Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | SAM HOUSTON - PDF
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FOR STARTERS: • Saturday's game vs. Sam Houston will be the second-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Bearkats on the gridiron.   
• The first meeting came last season in Huntsville, Texas, where the then No. 1-ranked and defending FCS national champions blitzed UT by a 59-10 count.             
• Utah Tech fell to 4-3 all-time when coming off a bye after the Blazers dropped a 41-14 palindrome road decision at Northern Iowa last Saturday afternoon in Cedar Falls.  
• Sam Houston, which won the WAC title in its debut season last year, is playing in its final FCS campaign. Last November, SHSU announced that it was going to make the jump to the NCAA D-I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level and will join Conference USA in 2023.   
• Because Sam Houston has begun its transition to the FBS level, the Bearkats are not eligible to defend its WAC title or to advance to the 2022 FCS Playoffs.  
• Though Sam Houston is a full competing member of the WAC in all of its other sports in 2022-23, Saturday's match-up between the Trailblazers and Bearkats will be a non-conference game.

QUICK HITS: • Utah Tech's "Spread-N-Shred" offense was held below 300 total yards for the second-straight, this time with a season-low 249 yards (51 yards rushing) in last Saturday's loss at UNI.
• Utah Tech was limited to 279 total yards (109 yards passing - season low) in its home loss to Abilene Christian back on Oct. 1. 
• RS-Sophomore QB Kobe Tracy (3,048 yds), who DNP in the ACU loss on Oct. 1, became the third signal caller in the program's NCAA era to surpass 3,000 passing yards after he threw for 277 yards on 19-36-2 passing at Southern Utah (9/24).
• Tracy returned to action, albeit briefly, at UNI last Saturday. The sophomore completed 2-of-4 passes for 15 yard and rushed for five more before being injured late in the first quarter. 
• RS-Freshman QB Boone Abbott was pressed into action in the second quarter at UNI and responded with 162 yards on 12-of-22 passing and his first two collegiate touchdown passes. 
• Sophomore LB Will Leota racked up a career-high 14 tackles (4 solo), including 1.0 TFL, at UNI last Saturday. Leota eclipsed his previous high of 11 tackles set last season at Montana (10/9/21). 

HI MY NAME IS...: The Trailblazers began the 2022 season with a new institutional name - Utah Tech University. 
            This past July 1, the university re-branded to the new moniker, replacing "Dixie State University," while the "Trailblazers" nickname remained in place. 
 
NEW RADIO HOME OF UT ATHLETICS: Along with the new name, Utah Tech University Athletics announced in July a new five-year multimedia agreement with Canyon Media Corporation. 
            Beginning this fall through the 2026-27 season, all Trailblazer football and men's basketball games, including comprehensive pregame and post game coverage, will be broadcast live on The Fan Sports Network (99.5/95.3 FM in St. George; 93.1 FM/1400 AM in Cedar City).
            The agreement will also feature select coverage of several other Trailblazer Athletic events throughout the year.
 
AND A NEW VOICE: In conjunction of the new radio home announcement, longtime Utah sportscaster Rod Zundel was introduced as director of broadcasting and multimedia content for Trailblazer Athletics, and will serve as the new radio voice for football and men's basketball.
            Along with complete radio coverage, Zundel will host "The Paul Peterson Coaches Show" every Tuesday night on The Fan Sports Network at 6 p.m. He will also oversee the production of several weekly Trailblazer student-athlete, coach and team online video feature stories, along with other digital content throughout the year. 
            Joining Zundel in the broadcast booth this season is former NFL and Super Bowl winning quarterback Jay Schroeder, who will provide color analysis for nine of UT's 11 2022 games, while former UT linebacker Steve Cook (2006-08) will serve as sideline reporter for select games.  
 
WELCOME TO THE WAC: Utah Tech kicked off the 2022 season as a full football member of the Western Athletic Conference.
            Utah Tech will play all five other members of the WAC, though Saturday night's game vs. Sam Houston will not officially count as a conference game.
            Due to previous game contract agreements last season, the Blazers were only able to play a limited three-game WAC schedule. 
 
