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FOR STARTERS: • After beginning the second half of its 2023 season with a bye week, Utah Tech returns to action this Saturday night with its first United Athletic Conference road game at North Alabama. 
• Saturday night's game will be the first-ever meeting between the Trailblazers and Lions on the gridiron. 
• Saturday night's game will mark Utah Tech's first trip to the state of Alabama, and is just the third time in the program's NCAA era that the Trailblazers will be playing a game east of the Mississippi River. UT will also be looking for its first-ever win east of the "Mighty Mississipp, the Old Miss, the Old Man." 
• In the 2021 spring season, Utah Tech traveled to Georgia to play at Kennesaw State, where the Blazers dropped a hard-fought 37-27 road decision to the then-No. 9 ranked Owls (3/20/21). Then in the 2021 fall campaign, UT went even further east to Newark, Del., where the Trailblazers fell in another close game at Delaware, 17-10 (10/30/21). 
• Utah Tech went into its bye week on a victorious note as the Trailblazers made their UAC debut a successful one with a 37-31 home win over Stephen F. Austin back on Oct. 7.  
• Utah Tech moved to 4-11 all-time in conference openers, 1-2 during its brief FCS era, with all four of those wins coming at home.  
• Utah Tech is 4-3 all-time in its NCAA era when coming off a bye, though the Trailblazers have lost both games following a bye during their current D-I FCS transition. 
• Last week marked just the fourth bye week the Trailblazers have enjoyed since the 2010 season.  
  
UTAH TECH ON THE AIR: All Utah Tech home and away games this season are broadcast live on The Fan Sports Network (99.5/95.3 FM in St. George; 93.1 FM/1400 AM in Cedar City; www.thefansportsnetwork.com).
            The "Voice of the Trailblazers" Rod Zundel is in his second season calling the play-by-play action. 
            Utah Tech has also debuted a new 60-minute comprehensive pregame show, and 30-minute post-game show, both of which will air live on the The Fan Sports Network and streamed live on YouTube on the newly created Trailblazer SportsVision (youtube.com/TrailblazerAthletics).
            Along with complete Game Day radio coverage, Zundel hosts the weekly "The Paul Peterson Coaches Show" every Tuesday night on The Fan Sports Network and streamed on Trailblazer Sports
Vision at 6 p.m.
            Joining Zundel in the broadcast booth this season is former Trailblazer wide receiver Deven Osborne, who will provide color analysis for all home game and select road games. 
 
NEW CONFERENCE FOR 2023: Utah Tech began the 2023 season in a new football only league as the established football-only partnership between both the Western Athletic and ASUN conference was rebranded into the new United Athletic Conference. 
            The newly christened UAC currently has nine participating institutions: Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton and Utah Tech. In addition, the conference will officially add UTRGV in the fall of 2025 when it begins sponsorship of football.
            The 2023 UAC schedule will be limited to six conference games among its nine members, while the 2024 schedule will feature a full eight-game single round robin. 
 
THREE BLAZERS EARN PRESEASON ALL-UAC HONORS: Utah Tech had three players voted onto the UAC's debut preseason all-conference team. 
            Junior DL Syrus Webster was tabbed as the preseason UAC Defensive Player of the Year, while he and junior LB Will Leota were voted to the All-UAC Defensive Team.
            Meanwhile, senior WR Rickie Johnson was the lone Blazer listed on the All-UAC Offensive Team. 
  
TWO BLAZERS LAND ON 2023 AWARD WATCH LISTS: In addition to his UAC preseason honor, Webster has been named to the 2023 Buck Buchanan Award preseason watch list. The junior defensive standout was also named to both the 2023 Phil Steele and Blue Bloods All-United Athletic Conference preseason first teams.
            Meanwhile, freshman WR Beau Sparks was just named to the 2023 Jerry Rice FCS National Freshman of the Year Award watch list this past Wednesday.
            Sparks is one of three UAC representatives on the 22-player watch list, along with SUU freshman WR Zach Mitchell and SFA CB Aaron Sears. 

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Not to be outdone, fifth-year RB Ronnie Walker Jr. and redshirt junior WR Keith Davis were both named to the 2023 Comeback of the Year watch list last week. 
            The updated watch list, which features 49 college football student-athletes from 42 different schools, is sponsored by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA), in association with The Associated Press and the Fiesta Bowl Organization. 
            Utah Tech is one of seven schools to have multiple selections make the updated list, and is one of only five NCAA Division-I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) schools represented on the list.
 
