The Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University evened their American West Conference record at 1-1 with a 45-20 win over Cal State Northridge Saturday.
SUU is now 4-5 on the season.The T-Bird offense finally clicked into a solid rythm and quarterback Rick Robins had his best game of the year with 210 passing yards with a pair of touchdown throws.
"There were really three key things going for us," SUU head coach Jack Bishop said. "Our offense got into sync with the option, Rick had an outstanding game, but probably the No. 1 thing was our defense - they did a tremendous job."
Northridge scored 22 seconds into the game after SUU fumbled the opening kickoff. But the T-Birds tied the score at seven when Curtis Lindsey scored following an interception by J.J. O'Laughlin who returned the ball to the CSUN 12. That fueled the 'Birds for the second quarter. SUU opened the period with an 11-play, 77-yard drive and a Gary Perkins TD run, then forced the Matadors to punt less than a minute later.
On its next possession, SUU had a 72-yard touchdown pass to Micah Deckart called back on a penalty, but pushed up to the Matador 38 where Robins ran the distance to extend the score. Benji Nelson's kick attempt bounced off the goal post to give SUU a 20-7 lead.
Before the period ended, SUU mounted another ground attack from their own 35 and Jones sprinted for a 58-yard touchdown. Robins kept for the two-point conversion and SUU led 28-7 at the half.
In games against Weber and Sacramento, the second half hasn't been kind to SUU, and this one against Northridge appeared to be following suit. The Matadors marched 79 yards in one minute capped with a 55-yard touchdown pass to Romines to start the third period.
But the Thunderbirds kept their first half offensive momentum and produced 17 unanswered points. A 12-yard pass to Deckert in the third, followed by a 48-yard TD pass to Melvin Lowe in the final period put SUU up 42-14. Then Nelson redeemed his two missed field goals with a 42-yard kick for SUU's final score.