Cedar City, Utah - The Thunderbird football team picked up their first win of the season Saturday night in their home opener with a 30–3 victory over Big Sky Conference opponent Northern Colorado.

SUU head coach Ed Lamb said the there is a sense of relief picking up the first win, but it started with how the team responded to the previous loss throughout the week.

“It feels great and it was a new start in terms of that in college football you've got to set out and want to win every week for certain,” he said. “We didn't talk about this week being the start of conference play and our first home game and all that, but everybody knew it and it gave us a renewed sense of purpose and a regained sense of what's possible and I think the players responded really well.”

The Thunderbirds (1–2, 1–0 Big Sky) forced six turnovers, five of which were interceptions and one fumble recovery. Four different players recorded an interception for the defense, who did not give up a touchdown on the night.

SUU linebacker Mike Needham said the defense puts a strong emphasis on starting strong, and that happened for them today.

“Every first drive of the game we come in strong and it's just kind of a test of how we're going to do this game,” he said. “Last week was kind of a shocker for us, but we learned from our mistakes and this week we prepared very well. We're not afraid of any opponent, we're going to come out strong every game.”

The teams split field goals to open the game, but the Thunderbirds scored the first touchdown of the contest when quarterback Ammon Olsen ran the ball into the endzone from 19 yards out to put SUU up 10–3.

The Thunderbirds struck again with 35 seconds left in the first quarter, when Olsen capped off eight play drive with a rush into the endzone from one yard out to put SUU up two scores.

SUU put two more field goals on the scoreboard before the half, giving them a 23–3 advantage at the break.

After the intermission there was only one more score, and that was when Mike Needham picked off a tipped pass and returned it to the the house from 27 yards away to put the Thunderbirds up 30–3, which would be the final score.

Olsen threw for 250 yards in the contest, completing 30 passes to 10 different receivers. Olsen's 250 yards was more than his total yards through the first two games. However, it wasn't through the air that Olsen got touchdowns, it was on the ground as he ran two in. Olsen gave credit his receiver for picking up yards after the catch and his offensive line for creating holes for the running game.  

Malik Brown finished the game with 124 all-purpose yards, picking up 68 on the ground and 56 through the air. He said he starts with the big men in front of him.

“The O-line opens holes and I hit them,” he said. “All praise to them, I'm just finishing. It's that simple.”

Jonathan Newsom started the game for UNC at quarterback, but Jacob Knipp played for the majority of the game, completing 19 passes for 257 yards, but did throw three interceptions. Stephen Miller was the Bears top receiver, catching six passes for 111 yards.

Needham said the team played a complete game on Saturday night.

“We just wanted to win,” he said. “The last game just hurt us really bad and the defense is all just one big family … and we just want to do our part. We know the offense is going to do their part and we didn't do anything different, we just were a little big more focused.”