SUU football: Well-rounded team steamrolls UC Davis

CEDAR CITY — Southern Utah got scores from its offense, its defense and its special teams as the Thunderbirds picked up their first win over UC Davis since 2004 Saturday, a 56-35 triumph at Eccles Coliseum.

Major Gray rushed for four touchdowns, tying the SUU record. Also, Cade Cooper threw two touchdown passes to Tysson Poots, Fesi Sitake returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown and Colin Pretlow returned an interception 46 yards for another score for SUU.

The T-Birds evened their record at 4-4 and improved to 2-1 in Great West Conference action. UC Davis dipped to 4-4 and 1-1.

"This was a team win," SUU coach Ed Lamb said. "The offense was productive, we got a score from our special teams and a score from the defense. Any time you can get that kind of contribution from each aspect of your team, you put yourself in a very good position to win."

UC Davis drew first blood, taking the opening kickoff and driving 59 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard Joe Trombetta run, but Southern Utah answered with three straight scores.

Gray capped SUU's opening drive with a 12-yard TD run. Then, after Southern Utah forced UC Davis to punt with a three-and-out series, Gray finished off the next drive with a 1-yard run to give the Thunderbirds a 14-7 edge.

The Thunderbirds took advantage of a bad snap, which Akeem Anifowoshe recovered at the UC Davis 32 on the Aggies' next possession to set up the Thunderbirds' next score, which came on a 1-yard pass from Cooper to Poots to give Southern Utah a 21-7 lead.

The Aggies pulled back within 21-14 early in the second quarter when Brad Bispo took a Greg Denham pass 29 yards for a touchdown, then pulled even with 8:41 to play in the half on a 5-yard Nick Aprile run.

Southern Utah rolled out of the half, however, scoring three more unanswered touchdowns to take a 42-21 lead at the break.

Cooper and Poots hooked up on a 13-yard TD pass before Sitake returned the punt 61 yards for a score and Gray tacked on his third TD after a UC Davis fumble at its own 42-yard line.

The 42 points scored in the first half are believed to be an SUU record, while Sitake's score was SUU's first on a punt return since 2004.

The Thunderbirds scored on their first possession of the second half, on Gray's fourth TD run, to go up 49-21, but that was the only scoring in the third period. And in the fourth quarter, UC Davis mounted a comeback.