Cedar City, Utah - The Thunderbirds Homecoming football game put a cap on an exciting weekend, as they were able to take care of business against Brevard College on Saturday night at the Eccles Coliseum 55–7 in front of a 109 percent capacity crowd.

The win moves the Thunderbirds to 2–2 (1–0 Big Sky) on the regular season, and will now dive head first back into Big Sky play. Brevard, who competed in their first game outside of the Eastern timezone ever on Saturday, now moves to 0–4.

SUU head coach Ed Lamb said being at home for two straight games has helped the team exponentially.

“The crowd the first two games has been amazing,” he said. “The fan support, the buzz in Cedar City and in southern Utah, it's been incredible to hear the positive feelings and support coming from the SUU faithful and it's been neat to see it grow, to see people around town that maybe a couple years ago weren't paying much attention, and now they're really excited about what's going on.”

It took some time for the Thunderbirds to get going offensively, but once they did it was hard to stop them. SUU struck first with 28 seconds left in the first quarter, when quarterback Ammon Olsen found wide receiver Justin Brown from 26 yards away in the endzone to put the Thunderbirds up 7–0.

Just about five minutes into the second quarter the Thunderbirds struck again when Olsen hit wide receiver Ty Rutledge from 29 yards away to put them up two scores. SUU struck again about four minutes later as Olsen threw his third touchdown of the contest to Naia Ursua to cap a seven play, 70-yard drive putting the Thunderbirds up 21–0.

SUU stuck again before the half when running back Malik Brown carried the ball in from one-yard out to put SUU up 27–0 after the PAT was missed.

Malik Brown continued his success when the second half started, as he carried the ball in from 24 yards out to score his second touchdown of the game. Running back Levi Te'o also scored on the ground in the third quarter from seven yards out, capping off a four play, 78-yard drive to put suu up 41–0.

The hope of a shutout was put to rest shortly after the fourth quarter started, as Brevard running back Anthony washington ran the ball into the endzone. SUU was quick to respond though, with running back Jarom Healey running the ball into the endzone two and a half minutes later.

The Thunderbirds struck one more time before the game was over, as backup quarterback Tannon Pedersen ran the ball in from 15 yards out to put SUU up 55–7, which would be the final score.

SUU didn't throw the ball for the entire second half, and kept it on the ground with Pedersen playing the entire second half at QB. Lamb said this stemmed from the idea that the halftime lead would be enough to hold Brevard at bay.

The Thunderbirds finished the game with 560 yards of total offense, and Brevard finished 212 total yards.

Olsen threw for 195 yards in the game, completing 16 passes and three touchdowns to three different wide receivers. The one throw Brevard Tyler Gregory completed for 36 yards was his longest career completion.

“I felt better today,” Olsen said about his performance. “We had some big plays down the field, which always helps us a lot on offense, so it felt much better today.”

Malik Brown finished the game with 91 net rushing yards and two touchdowns, and coach Lamb said his play was vital.

“Malik opened the second half the way that he's opened this season for us, he's been the drummer out in front,” he said. “He's been the flag bearer out in front of the running backs.”

Brevard College held an advantage in time of possession, holding onto the football for 38:24, where SUU was able to score quickly on most occasions and only had the ball for 21:33.  

Olsen said the moving on into the season, this win will pay dividends.

“It's good for our confidence,” he said. “It's good to see that we can run the ball the way we did, but we have a lot of work to do. We can't come out like that, we have to prepare and come out ready to start play one, but as far as our confidence level right now as an offense, it was a good game for us.”