4-3 , 0-1
Southern Utah
3-4 , 2-0
No. 13 Cal Poly Upset by Southern Utah, 20-7
10/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
CEDAR CITY, Utah – After scoring 90 points in its last two games against Football Championship Subdivision opponents, Cal Poly was nearly shut out for the first time in 12 years Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore quarterback Brad Sorensen passed for 253 yards and one touchdown as Southern Utah snapped a nine-game losing streak against the No. 13-ranked Mustangs with a 20-7 Great West Conference victory at Eccles Coliseum.
Sorensen completed 18 of 22 passes, including an 11-yard scoring pass to senior Tysson Poots in the second quarter, for the Thunderbirds (3-4, 2-0 Great West).
Cal Poly (4-3, 0-1 Great West), blanked on the scoreboard in the first half for the first time in four years, averted a shutout with 3:50 to play on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Andre Broadous to Mark Rodgers.
Nevada posted a 63-0 victory over the Mustangs in 1998, the last time Cal Poly has been shut out.
Deckar Alexander ran seven yards for the first Southern Utah touchdown late in the first quarter. Poots' 11-yard scoring pass made it 14-0 midway through the second period.
Southern Utah added a pair of field goals by Brock Miller, both spanning 20 yards, midway through each quarter of the second half.
Cal Poly squandered several other scoring opportunities.
Senior Jake West missed field goal attempts spanning 40 and 47 yards in the first half. Cal Poly also drove to the Southern Utah 2-yard line late in the third quarter but Broadous bobbled the snap on fourth down and didn't gain any yards on the play. In addition, Broadous fumbled the ball away at the Thunderbird 23-yard line early in the final period.
Cal Poly also drove to the Southern Utah 19 in the final minute of the game, but Broadous was sacked on fourth down.
Broadous completed 19 of 31 passes for 201 yards and one score. He also was Cal Poly's top rusher with 65 yards on 21 carries while Rodgers added 64 yards on 13 trips.
Dominique Johnson caught eight passes for 97 yards while Rodgers had five receptions and David Mahr four.
Cornerback Bijon Samoodi led the Mustangs defensively with eight tackles and Asa Jackson, also a cornerback, notched seven. Cal Poly did not forced any turnovers, but recorded three sacks and six tackles for lost yardage.
Poots finished with nine catches for 132 yards for Southern Utah, giving the senior 43 catches and six touchdowns in four seasons against Cal Poly. Fesi Sitake added four catches Saturday.
Austin Minefee rushed for 51 yards on 13 carries and Alexander added 38 yards on six trips.
Though Cal Poly lost, the Mustangs had the advantage in first downs, 21-15, total yards, 376-346, and in time of possession, 33:43 to 26:17. Cal Poly was 11 of 21 on third-down conversions.
The Mustangs called 81 plays to 54 for Southern Utah, but the Thunderbirds averaged 6.4 yards per play.
The win was Southern Utah's first against Cal Poly since 2000, a 42-13 Thunderbird victory in Cedar City.
Next Saturday, Cal Poly will play its first home game since Sept. 11, hosting North Dakota for a Great West Conference game at 6:05 p.m. in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
North Dakota (2-4, 0-2 Great West) had a bye Saturday.
Team Stats
CP 0, SUU 7
SUU - ALEXANDER, Deck 7 yd run (MILLER, Brock kick), 9 plays, 77 yards, TOP 4:21
CP 0, SUU 14
SUU - POOTS, Tysson 11 yd pass from SORENSEN, Brad (MILLER, Brock kick) 4 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:24
CP 0, SUU 17
SUU - MILLER, Brock 20 yd field goal 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 5:00
CP 0, SUU 20
SUU - MILLER, Brock 20 yd field goal 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 5:12
CP 7, SUU 20
CP - Mark Rodgers 29 yd pass from Andre Broadous (Jake West kick) 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:51
