CEDAR CITY, Utah, Oct. 11, 2014 – SUU (1-6, 1-2 Big Sky) football took to the air trying to keep up with an explosive Eastern Washington offense but came up a bit short losing to the Eagles (6-1, 3-0 Big Sky) 42-30 at Eccles Coliseum.
SUU started the game on offense but were forced to punt after a seven-play 34 yard drive. After forcing a three-and-out from the Eagles the Thunderbirds needed just three plays to go 52 yards, capping the drive with a 45-yard touchdown catch by Justin Brown from Mike Sharp. The Eagles responded with a drive of their own going 75-yards in eight plays. Jordan West, playing for the injured Vernon Adams, threw a 29-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne to tie the game at seven. SUU then used an 84-yard drive to make it 14-7 Thunderbirds. Again Justin Brown on the receiving end of a touchdown pass, this time from Ammon Olsen.
The first quarter ended with SUU leading, but not for long as the Eagles came right back down and put it in the end zone on a Jalen Moore 3-yard run. The rushing attack for the Eagles came through for them in a big way as they record two 100-yard rushers and 280 total rushing yards.
"We came in with a few objectives, one of them was tackling better on defense. We needed to play better at the line of scrimmage, improve in that area. Much of what we try to improve week-to-week is all about the previous week. We didn't control the line of scrimmage a week ago, we didn't tackle well a week ago. I thought that those were some of the more critical breakdowns tonight, as well as the running game at the line of scrimmage," head coach Ed Lamb said.
The Eagles won the second quarter outscoring the Thunderbirds 14-3 and forcing SUU to punt twice. Trevor McGirr kicked a 21-yard field goal just before the end of the first half to push the score to 21-17 Eagles going into halftime.
Both teams came out firing in the second half with Ammon Olsen connecting with Chris Robinson for a 74-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles came right back at the Thunderbirds with a touchdown to put them ahead by 11, 35-24.
"In the second half they knew what coverages we were in. They knew the blitzes too," explained cornerback LeShaun Sims.
The score was stagnant until 1:30 left in the game when Mario Brown ran the ball in from 6-yards out to seal the victory for the Eagles. SUU rushed for 1-yard and a touchdown to close out the final seconds of the game and a final score of 42-30.
Wide receiver Justin Brown said after the game, "We learn on wins, we learn on losses. We get better every single day. We are going to come back out and get ready for next week."
Top Performers:
Ammon Olsen had another solid week for the Thunderbirds going 21-29 for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He reinjured his left shoulder in today's game and was replaced by Aaron Cantu who went 16-22 and had 175 yards. Justin Brown and Chris Robinson stood out for the wide receivers. Brown has nine catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns while Robinson had just four catches but 103 yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Chinedu Ahanonu led the way again for the Thunderbirds recording 13 total tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and forcing one fumble. James Cowser and Robert Torgerson both record sacks for the Thunderbirds and Josh Smith had the only interception.
Next Up:
The Thunderbirds head to Idaho State next Saturday, Oct. 18th, to take on the Bengals in Pocatello, Idaho.
