Southern Utah Suffers Disappointing Loss To Portland State
Oct 2, 2021, 9:09 PM
No. 8 Southern Utah hosts Weber State in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at 6 p.m. MT in Cedar City. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds couldn’t get a rhythm on offense as they fell to Portland State 20-13 in Cedar City on Saturday night.
The only touchdown for Southern Utah came on a 19-yard TD pass from Justin Miller to Ethan Bolingbroke.
Southern Utah was able to get a field goal on their first drive of the game to take a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. Portland State responded early in the second quarter with a two-yard rushing touchdown by Malik Walker to give the Vikings a 7-3 lead with 9:11 remaining in the period.
The Thunderbirds answered as Justin Miller found Ethan Bolingbroke for a 19-yard TD to put them up 10-7 with 5:02 left in the first half. Portland State later tied the game late in the second with a 35-yard field goal and the game was knotted up at 10 heading into the break.
Final.#StormTheSky pic.twitter.com/iPnY2p0NxS
— Southern Utah Football (@SUUFB_) October 3, 2021
Coming out of the locker room, Kobe Singleton got an interception off of the Portland State QB. That turnover led to a field goal for the Thunderbirds to give them a 13-10 lead with 9:28 remaining in the third. Near the end of the third quarter, the Vikings tied the game with a field goal of their own.
Early in the fourth quarter, Portland State went up by seven with Davis Alexander ran in a 10-yard touchdown to take a 20-13 lead with 9:13 left in the game. Southern Utah couldn’t get into the end zone at that point and fell to the Vikings.
SUU dropped their record to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Big Sky play. They will be on the road to face Sacramento State on Saturday, October 9 at 7 p.m. (MDT) on ESPN+.
