Utah Tech rode a stout running game and an even stronger defensive effort on its way to its first victory of the 2025 season, a 20-9 home triumph over Northern Iowa on Saturday night at Greater Zion Stadium.
 
The Trailblazers (1-3/0-0 UAC) racked up 239 yards rushing on the night, its most yards against an FCS opponent and the second most in the program's Division I era (257 vs. Fort Lewis; 11/13/21).

Meanwhile the Utah Tech defense limited Northern Iowa (2-2/0-0 MVFC) to just 47 yards on the ground, which was the lowest single game total by a Blazer opponent in the program's brief FCS era, and the lowest total in nearly 10 full seasons overall (48 – Simon Fraser; 10/10/15). 
 
Down 6-0 with five minutes to play until halftime after a pair of Panther second quarter field goals, the Trailblazers managed to put together their first sustained offense possession of opening half.
 
Redshirt junior quarterback Reggie Graff led Utah Tech on a 17-play, 86-yard drive that culminated with a 5-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Daniel Thomason to give the Blazers a 7-6 lead with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. 
 
Graff rushed for 49 of those yards, including a gutty 20-yard scamper on 3^rd and 20 at the UNI 32 to keep the drive alive. 
 
Utah Tech's defense, which limited the Panthers to only 83 first-half yards, maintained its momentum out of the halftime break and forced UNI to punt just five plays into its opening possession of the second half.  
 
The Trailblazer offense then went back to work, rattling off a 92-yard drive – with 79 of those yards coming via the run game. Bretton Stone got the drive going with runs of six and five yards deep in Utah Tech's end of the field to give his side a bit of breathing room.
 
Then after a 13-yard Panther pass interference call and a 6-yard Graff keeper, freshman running back Asa Chatman took a hand off, weaved through traffic, and raced 66 yards to paydirt to extend the Utah Tech lead to 14-6.
 
For Chatman, it was his second collegiate touchdown and the longest run from scrimmage of his career to date.
 
UNI managed to trim the deficit to 14-9 after Max Bartachek's third field goal of the night, a 23-yard chip shot with 2:27 to play in the third quarter.
 
That would be as close as the Panthers would get at Utah Tech tacked on a pair of fourth-quarter Ilya Uvaydov field goals, including a 28-yarder with 1:47 remaining that made it a two-score game. 
 
That Uvaydov final kick also capped a 15-play, 73-yard drive Blazer drive that took over eight minutes off the clock. 
 
Utah Tech's defense then slammed the door on UNI on its ensuing possession, with freshman linebacker Daylen Love providing the exclamation point with his second collegiate sack on 4^th and 6 at the Blazer 42 with 1:11 left.
 
The Trailblazers ran out the clock from there to clinch their first win of the year and snap a five-game losing streak, which dated back to the last two games of the 2024 season.  
 
Utah Tech finished with 349 yards of total offense, with Graff accounting for 213 of those yards, including a career high 103 yards rushing on 24 carries. 
 
The freshman QB, who also threw for 110 yards on 12-for-22 passing and the one touchdown, became the first Trailblazer in 28 games to record a 100-yard rushing night. Former Utah Tech running back Quali Conley (155 vs. Southern Utah; 11/25/22) was the last Blazer player to do it late in the 2022 season.
 
Meanwhile Chatman just missed his first 100-yard game as he tallied career highs of 97 yards on 12 carries. Stone also enjoyed a solid night as he wound up with season highs of 41 yards on 12 attempts. 
 
Utah Tech's defense held Northern Iowa to only 207 total yards of offense, which was the lowest total by an FCS opponent against the Blazers since the program moved to Division I status in 2020-21. 
 
Panther quarterback Matthew Schecklman went 18-for-31 in the air for 160 yards, though he was sacked four times by the Trailblazer defense.
 
Utah Tech collected 6.0 total tackles for loss on the night overall, with seven different defenders accounted for those stops to highlight a total dominant team defensive effort. 
 
Utah Tech opens its third and final UAC conference season next Saturday with a trip to Clarksville, Tenn., to face current No. 20/18 Austin Peay. Kickoff inside Fortera Stadium is set for 12 noon (MT).