FILLING UP THE STAT SHEET: Senior LB Dondi Fuller was named UAC Defensive Player of the Week (10/9) after he racked up a career-high 13 total tackles, including 11 solos stops, along with 1.0 TFL, in Utah Tech's win over SFA (10/7).
            Fuller, who is fourth in the UAC in total tackles (52), has collected at least five tackles in all six games this season, including six stops at Colorado State (9/30), and eight more with a 0.5 TFL at NAU (9/16).
            That effort came on the heels of a then-career high 11 tackles vs. Montana (9/9). Fuller enjoyed a strong Trailblazer debut as he led the UT defense with nine total tackles, including seven solo stops, and a team-high 2.0 TFLs at Montana State (9/2).
 
O CAPTAINS! MY CAPTAINS!: Utah Tech will take the field in 2023 with four team captains leading the charge. As selected by their teammates, this season's captains are senior offensive lineman Kana'i Eldredge, along with Johnson, Leota and Webster. 
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Through its first three seasons of FCS play, Utah Tech has traveled more than 28,300 round-trip miles on 14 different road trips. 
            In their first FCS season in Spring 2021, the Trailblazers covered 7,630 miles for three road dates, then followed that up by traversing nearly 13,300 for five road games during the 2021 Fall campaign.
            Last season Utah Tech traveled just 7,424 miles, thanks in large part to playing three in-state road games at Weber State, Southern Utah and BYU.
            This season, the Blazers are slated to eclipse that 2021 Fall mileage mark as they are scheduled to travel just over 15,000 round-trip miles for seven road games, including the program's first-ever trips to the states of Missouri (at Missouri State 9/23), Alabama (at North Alabama this Saturday night) and Tennessee (at Austin Peay 11/11). 
            Utah Tech has already played games in Montana and in neighboring Arizona and Colorado. The Blazers will also jump on the bird for their now annual trip to Texas in November (at Abilene Christian 11/4).
            Of note, Utah Tech's longest trip to play a football game came during the 2021 Fall season, when the Trailblazers traveled 4,697 miles round trip to play at Delaware (10/30/21). 
 
