CEDAR CITY, Utah — Eric Soza's 10-yard touchdown pass to David Morgan put UTSA on the board first, but Southern Utah responded with 38 unanswered points en route to a 45-22 victory on Saturday night at Eccles Coliseum.
Soza led a 12-play, 76-yard scoring march on the game's opening possession, but it was all Thunderbirds (2-1) from there, as the Roadrunners (1-2) dropped their first-ever contest away from the Alamo City.
Zach Sorenson connected with Deckar Alexander for a 26-yard scoring strike to tie the game at seven and back-to-back rushing scores by Austin Minefee, first from 14 yards out and later from the 1-yard line, put Southern Utah up by 14 points. Sorenson's second TD pass of the night, a 3-yarder to Jared Ursua, gave the Thunderbirds a 28-7 advantage at the half.
Dion Turner's 33-yard interception return at the 12:48 mark of the third quarter made it 35-7 and Colton Cook's 36-yard field goal a little more than two minutes later extended the lead to 31.
David Glasco II ended the drought with an 8-yard run to paydirt with 6:41 remaining in the third period, which gave him three touchdowns in as many games this season. Tevin Williams scored from nine yards out in the final quarter and Soza's 2-point conversion toss to Brandon Freeman pulled UTSA to within 16.
Ursua's second touchdown grab of the night, this time from 24 yards out, finished the scoring.
“They're a good football team,” head coach Larry Coker said. “We knew we'd have issues with them, but we just got beat by a better team.”
Sorenson completed 20-of-28 passes for 287 yards and three scores, as the Thunderbirds outgained the Roadrunners, 423-294.
Steven Kurfehs led the UTSA defense with a career-high 13 tackles (8 solos/5 assists).
The Roadrunners return to the friendly confines of the Alamodome next Saturday, Sept. 24, when they host Bacone in the program's first-ever homecoming contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
