CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University Football team dropped its home opener as the No. 6 Eastern Washington Eagles proved too much and ran away in the second half to claim a 50-21 victory Saturday night at Eccles Coliseum.

Saturday's contest also served as Southern Utah's Big Sky Conference opener and homecoming game. The loss dropped SUU to 1-3 on the year and 0-1 in Big Sky play. Eastern Washington improved to 4-0 for the year and 1-0 in league competition.

"We've got a passionate group and they're fired up," said SUU head coach Demario Warren. "They know we could have had a chance in that game multiple times. We made some momentum mistakes early in the game. We got behind early but climbed back in it. We came out of halftime strong and cut the lead to nine but gave up a long touchdown on a busted coverage. We have to be locked in at all times to beat the number six team in the country, and we didn't do that tonight."

One of those mistakes came in the form of a safety early in the first quarter. Momentum bounced back and forth early as Eastern Washington held a 7-0 lead and looked to go ahead 14-0 with the ball on the SUU one yard line. Southern Utah's defense held strong, though, and got back-to-back big stops from La'akea Kaho'ohanohano-Davis as the All-American linebacker stuffed EWU's running back on consecutive plays to force the turnover on downs. The next play would then prove to kill the T-Birds' momentum as the Eagles forced a safety to go up 9-0.

The Thunderbirds were not done making big stops as Ty Vaimaona copied Kaho'ohanohano-Davis and stopped an EWU fourth and one try near midfield on the next possession. The big stop led to SUU's first score of the day when David Moore III punched in a touchdown from two yards out after a short drive. Southern Utah's offense went on to score one more time before the halftime break as Isaiah Williams recorded the first collegiate touchdown of his career on an 11-yard scamper in the second quarter. Eastern Washington's high-powered offense went on to close the half strong and give the Eagles a 30-14 advantage at the break.

Moore III appeared to spark SUU coming out of halftime when he capped the opening position of the third quarter with a 34-yard touchdown run, but it proved to be the final score of the day for the Thunderbirds. Eastern Washington closed out the game with 20 unanswered points to seal the victory, led by 518 passing yards from star quarterback Eric Barriere.

Quarterback Justin Miller led the offense with 239 yards passing on the night while completing 26-of-37 attempts. Judd Cockett was the top receiving target for SUU with seven catches for 70 yards. Brandon Schenks also pitched in 41 yards while Frank Harris III added 35. The ground game produced all the points for Southern Utah as Moore III and Williams scored all of SUU's touchdowns on the night. Moore III led the backfield in yards as well with 36.

Defensively, the Thunderbirds continued to be led by Kaho'ohanhano-Davis who had a team-high 11 tackles. The junior also pitched in a sack. AJ Stanley compiled eight tackles of his own, and Francis Bemiy recorded the other sack for the T-Bird defense.

The Thunderbirds will look to bounce back as they welcome Portland state to town next week. The matchup with the Vikings will take place on Saturday, October 2, at 6 p.m. MT. Live streaming will be available via ESPN+.

POSTGAME NOTES

-Isaiah Williams recorded his first career rushing touchdown Saturday night.

-For the third time in four games this season, Southern Utah's offensive line did not allow quarterback Justin Miller to be sacked

-Kicker Noah Alejado saw the first action of his SUU career and connected on all three of his PAT attempts

-David Moore III has now recorded rushing touchdowns in three-consecutive games and has four scores in those three contests

POSTGAME QUOTES

"The defense gave up an early touchdown but then got a goal line stop, so they responded well. I thought we did a pretty good job getting fourth down stops two drives in a row. This team, they don't quit. They don't flinch and they go out fighting."

-Warren on the defense responding to giving up a fourth down conversion on a fake punt early in the game

"La'a had a heck of a game. He got 11 tackles and got in the backfield a couple times and got a sack. David Moore had a big run and he's continued to show he can run the ball well. We played well at times and fought back into it, but we made too many mistakes. It's those little moments that hurt us. If we want to be a championship team, we have to make those plays and make sure we execute."

-Warren on which players stood out against EWU

"We've got a tough Portland Team coming in next week. They're going to come in and be ready to go. Every team in the Big Sky is good, so we just have to take it one game at a time. I'd be shocked if any team in the Big Sky went undefeated, so we just have to continue to do what we do and see what happens."

-Warren on preparing for Portland State next week.

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