BLAZING TRAILS
• RS-junior QB Kobe Tracy inched closer to becoming UT's career passing leader after he threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns in the Blazers' home win over SFA (10/7).
• Tracy (4,348 yds), who became the second Trailblazer in the program's NCAA to surpass 4,000 career passing yards last month at Colorado State (9/30), currently stands 749 yards shy of passing former QB Griff Robles (5,096 yds; 2012-13) for first place on UT's career list.
• Tracy has thrown at least one touchdown pass in five of his six games this season with four multi-touchdown games, including his third career three-TD outing in the SFA win.
• Tracy tossed those three touchdowns to three different receivers in the SFA win, and in the process, vaulted into second place on UT's career TD passes list with 29. 
• Tracy, who also threw for a pair of touchdowns against Montana (9/9), Northern Arizona (9/16) and Colorado State (9/30), has 10 career multi-touchdown games to his credit overall. 
• The lone game that Tracy did not throw a touchdown pass this season was at Missouri State (9/23), though he did collect his second-career rushing touchdown on a 1-yard QB sneak in the second quarter ... coincidentally, Tracy's first rushing TD also came against Missouri State, that one a 4-yard scamper, at home in the 2021 fall season finale (11/20/21).
• Tracy notched his fifth-career 300-yard passing game at NAU (9/16), where he threw for a season-high 318 yards in the win.
• In addition, Tracy is currently second all-time in career completions (351) and career total offense (4,301 yds). 
• Johnson posted a season-high 148 yards on six receptions with a touchdown in the SFA win. 
• That effort elevated the senior to fourth 
on UT's career receiving yards (1,675) and t-seventh in career TD receptions (11).
• Johnson (118 rec.) also needs just nine more catches to vault from sixth to third on the program's career receptions list. 
• Sparks continued his hot start vs. SFA (10/7) with a career-high nine catches for 68 yards and his team-leading fourth TD. 
• The freshman had posted his first collegiate two-touchdown game a week earlier at Colorado State (9/30), against which he tied a then-career high with seven receptions for 67 yards. 
• Sparks quickly made a name for himself in the season opener at Montana State (9/2), against which he set a Utah Tech freshman record with 144 receiving yards on seven catches, highlighted by hauling in a 66-yarder for his first collegiate reception.
• Sparks also became the first freshman to record a 100-yard receiving game in his collegiate debut, and is just the fourth freshman in Utah Tech's NCAA era to post a 100-yard receiving game overall.
• Former Blazer wideout Isaiah Wooden (116 yds vs. Colorado School of Mines) was the last freshman to do it in 2018. Skyler Ence (101 vs. Colorado Mesa) was the first UT freshman receiver in the program's first NCAA D-II season in 2006, while Dejuan Dantzler (106 vs. New Mexico Highlands) added his name to the elite list in 2016.
• Sparks' 144 receiving yards were also the fourth-most in a season opener in program history, and he became the ninth receiver to go for 100-plus receiving yards in a season opener overall. 
• Sparks' 144 receiving yards are also tied for the 22nd-most on Utah Tech's single game list. The freshman joined former UT All-American Joey Hobert (144 yds vs. Southern Utah, 2022) and Nash Fowler in that three-way tie.
• In fact, Fowler was the first to post that number, which he did on eight receptions with a touchdown in a road game at, coincidentally, Montana State during the 2009 season (9/12/09).
• Sparks earned UAC Freshman of the Week honors on Sept. 18, after he hauled in seven passes for 87 yards at NAU (9/16). 
• The freshman, who has caught at least four passes in all six games this season, currently leads the UAC in receptions/game (6.50 rpg), and is t-second in the conference in total receptions (39), fourth in the conference in yards (471), and t-sixth in TD receptions (4). 
• RS-Junior WR Keith Davis managed to find the end zone for the first time since returning from injury in the SFA win, and it could not have come at a better time as he scored the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
• Davis, who caught both of his targets for 32 yards, hauled in a Tracy pass at the SFA 15, cut back inside and then won the race to the pylon to put the Blazers up for good.
• Davis also caught both of his two targets two weeks earlier at Missouri State (9/23) for a team and season-high 61 yards, highlighted by a 43-yard grab in the first quarter to set up the Blazers' first touchdown of the day. 
• Davis enjoyed a career night in his first game against Missouri State (11/20/21) in the 2021 fall finale, as he recorded career highs in receptions (7) and yards (146) against the Bears. 
• Davis, who missed the entire 2022 season due to injury, has recorded at least one reception in 15 of his 17 career games as a Trailblazer, including all 11 games during the 2021 fall season. 
• Senior WR Jaivian Lofton recorded his second TD reception of the year after he hooked up with Tracy for a 17-yard score in the second quarter at NAU (9/16). 
• Lofton made the most of his home debut vs. Montana (9/9), against which he caught five passes for 108 yards, highlighted by a 50-yard reception in the third quarter, and a 23-yard touchdown grab in the fourth.
• Lofton, who transferred to Utah Tech after playing three seasons at FBS member Liberty University, where he recorded 10 receptions for 102 and two touchdowns in 10 games for the Flames in 2022. 
• Utah Tech posted season-highs in rushing yards (172) and attempts (35) two weeks ago in the win over SFA.  
• Fifth-year RB Ronnie Walker Jr., who rushed for a season-high 83 yards on 20 carries a week earlier at CSU (9/30), ran the ball 16 times for 75 yards against the Lumberjacks. 
• Walker Jr. rushed for his second, and at the time the team's second, touchdown of the 2023 campaign to put Utah Tech on the board at Missouri State (9/23), against which he racked up 38 hard-fought yards on 11 carries ... Walker Jr. also found the end zone to close out the first quarter in the win at NAU (9/16). 
• For Walker Jr., it was his sixth-career rushing touchdown on his third different team ... Walker Jr. recorded two rushing touchdowns as a freshman at Indiana in 2018, and ran for two more during his junior year at Virginia in 2021. 
• Junior RB Chris Street posted his first collegiate two-touchdown game in the SFA win as he found the end zone in both the first and fourth quarters to bookend the Blazers' scoring efforts.
• Street ran for 62 yards on just seven carries, including a team season-long 36 yarder on 3rd and 23 in the fourth quarter, which he chased with an 18-yard sprint to the end zone one play later. 
• Street enjoyed a breakout game at Colorado State (9/30), against which he rushed for 78 yards on just 10 carries (7.8 ypc), highlighted by a 28-yard run that helped lead to the Trailblazers' first points of the game. 
• Street, who tallied a team-high 62 yards at Missouri State (9/23), is averaging 7.5 yards/carry over his last three games overall.
• Not to be outdone, freshman RB Nygel Osborne carried the ball eight times for 66 yards (8.2 ypc) in the SFA win, which marked the first time in the program's D-I FCS transition that Utah Tech had three backs rush for more than 60 yards in one game. 
• After going just over two full seasons without posting a double-digit tackle game, Webster has racked up 10 or more tackles in three of his last five starts overall. 
• The preseason UAC Defensive Player of the Year collected a career-high 12 total tackles (5 solo) vs. Montana (9/9) ... Webster was also credited with a 0.5 TFL and one QBH.
• Webster then doubled-down and tallied 10 more tackles at NAU (9/16), including a then-career high tying 3.0 TFLs and two sacks, highlighted by a fourth-quarter strip sack and fumble recovery that set up UT's final points in the win. 
• Webster tallied 11 more tackles at Colorado State (9/30) and posted a new career-high 3.5 TFLs, including his second strip sack of the year early in the second quarter, which UT turned into points on its very next offensive play.  
• Webster, who leads the UAC in forced fumbles (4) and is second in the UAC in sacks (4.0), continued his "Sack Attack" a week later vs. SFA (10/7) with not one, but two more strip sacks in the fourth quarter and finished with seven total tackles on the night. 
• Webster's (12.5 sacks - third all-time at UT) current stretch has him on the cusp of history as he now needs only 1.5 more sacks to become Utah Tech's career leader ... he (24.0 TFLs - sixth all-time) also needs two more TFLs to vault into fourth place on that career list as well. 
• Junior LB Will Leota recorded a season-high 10 tackles (8 solo) at NAU (9/16) and came up with his third career interception in the third quarter ... Leota is slated to return to the starting lineup at UNA on Saturday after missing the SFA game due to injury. 
• Sophomore LB Jared Fotu, who led the team with a career-high 11 tackles at NAU (9/16), followed that up with six stops at Missouri State (9/23), and 10 more at Colorado State - all of which came in the second half. 
• Utah Tech has registered at least one sack in five-straight games, in 12 of its last 16, and in 25 of 33 games during the program's FCS transition. 
• Senior DL Max Christensen III was credited with his first-career field goal block at Missouri State (9/23) ... the senior's blocked FG came nearly one-year-to-the-day from the last one, which Kanongata'a recorded last season at home vs. Abilene Christian (10/1/22).
• Junior punter Andy Day "had a day" at Missouri State (9/23), against which he punted five times for 222 yards (44.4 ypp), highlighted by a season long 56-yard boot in the first quarter.
• Day also made a potential touchdown-saving tackle after his first punt of the game. 
• Day then closed his afternoon with a 30-yard run on a fake punt in the fourth quarter, which was his first career collegiate rushing attempt ... Day's scamper was the Trailblazers' longest run from scrimmage after five games before Street's 36-yarder vs. SFA (10/7). 
• Day put up another solid effort in the SFA win, punting three times for 136 yards (45.2 ypp), which included a 53-yarder in the first quarter. 
 
TURNING DEFENSE INTO POINTS: Over the past four games, Utah Tech's defense has forced 11 turnovers, highlighted by a season-high five turnovers in its win at NAU on Sept. 16. In fact, 21 of the Trailblazers' 50 points were scored off of those five Lumberjack miscues, including two defensive touchdowns. 
            Three of the NAU's five turnovers came in UT's 27-point second quarter. Senior DL Sam Kanongata'a got the unit's first defensive touchdown of the season he picked off NAU QB Kai Millner and rambled 53 yards to pay dirt for his first career pick-6.
            Then just over three minutes later after a Utah Tech punt pinned the Lumberjacks deep inside their own territory, Millner could not handle a high snap and the ball bounded backwards to the NAU 9, where sophomore DB Amari Duncan scooped up the loose ball and sprinted to the end zone for his first collegiate TD.
            On NAU's very next offensive play, backup QB Adam Damante came on and fired a strike to Blazer freshman DB Gabriel Valenzuela, and the freshman's first collegiate interception helped set up the first of two Connor Brooksby field goals in the period.
            Utah Tech's two scores on defense marked the fourth time in program history that the Blazers had scored at least two defensive touchdowns in a game.
            UT last achieved that feat in 2022 with a pair of pick-6s at home vs. Chadron State (56-10; 9/10/22), and returned two more interceptions for touchdowns in a road win at Adams State (52-10; 11/10/18) during the 2018 season. 
            Utah Tech also returned two interceptions and a fumble for touchdowns in a road victory at New Mexico Highlands (W, 55-0; 9/21/19) in Paul Peterson's first year as UT head coach, and was the program's final D-II year in 2019. 
            In addition, the three Trailblazer interceptions defensively at NAU also tied for the eighth-most in the program's NCAA era, and tied for the most interceptions recorded in UT's NCAA Division I FCS transition.
 