HITTING THE TRAIL: After traveling nearly 13,300 miles for five road dates last season, Utah Tech will "only" have to navigate a grand total of 7,424 miles to-and-from its six road dates this season.
            Three of the Blazers' six road games will be played in the Beehive State, including road tilts earlier this season at Weber State (9/17) in Ogden (676 total miles), and a 102-mile round trip on I-15 to Cedar City for their WAC opener at Southern Utah (9/24). 
            Utah Tech will also stay in-state for its season finale at FBS member BYU, which will be played in Provo (516 miles) on Saturday, Nov. 19.
            UT will also rack up just over 6,100 air miles for its other three road games. Including the season-opening round trip to Sacramento (9/3; 912 miles), the Blazers flew 2,544 miles to and from Cedar Falls for last Saturday's game at Northern Iowa. In addition, the Blazers will make their longest trip of the season next Saturday to Nacogdoches, Texas (2,674 miles) to play at No. 20 Stephen F. Austin.
            Last season, UT covered 4,697 round trip miles just to play at Delaware (10/30/21), which was the longest trip to play a football game in the program's NCAA era.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech dropped its fourth-straight game and fell to 0-4 on the road this season after dropping a 41-14 decision at Northern Iowa last Saturday afternoon inside the UNI-Dome.
            The Panthers bolted out to a quick 20-0 lead before RS-freshman quarterback Boone Abbott connected with sophomore WR Joey Hobert for an 11-yard touchdown with five-plus minutes left to go in the first half. 
            However UNI scored two more touchdowns before the halftime intermission, and tacked on another score to open the second half, and cruised on from there for the home win. 
 
UTAH TECH VS. RANKED OPPONENTS: After playing six top-25 teams in arguably the toughest schedule in the entire FCS subdivision last fall, Utah Tech has "only" three top-25 opponents on its 2022 docket to this point of the season.
            Including losses earlier this season to current No. 2/3 Sacramento State (9/3) and No. 5/5 Weber State (9/17), UT is slated to face all three ranked opponents on the road, with a WAC match-up at No. 20 SFA next Saturday still to come. 
            Following the loss at Weber State, Utah Tech fell to 3-26 all-time (2-26 AFCA) against ranked opponents in its NCAA era, which includes 14 years as a Division-II program, and two-plus years at the D-I FCS subdivision. 
            The Trailblazers' 2021 gauntlet was rated as the second-toughest schedule at the FCS level (.640) behind only Northern Iowa (.651) by the folks at WarrenNolan.com. 
            UT's 2021 slate featured seven 2021 FCS Fall playoff teams, and the 10 FCS teams the Blazers played combined to post 82-39 (.677) overall record.  
            Utah Tech did split a pair of games against ranked opponents during the Spring 2021 season, highlighted by its third-ever triumph over a ranked foe in the opener at then-No. 22 Tarleton (Stat Perform ranking, 26-14; 2/27/21). UT also dropped a hard-fought 37-27 decision at then-No. 9 Kennesaw State (AFCA and Stat Perform; 3/20/21). 
            Prior to the Tarleton road result, the last UT win vs. a ranked opponent came on Nov. 3, 2018, in a 52-45 thriller at home against then-No. 6 Colorado School of Mines (D-II/RMAC). The Trailblazers claimed their first win over a ranked opponent in a 38-31 victory at then-No. 23 Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction (D-II) in 2016.
 
O CAPTAINS! MY CAPTAINS!: Utah Tech will take the field in 2022 with five team captains leading the charge. As selected by their teammates, senior offensive lineman Nathen Aceves, redshirt freshman quarterback Victor Gabalis, senior linebacker Malaki Malaki, and senior safety Darrius Nash were all announced before the season opener. In addition, sophomore WR Joey Hobert was named a captain prior to the SUU game. 

