316 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception.
With the loss, SUU drops to 1-3 on the season.
Defensive woes continue
While the offense has had no issues keeping the Thunderbirds in games this season, the defense has been another story.
A week after allowing 52 points in a shootout loss to Northern Arizona, the defense could not stop the Aggies while allowing another 50 points on Saturday night.
The defense also struggled to contain the San Diego rushing attack two weeks ago (296 yards), before allowing 508 yards of offense in the loss to NAU.
It was all too familiar a theme on Saturday, as the T-bird defense allowed 519 yards of offense to UC Davis, including a disastrous 357 yards on the ground. The 357 rushing yards allowed are the most ever under fourth-year head coach Delane Fitzgerald.
Coach Fitzgerald postgame
Up next
Southern Utah (1-3) returns to Cedar City, hosting No. 22 West Georgia (4-0) in its United Athletic Conference opener on Saturday, Sept. 27, for Homecoming.
The matchup between the T-birds and Wolves is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.