Southern Utah State took advantage of nine California Lutheran turnovers and Kelvin Minefee rushed for 192 yards and a touchdown as the Thunderbirds chalked up a 34-20 victory Saturday.
SUSC improved to 4-4, while Cal Lutheran fell to 2-6 on the year.Minefee keyed the 269-yard Thunderbird ground game early in the first quarter with a 41-yard run that set up a 4-yard dive by Thane Marshall. Then, with 1:17 left in the first period, Minefee broke loose up the middle for a 53-yard TD, giving SUSC a 14-0 lead.
The Kingsmen came back in the second half when Dan Nagelmann ran in from the 9. Cal Lutheran narrowed the gap to 24-20 with 9:12 left in the third quarter when Eddie Hoffman scored on a 1-yard run after a Minefee fumble set them up on the SUSC 15.
SUSC rallied, scoring twice in the final period - a 28-yard Herkey Marxen field goal, and, after Hoffman fumbled the ensuing kickoff on his own 9, a 3-yard TD pass from SUSC's Rick Carter to Marshal.