Southern Utah's celebration of its Sept. 12 victory over Montana came to an abrupt end over a span of five minutes Saturday night as top-ranked McNeese State scored four touchdowns in 4:54 of the first quarter to crash the Thunderbirds' homecoming party.
Southern Utah took a 7-0 lead on its first possession and forced a punt on McNeese's ensuing possession, but the Thunderbirds fumbled on their next play from scrimmage, setting up a 10-yard Jessie Burton TD run.It was a scene the Thunderbirds would see repeated on its next two possessions: fumbles leading to Cowboy touchdowns.
Quarterback Matt Cannon gave the Thunderbird spirits a bit of a lift with a 93-yard touchdown run, the third-longest in school history, but the only points SUU would manage the rest of the way would be a 41-yard Jerry Holstrom field goal as time expired in the half.