VERMILLION, S.D., — South Dakota scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter, then withstood Southern Utah's second-half comeback attempt to claim a 45-21 Great West Conference win Saturday.

The loss was a big blow to the Thunderbirds' Great West Conference championship hopes. SUU finished league play 2-2 (4-5 overall), while South Dakota moved to 1-2 (4-5) with a game at Cal Poly next week.

South Dakota scored the first points of the game on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Noah Shepard to Will Powell with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter. But Southern Utah answered almost immediately as Cade Cooper hooked up with Tysson Poots on a 65-yard pass play on the final play of the quarter to bring SUU even.

Southern Utah lost two interceptions and a fumble in the second period, however. And that proved costly as the Coyotes converted two of the three turnovers into touchdowns to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Coyotes drove the length of the field after Poots' touchdown, taking a 14-7 lead on a 2-yard run by Isaac Newton. Austin Minefee then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving USD the ball at the Southern Utah 27-yard line. Shortly thereafter, Shepard scored on a 1-yard run.

On SUU's next possession, Cooper threw one of his season-high four interceptions deep in South Dakota territory. The Coyotes were still able to capitalize, however, going 84 yards on eight plays. The touchdown came on a 45-yard run by Chris Ganious with 2:53 to play.

Southern Utah rallied in the second half, pulling to within 28-14 on the second Cooper-to-Poots touchdown pass of the day. After a 27-yard field goal by South Dakota's Dustin Nowotny, SUU trimmed the deficit to 31-21 on a 1-yard pass from Cooper to Daryl Brown.

But South Dakota put the game away with two late touchdowns, a 7-yard Ganious run and then a 5-yard run by Marcus Sims with nine seconds to play.

Southern Utah finished with 325 yards of offense, including 278 yards passing, as Cooper — who was battling the flu — had his third-highest total of the season. The SUU QB completed 20-of-35 passes, with six of those going to Poots for 150 yards.

South Dakota passed for 235 yards and rushed for 334 more to finish with 569 total yards. Ganious and Newton each passed the 100-yard rushing mark, with Ganious finishing with 170 and Newton with 113 more.