BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The Thunderbirds faced off against the No. 14/15 Bobcats of Montana State on Saturday afternoon on the road, and fell to their ranked foe 42-7.
The loss moves SUU to 2-8 on the season and 1-5 in Big Sky Conference play.
"We didn't come out ready to go, and that's on the head coach," SUU head coach Demario Warren said. "They took it to us from the opening kickoff. They won field position, they won turnovers, they won all the things we try to win in a football game. We got down early and it kept spiraling. I'm proud of the guys for fighting in the second half and not letting the thing really explode, but we weren't good enough today."
The Bobcats wasted little time getting rolling, as they built a 21-0 lead through the first quarter of play.
MSU continued rolling as the second half started, upping their lead to 28-0 with 13:32 to play in the second of four frames. Before the end of the first half the Bobcats added two more touchdowns to take a 42-0 advantage into the break.
The third quarter went by without a score on either side, as both defenses held the opposing side scoreless for the 15 minutes of action.
In the fourth and final quarter the Thunderbirds were able to keep the Bobcats off the board again, and got on there themselves. Justin Miller threw his first career touchdown as a T-Bird to John Mitchell to get SUU seven points on the board.
The contest ended 42-7 in favor of the home team.
Chris Helbig finished with 17 completions for 120 yards against the Bobcats, but Tyler Skidmore and Miller both saw time in the second half at quarterback for SUU.
Jay Green Jr. led the team in rushing with 48 yards on the ground.
In the passing game, 12 different players caught a pass for SUU on Saturday.
On the defensive side of the ball, Quaid Murray led the T-Bird effort with 10 total tackles. Alex Sims finished the game with seven tackles.
The Bobcat defense was tough on the T-Birds, as they finished with 14 tackles for loss and five sacks.
The T-Birds will have a bye week before their next contest, as they'll host Northern Arizona at home on November 16.
Keep tabs on the Thunderbirds throughout the entire Big Sky Kickoff by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.
Single game tickets and season tickets are available for the remainder of the 2019 campaign at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