KICKIN' IT AT THE TOP: Brooksby has had quite the start to his 2023 season as he has etched his name atop three more career records lists. 
            The junior placekicker, who is already UT's career leader in field goals made (34-of-47), became the program's career leader in PATs (currently 71-of-73) with the second of his two PATs midway through the fourth quarter at Montana State (9/2). 
            He followed that up by becoming the program's career leader in points scored (173 pts) with the first of his single game school record five field goals in the road win at Northern Arizona on Sept. 16. 
            Brooksby's career day at NAU broke the tie he had with former All-American tight end Joe Don Duncan(136 pts - 22 TDs/2 2-pt conversions; 2011-13) atop the points list. 
            Brooksby went on to hit field goals of 22, 48, 34, 40 and 48 yards, and nailed all five PAT chances at NAU, en route to a 20-point day and to Stats Perform FedEx Ground FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week honors (9/18). 
            In addition, Brooksby is UT's current record holder in season field goals made (14-of-17, 2022), and owns the school record for the longest made FG, a 55-yarder he nailed last season in a home win vs. Southern Utah (11/5/22).
            Brooksby has also hit three 48-yard field goals (t-fifth longest in UT's NCAA era) this season, and drilled a season-long 52-yarder at Colorado State (9/30).
            The junior's 52-yard FG is the second-longest of his career and in UT program history, and is currently the longest FG made by a CSU opponent in the Rams' Canvas Stadium's history. 
 
#AB3FOREVER: Webster was presented with one more honor prior to the start of the 2023 season as he was chosen to wear the No. 3 jersey.
            The awarding of the No. 3 jersey is the third instance in what has become an annual tradition honoring the memory of former Trailblazer football player Abraham Reinhardt, who passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2019. Utah Tech Head Football Coach Paul Peterson noted that the No. 3 jersey would be awarded to a student-athlete who best emulates 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.
            "I am excited to award Syrus Webster the number 3 jersey for the 2023 season," Coach Peterson added. "He exemplifies everything that we are trying to build in our program and especially represents the legacy Abraham Reinhardt left behind. Look for him to lead us and make plays all over the field!"
 
ABOUT THE NORTH ALABAMA "LIONS": UNA enters Saturday night's game looking to not only halt a three-game slide, but also break through in the win column in UAC play.
            The Lions suffered their third-straight loss last Saturday at Abilene Christian in a game that saw the homestanding Wildcats score 17-unanswered points over the final 16-plus minutes of game action in a 30-13 triumph. 
            Sophomore quarterback Noah Walters currently leads the UAC in total offense (1,780 yds/254.29 ypg) and is second in the conference in passing yards (1,601). Walters is also sixth in the league with 12 total touchdowns (11 pass/1 rush).
            In his last home start against Eastern Kentucky (9/30), Walters threw for a season-high 348 yards on 30-of-52 passing and two touchdowns, and rushed for a team-high 56 yards on seven carries. 
            UNA boasts six different receivers with 14 or more receptions, led by redshirt senior WR Takairee Kenebrew, who has hauled in 26 passes for UAC-best 472 yards and six touchdowns.
            Meanwhile, sophomore RB Demarcus Lacey has carried the ball 103 times for 515 yards and a pair of touchdowns in seven games. 
            On defense, redshirt sophomore DB Edwin Schultz White is the UAC's second-leading tackler (64), while senior DL Philip Ossai leads the Lions' defense with 6.5 TFLs and 2.0 sacks.
            As a team, UNA averages 22.1 points and 423.0 yards (174.4 rush/248.6 pass) over its first seven games, while giving up 28.8 points and 403.3 yards (181.0 rush/229.3 pass) defensively. 
            Brent Deamon (Bethel, 2008) is in his first season at UNA, where he is 2-5 overall, and 12-6 through one-plus seasons as a head coach. 
            
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech is back at Greater Zion Stadium next Saturday as the Trailblazers celebrate Homecoming by hosting current UAC co-leader Eastern Kentucky. Kick-off is slated for 6 p.m. (MT).