YO JOE: Speaking of Hobert, the sophomore wideout caught his team-leading sixth touchdown pass of the year in the second quarter at UNI last Saturday. His scoring grab also moved him into a tie for seventh on UT's single-season TD reception list. 
            Hobert finished with seven catches for 74 yards at UNI, this after he was "held" to season-lows of 64 yards and five receptions in the ACU loss on Oct. 1.
            The 64 yards snapped Hobert's impressive season-opening stretch that saw him become the first Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to record four-straight 100-yard receiving games in his first four career games.
            The sophomore also became just the second player in the program's four-year era to record four-straight, 100-yard receiving games overall. The last to do it was former Blazer tight end Joe Don Duncan, who achieved the feat twice in 2011 (five-straight) and 2013 (four-straight) during his All-American career.
            Hobert announced his presence with authority in his Blazer debut at Sacramento State (9/3), against which he caught 11 balls for 183 yards and a touchdown. His 183 yards were the eighth-most in a single game in the program's NCAA era, while his 11 catches were tied for sixth-most. 
            He followed that up with six receptions for 161 yards (#10 on UT's single game list) and two TDs in the Chadron State home win (9/10), both of which came in the second half on receptions of 38 and 50 yards. He then went for 10 receptions for 123 yards and a score at Weber State (9/17), and caught six passes for 105 yards and a TD at SUU (9/24). 
            Hobert heads into Saturday's game vs. Sam Houston as the WAC leader and second-overall in the FCS in receiving yards per game (118.3), and is fourth-nationally in receiving yards (710).
            Meanwhile he is sixth nationally in receptions/game (7.5 rpg), t-8th in receptions (38), t-13th in TDs (5), and 17th in all-purpose yards (124.2 ypg), all of which (except TDs/all-purpose yards - 2nd in the WAC) are good for the WAC lead in each stat category.
 
TD STREAKS: Hobert also became just the second player in UT's NCAA era to catch at least one touchdown pass in the first four games of a season, and was the fourth player in program history to have a streak of four or more games with at least TD catch.
            Joe Don Duncan holds the record for the longest streak to open a season as he caught 10 of his single-season record 13 touchdowns over his first six games in 2013. Duncan also had a five-game TD streak during second half of the 2011 season.
            Former WR Kyser Christensen was the first to achieve the feat with a four-game streak in 2010, while former WR Mitch Frei caught a TD pass in five-straight games in 2012.   
  • Kobe Tracy's 388-yard night vs. Chadron State (9/10) was his fourth-career 300-plus passing game, which moved him into a tie for second place (Griff Robles 2012-13) on UT's career list. 
•  Tracy's two TD tosses at Southern Utah (9/24) was his sixth multi-TD game of his career, while is three TD passes vs. Chadron State (9/10) tied his career high (3 vs. Fort Lewis; 11/13/21).
•  Tracy also extended his streak with at least on TD pass to nine-straight games with his first scoring toss at SUU, though he unfortunately saw that streak come to an end at UNI last Saturday. 
• Utah Tech's 506 yards passing at Sacramento State (9/3) was the highest total since the program began its NCAA FCS transition in 2020-21, and is the third-highest single-game total in the program's four-year era.
• Meanwhile, the 579 total yards gained at Sac State were the program's most during its FCS transition.
• - UT's offense went "Big Play" at Sac State, completing eight passes of at least 25 yards, highlighted by a Victor Gabalis-to-David Fisher 72-yard strike in the first quarter ... four of those eight connections were north of 45 yard, including a pair of 46-yard pitch-and-catches, and a 47-yarder. 
• Meanwhile, UT's 579 total yards at Sac State were the most yards gained in a season opener since the Blazers went for 640 yards on the road at Colorado Mesa (9/6/14). 
• In addition, the 579 yards gained at Sac State are the third most in Paul Peterson's tenure as head coach (677 vs. Black Hills State - 10/5/19; 591 vs. Colorado Mesa - 11/2/19), while the 561 yards vs. Chadron are the fourth-most.
• The two 500-plus yard games at both Sac Stat and vs. Chadron marked the first time in the program's NCAA era that the Trailblazers gained more than 500 yards in back-to-back games to start a season.
• In all, it was the sixth time overall that UT/DSU posted consecutive 500-plus yard games, and the second instance in the Paul Peterson era (2019) ... Utah Tech also did it twice in both 2013 and 2018.
• Sophomore RB Quali Conley rushed for a career-high 151 yards and a touchdown in UT's loss to ACU on Oct. 1, and in the process, became just the seventh different running back in the program's NCAA era to post back-to-back 100-yard games (112 at SUU; 9/24).
• Conley also became the ninth rusher in the program's NCAA era to reach the 1,000-yard plateau and has moved into eighth on UT's career rushing list (1,132).
• Conley earned WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this past Sept. 12, after he rushed for a career high three touchdowns and a then-career high 139 yards in the win over Chadron State (9/10). 
•  The sophomore carried the ball a season-high 21 times en route to his first collegiate 100-yard rushing game, while his three TDs, coupled with his scoring run vs. ACU on Oct. 1, vaulted him into sixth place (10 TDs) on UT's career rushing TD list. 
• Conley rebounded from a then-season low 10 yards rushing at Weber State (9/17) with a game-high 112 yards on 14 carries at SUU (9/24).
• Conley's back-to-back 100-yard rushing games came just over four years since the last Blazer RB achieved the feat, that being former back Sei-J Lauago, who went for 168 yards (9/15) and 144 yards (9/22) in consecutive home wins over NM Highlands and South Dakota Mines, respectively, during the 2018 season. 
• Conley, who is averaging 6.8 ypc over his last three games, enters the weekend second in the WAC in rushing (78.1 ypg), while he is second in the conference in total rushing yards (469) and rushing TDs (5).
• Conley currently stands eighth (1,132 yards) on UT's career rushing list, and needs 114 yards to move into sixth place in career yards.  
• Conley recorded his seventh career game with a TD run in the ACU (10/1) loss.
• Conley became the eighth different running back, and the 15th different player, in UT's NCAA era to score at least three touchdowns in one game ... former Trailblazer RB Drew Kannely-Robles broke both single game TD records with four rushing touchdowns in last year's home win vs. Fort Lewis (11/13/21).
• Conley also has three career TD receptions to go with his 10 scoring runs, and his 13 combined TDs moved him into a tie for 10th place (Skyler Ence, 10 TDs; 2006-09) on that career list. 
• Freshman RB Jeter Fenton made the most of his first collegiate carry late in the fourth quarter vs. ACU (10/1) as rambled 31 yards on 4th-and-1 ... Fenton's carry is Utah Tech's longest run from scrimmage to this point of the season. 
• Sophomore defensive back Kyle Floyd also made his offensive debut in the Blazer backfield vs. ACU as he carried the ball four times for two net yards ... Floyd followed that up with a team-high 14 yards on the ground and career-high eight tackles at UNI last Saturday.
• For the second time this season, and just the second time in the last 20 games overall, UT had a 100-yard rusher (Conley) and a 100-yard receiver (Hobert) in the same game, as the pair achieved the feat at SUU on Sept. 24.
• The dynamic duo first did it in UT's win vs. Chadron State (9/10), which was the first occurrence since the 2019 campaign, when RB Sei-J Lauago (185 yd) and WR Jalen Powell (127) did it vs. Colorado Mesa (11/2/19).
•  UT also snapped a 28-game stretch between having a 300-yard passer (Tracy) and a 100-yard rusher (Conley) in the Chadron win ... the last time that happened came all the way back to the 2018 season when Michael Sanders also threw for 388 yards, and Lauago rushed for 103 yards at Adams State (11/10/18). 
• While Hobert was doing his thing at Sac State (9/3), fifth-year WR Deven Osborne caught six balls for 113 yards and a TD, which was his third career 100-yard receiving game.
• Osborne notched a pair of 100-plus yard games during the 2021 Spring season, highlighted a 147-yard effort with a pair of TDs vs. Fort Lewis (3/27/21) ... he also hauled in a career-best nine balls for 127 yards and a score at Kennesaw State (3/20/21). 
• Hobert and Osborne's combined effort at Sac State marked the first time since the 2019 season that Utah Tech had two 100-yard receivers in one game (Kasey Allison – 126/Chase Hess – 107, vs. Black Hills State; 10/5/19).
• In fact, Utah Tech's receiving corps just missed making history at Sac State as sophomore WR David Fisher tallied 96 yards on three catches, including the 72-yard first quarter connection with Gabalis.
• Utah Tech has never had three receivers go for 100 or more yards in a single game in the program's NCAA era, with the Sac State game marking the closest UT has come to achieving that feat.  
• Utah Tech has only had two 100-yard receivers in one game just 11 times in 173 NCAA-era games. 
•  Six different receivers have caught TD passes through five games this season ... along with Hobert and Osborne, junior wideout Rickie Johnson added his name to the list with his first of the year at SUU (9/24), and the fourth TD of his career last Saturday at UNI ... junior Michael Moten also notched his third career TD in the Sac State opener, while fellow junior Malcolm Ross-Turnermade his second-career TD reception in the third quarter vs. Chadron (9/10) ... Fisher then added his name to the list with his first of the year which got UT on the board at Weber State (9/17).
• Unfortunately all the news is not all good in the Blazers' receiving corps as junior WR Keith Davis suffered a season-ending injury during practice ahead of the Sac State game.
•  While Utah Tech has had 75 instances where a player gained 100 or more yards receiving in its NCAA era, Hobert (161 yards) became the first player to finish a game with a yardage total in the 160s ... that said, UT is still waiting for the first receiver to finish in the 190s. 
•  Hobert has only played in six games and he is already t-fifth on UT's career 100-yard receiving list ... meanwhile his 26.8 ypc average vs. Chadron State on Sept. 10, tied him for eighth on the program's single game list.
• While the UT offense was doing its thing in the second half vs. Chadron, the Blazer defense was the story, forcing five second half Eagle turnovers, including four INTs, and held Chadron to just 288 total yards, including only 129 on the ground on the night.
• UT's defense also held Chadron State without a touchdown pass in the win, which marked the 32nd time in 174 NCAA-era games the defense had achieved that feat.
• Utah Tech scored seven touchdowns in the second half vs. Chadron, two of which came on the defensive side thanks to a pair of pick-6s by senior linebacker Kaejin Smith-Bejgrowicz and sophomore safety Tyrell Grayson.
• Smith-Bejgrowicz kick-started Utah Tech's dominant second half with his third career interception, which he returned 32 yards to pay dirt for his first career touchdown just 1:22 in the third quarter.
• Grayson followed suit in the fourth with his third career pick, which he returned 51 yards for his first collegiate TD.  
• The two defensive scores marked the second time the program's NCAA era that Utah Tech's defense achieved that feat. In 2019, the Trailblazers housed two interceptions in a big 55-0 home win over New Mexico Highlands (Aaron Simpson/Augustus Fraser; 9/21/19).
• Grayson's TD was one of three scores Utah Tech recorded in a span of 1:42 to begin the fourth quarter ... Tracy and Hobert hooked up for a 38-yard TD on the first play of the period (14:52) ... Grayson followed with his TD just 33 seconds later (14:19), before another Chadron INT set up a Tracy-to-Hobert 50-yard catch and run on 3rd-and-10 at the 13:18 mark.  
• Senior DBs Darrius Nash and Steven Ashby accounted for the other two interceptions for the Blazers defense, while freshman DB Jonah Henry collected his first collegiate fumble recovery, forced by sophomore DL Laytan Tanuvasa, as Utah Tech scored touchdowns on all five Chadron miscues on the night.  
• Grayson led the Blazer defense with 11 total tackles (7 solo) at Weber State (9/17) ... he opened the year with 10 solo tackles at Sac State (9/3), which was his third double-digit solo stop game in his two-plus standout seasons in the Blazer defensive backfield.
• Grayson also had 12 solo tackles (13 total) in last year's home match-up against the Hornets (9/4/21), and posted a career-high 15 solo stops at UC Davis (9/18/21) in a game where he tied the program's NCAA-era record for total tackles with 19.
• Grayson enters the weekend fourth in the WAC in total tackles (50) and is t-second in the conference in solo stops (30- T-33rd in FCS). 
• Grayson led all of FCS, albeit unofficially, in solo tackles with 79 and led the WAC with 103 total tackles last season on his way to freshman All-America honors. 
• Sophomore DL Syrus Webster collected a career-high 2.5 TFLs, including his fourth career sack, vs. ACU back on Oct. 1 ... Webster had UT's lone sack through the Blazers' first four games, which came on a third quarter strip-sack in the season opener at Sacramento State (9/3).
• Webster finished with five tackles (3 solo) at Weber State ... he also racked up six tackles (5 solo) and two TFLs at Sac State (9/3) ... the sophomore now has 4.0 sacks and 10.5 TFLs in 15 career games.
• Senior DL Dylan Hendrickson accounted for UT's second sack vs. ACU (10/1), which came on the Wildcats' first possession of the second half.
• Hendrickson's sack, the 12th of his career, moved him into a tie for second place on UT's career sack list and leaves him two full sacks shy of becoming the program's all-time sack leader (Chad Frank - 13.5 sack; 2007-08) ... in addition, his sack moved him into t-10th on UT's career TFL list (17.5).  
• Senior LB Malaki Malaki collected a season-high nine tackles at UNI last Saturday, and in the process, moved to within 11 total stops of becoming Utah Tech's career tackles leader (265) ... former UT defensive standout Chad Frank (2007-08) tallied 275 total tackles over his two seasons at UT. 
• Senior DL Bradley Brown tallied a career-high eight tackles at UNI last Saturday, while Nash record the Blazers' lone sack, which was his 5.5 sack of his career, leaving him one sack shy of cracking into UT's career sacks list. 
• Junior DL Sam Kanongata'a made a little history as he recorded the first blocked field goal in UT's FCS era just before halftime vs. ACU (10/1) ... prior to Kanongata'a's block, the Trailblazers had gone 22 games since they blocked a field goal, which was done by former UT lineman Tyler Heaton at home vs. Colorado Mesa (11/2/2019). 
• Utah Tech tied a school record with eight total touchdowns in the Chadron win (9/10) ... sophomore PK Connor Brooksby also tied his own school PAT record, which he shares with former kicker Jameson Schultz (8 PATs at Simon Fraser 2011). 
• Brooksby went 8-for-8 in PAT tries in the game, which matched his first 8-for-8 effort that came last season vs. Fort Lewis (11/13/2021) ... Brooksby is now a perfect 37-of-37 in PATs after he hit on both attempts last Saturday at UNI, which moved him into sixth on UT's career PAT list. 
• Brooksby also vaulted into a tie for second on UT's career FG list after he hit his first attempt in the first quarter vs. ACU (10/1) ... the sophomore is now 14-for-24 (.583) in FG tries overall. 
• Utah Tech's 56 points scored vs. Chadron State tied for third on the program's single game points list, while the 46-point margin of victory was also the third-highest in UT's NCAA era. 
• Sophomore punter Andrew Day averaged 44.2 yards on five punts vs. ACU back on Oct. 1 ... that effort came on the heels of him averaging 49.0 yards on four punts at SUU (9/24), highlighted by a 57-yard kick in the first quarter ... Day punted a career-high 10 times at Weber State (9/17), including a season-best 59 yarder, and he had seven punts for 305 yards (43.6 ypp) inside UNI's UNI-Dome last Saturday, including a 58-yard boot. 
 
#AB3FOREVER: Senior linebacker Malaki Malaki has once again been awarded the No. 3 jersey for the 2022 season. The senior captain is the second Trailblazer player to wear the coveted number since the 2021 spring season. 
            The awarding of the No. 3 jersey has become an annual tradition honoring the memory of former Trailblazer football player Abraham Reinhardt, who passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2019. Head Football Coach Paul Peterson noted that the No. 3 jersey would be awarded to a student-athlete who best exemplified Reinhardt's leadership, both on and off the field. 
            "When we lost a great young man in Abraham [in 2019], we wanted to honor him and his legacy the best we possibly could," Coach Peterson said. "Abe was a perfect representative of our team culture which focuses on toughness, hard work, trust and accountability.
            "Malaki exemplifies everything that we are trying to build here at Utah Tech. He is tough, works tremendously hard, is a great student and leader. Malaki will continue to wear AB3's jersey this season in honor of his legacy."
 
ABOUT THE SAM HOUSTON "BEARKATS": Sam Houston travels to St. George riding a three-game winning streak after opening the year 0-2. The Bearkats got in the win column with a 27-17 win over Texas A&M-Commerce (9/17), which was followed by a thrilling 17-16 victory vs. Stephen F. Austin (10/1) in the "Battle of the Piney Woods" played at NRG Stadium in Houston back on Oct. 1. Then last Saturday, SHSU picked up a 25-17 road upset at No. 23 Eastern Kentucky. 
            Redshirt freshman RB Zach Hrbacek is coming off his second 100-yard game of the year at EKU last Saturday, against which he rumbled for 111 yards on 17 carries. Meanwhile, junior QB Keegan Shoemaker threw for 127 13-of-31 passing and a TD in the Bearkats' win last weekend.
            SHSU is averaging 14.4 ppg and 395.8 ypg of total offense, while allowing 18.2 ppg and only 283.4 ypg on defense through five games this season.  
            
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will make its penultimate road trip of the 2022 season with a trip to Nacogdoches, Texas, for a date at No. 20 Stephen F. Austin. Kick-off inside Homer Bryce Stadium is set for 1 p.m. (MT).