Utah Tech University Athletics

Utah Tech was done in by four costly turnovers, all four of which led to 24 Bengal points, as Utah Tech dropped a 34-27 Halloween heartbreaker to visiting No. 23/23 Idaho State on Saturday afternoon at Greater Zion Stadium.
 
The Trailblazers (1-8/1-5 Big Sky) got off to a great start on both sides of the ball, particularly on offense, and they struck for two quick first quarter touchdowns to open up an early 14-0 lead.
 
Junior quarterback Bronson Barben got the Blazers on the scoreboard on the first play from scrimmage when he connected with Mike Williams for a 79-yard touchdown catch-and-run. That scoring play also wound up being Utah Tech's longest play from scrimmage this season.
 
Then after the Bengals punted on their first possession, Barben led Utah Tech on its longest scoring drive of the season, a 92-yard drive over 13 plays, which he culminated with a 6-yard keeper to stake his side with a two-score lead with three minutes to play in opening frame.
 
Idaho State (6-3/3-3 Big Sky) used its defense to claw back into the game, cashing in a pair of second quarter Trailblazer miscues with a touchdown and a field goal to cut the Utah Tech lead to 14-10 with 7:51 to play until halftime.
 
Utah Tech stopped the Bengal run on its next possession with a Max Shepherd 35-yard field goal with under three minutes to go in the period.
 
However the Bengals answered with another field goal in the closing seconds of the stanza as the Blazers went into the intermission clinging to a 17-13 halftime advantage.

Idaho State took its first lead of the game at 20-17 after the Bengals took the second half kick off and marched 80 yards in 11 plays. Bengal signal caller Jordan Cooke capped the drive with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Poe, which was the second scoring connection between the duo on the afternoon.
 
The Blazers stormed right back with a sustained drive of their own as the offense covered 75 yards in 15 plays, and took more than eight minutes off the game clock.
 
And again Barben would end the drive with a touchdown as he found Darnell O'Quinn over the middle from 9-yards out to put Utah Tech back in front at 24-20 with 1:33 to play in the third quarter.
 
Utah Tech would later extend that lead to seven thanks to a Shepherd 31-yard field goal with four-plus minutes gone in the fourth.
 
ISU got the ball back and drove to the UTU 33-yard line, but after a Will Alovao sack on third down, Cooke's pass on 4^th-and-16 fell incomplete and the Bengals turned the ball over on downs.
 
Unfortunately the Trailblazers could not capitalize because on the very next play, Barben was strip-sacked by Bengal defensive lineman Zion To'oto'o at the Blazer 32. To'oto'o then scooped up the fumble and rumbled 32 yards to the end zone, and after the PAT kick the game stood tied at 27-27 with 7:54 to go.
 
The Trailblazer offense got the ball back and methodically drove 52 yards on 13 plays. Facing 4^th-and-1 at the Bengal 18, Utah Tech lined up to go for the first down, but a costly false start penalty negated the chance and forced a go-ahead field goal try with 2:17 to go. 

Shepherd's 41-yard kick had the distance, but the attempt sailed just wide of the right upright and the game remained deadlocked.
 
Utah Tech's defense bowed up and forced a Bengal three-and-out, and after an ISU punt, the Blazers had the ball back at their own 36 with 1:07 remaining.
 
On 2^nd-and-10 following an incompletion, ISU's defense forced its fourth and final turnover of the day, this one a back-breaking 43-yard interception return for a touchdown by Trehsyn Fesili.
 
The Trailblazers had one more chance for a potential game-tying touchdown, but time ran out and the ranked Bengals escaped with the road victory.
 
Utah Tech lost despite outgaining Idaho State by nearly 170 yards, while the Blazer offense had possession of the football for nearly 38 minutes overall.
 
The Trailblazers finished with 424 yards of total offense on the afternoon, with Barben throwing for 260 yards on 23-for-34 passing with two touchdowns.

Utah Tech also gained 164 yards on the ground, with Ace Chatman running for a game-high 52 of those yards on 19 carries, and caught all six of his targets for 31 yards. Meanwhile Junior Curtis rushed nine times for 48 yards. 
 
Defensively, Utah Tech recorded four sacks and seven total tackles for loss, and limited Idaho State to 255 yards overall. 
 
Alovao accounted for three of those four sacks, which were a career high for the senior linebacker, and tied for the second-most sacks by a Utah Tech defender in a single game in the program's NCAA era. 
 
Fellow linebacker, and reigning Big Sky co-Defensive Player of the Week Luke Hansen also collected one TFL and finished with a team-high seven total tackles. 
 
Utah Tech heads back to California next Saturday, Nov. 7, for a Big Sky road match-up at No. 21/20 UC Davis. Kickoff inside UC Davis Health Stadium is set for 5 p.m. (MT).