Southern Utah University Thunderbirds visited the Portland State Vikings on Saturday, Oct. 5. The afternoon game was another tough one for the T-birds as they lost 52-31 in Portland.
The loss dropped the T-birds to 1-5 in the season.
Chris Helbig, SUU’s sophomore quarterback, balled out with 302 passing yards, three touchdowns through the air and 21 yards on the ground with one rushing TD. Helbig’s main targets were receivers Lance Lawson with 8 receptions for 100 yards and one TD and Isaiah Diego-Williams who had 9 receptions for 65 yards and one TD.
SUU’s running game was decent this week with the teams rushing leader James Felila carrying the ball 10 times for 41 yards. Karris Davis also had 37 yards on seven carries for the T-Birds.
Much like last year, the T-Bird offense is putting up big points but the defense can’t seem to get off the field. The Vikings were able to rack up nearly 500 total yards of offense on Saturday.
With every down the defense plays the more tired they get. Much like last week’s home game for the T-Birds, this game was plagued with penalties. SUU was penalized 81 yards this game, which made things difficult for the players on both sides of the ball.
The T-Birds will be heading to Ogden for a long awaited rival game against the Weber State Wildcats. The game starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12. Tickets can be purchased online at tbirdtickets.com.
Story by Casey Torgersen
caseytorgersen@gmail.com
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics
