SUU rally falls short as No. 7 Northern Arizona wins 34-27
Floyd Chalk ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns at Eccles Coliseum.
CEDAR CITY - No. 7 Northern Arizona held off a late Southern Utah rally to win 34-27 on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Eccles Coliseum, according to SUU Athletics. The loss leaves the Thunderbirds 3-6 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky play.
SUU led 10-0 after the first quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Floyd Chalk and a 28-yard Jayden Rogers field goal, then stopped a Northern Arizona fake field goal near the goal line to keep a 10-6 halftime lead.
Northern Arizona scored three third-quarter touchdowns to go up 27-10, including a 41-yard pass from Ty Pennington to Jeter Purdy one play after an interception.
SUU scored 17 fourth-quarter points: an 11-yard touchdown pass from Will Burns to Jack Fairchild, a 25-yard Rogers field goal and, after a fumble forced by Jesse Garza, a 2-yard Chalk run with 2:23 left. A Lumberjacks touchdown in between kept them ahead, and they ran out the clock.
Chalk, a redshirt senior, ran 23 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns, moving into ninth on the program's single-season rushing list with 1,223 yards. Safety Parker Vance had a game-high 11 tackles.
SUU hosts Northern Colorado at 1 p.m. Nov. 7.