Utah Tech football could not rebound from a big Lumberjack second quarter as the Trailblazers dropped a 45-17 home decision to visiting Northern Arizona on Saturday night at Greater Zion Stadium.

Both teams traded field goals to open the scoring, with NAU (2-1) drawing first blood with a 24-yard Marcus Lye boot on the 'Jacks first possession.

Utah Tech (0-3/0-0 WAC) managed to draw even with an Ilya Uvaydov 48-yarder with 2:31 to play in the first quarter. The made field goal was the redshirt sophomore's first of his collegiate career.

From there, however, it was all Lumberjacks as they scored 28-unanswered points to take a 31-3 lead into the halftime intermission. NAU answered the Blazers' field goal with a 31-yard pass from Ty Pennington to Isaiah Eastman on the last play of the opening stanza.
 
Northern Arizona then scored touchdowns on three-straight second quarter possessions, two of which came after two Utah Tech three-and-outs, and the third followed the Trailblazers' lone turnover of the game.

The Lumberjacks led 45-3 after three quarters, though Utah Tech managed to get two of those touchdowns back in the fourth. Sophomore running back Nygel Osborne notched his first TD of the year with a 4-yard rush around the left side with 9:39 remaining.

Then on the Blazers' final possession, redshirt freshman quarterback Reggie Graff recorded his first collegiate touchdown pass when he found a sliding Tru Tanner in the back of the end zone from 23 yards out with 41 seconds left. 
 
Utah Tech was finished with 91 yards of offense on the night on 72 plays, including a season-high 116 yards rushing. Graff finished with an even 100 yards on 9-of-17 passing and his touchdown, and led the Trailblazers with 54 yards on 14 carries.

Meanwhile, both Osborne and Chris Street rushed for season highs of 39 yards, while Street tallied 62 all-purpose yards with 23 yards on three receptions. 

On defense, linebacker Spencer Rich racked up a game-high eight tackles, while defensive back Quincy Lejay posted a career-best with seven stops with a 0.5 TFL. In addition, defensive back Micah Gardner collected six total tackles (four solo), and defensive lineman Uili Angilau recorded his first sack of the season, and the Blazers lone sack on the night, in the fourth quarter.

NAU tallied 560 yards of total offense, with 339 yards coming on the ground. Pennington wound up with 123 yards on 8-of-14 passing and two touchdowns tosses, while Darvon Hubbard rushed for 130 yards and a score.
 
Utah Tech wraps up its 2024 non-conference slate next Saturday night when the Trailblazers head to NorCal to face current No. 12/15 UC Davis. Kick-off inside UC Davis Health Stadium is set for 8 p.m. (MT).