Southern Utah head coach Demario Warren yells at his players during an NCAA college football game Oct. 1, 2016, in Missoula, Mont. The Thunderbirds lost in San Jose State in Saturday’s Week Zero season opener. (Patrick Record, Associated Press)
ON CAMPUS – College football was back on Saturday, including at Beehive State.
Well, something like that.
Southern Utah was part of a limited number of Week Zero games to kick off the 2021 season, complete with fans in the stands and surprising results.
The Thunderbirds were defeated by the defending champions Mountain West San Jose State 45-14 in front of an announced crowd of 16,204 fans at CEFCU Stadium, the largest crowd for a home game since 2011 in San Jose, California.
But they were not without their highlights either.
Southern Utah (0-1) opened their scoring account with a spectacular double reverse and was inspired by the Eagles’ celebrated “Philly Special” for their own “Cedar Special”.
Wide receiver Judd Cockett made the double reverse, and after the senior from Punahou High in Honolulu, Hawaii turned right, he uncorked an 8-yard strike on quarterback Justin Miller for the Thunderbirds’ first touchdown of the season.
Great @SUUFB_? 👀
@CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/Jfka51COF4
– KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) August 29, 2021
SUU freshman Kobe Singleton doubled the Thunderbirds’ score in the second quarter by pulling down Nick Starkel’s faulty pass and returning it 18 yards for a score of 3:49 in the half.
Miller completed 15 of 29 passes for 117 yards for a SUU offensive that was held with only four first downs to 85 yards offensive in the first half. The Thunderbirds were 1-on-7 on the third downs before the break when San Jose State led 38:14.
The Spartans (1-0) scored touchdowns in their first five offensive series, including TD strikes of 70 and 65 yards by Nick Starkel, the second team’s All-Mountain West honoree.
The Spartans brought SUU 534 yards out of 250 yards, including 410 yards. Starkel finished with 394 yards, four touchdowns and an air interception.
“That game was super important,” Starkel told CBS Sports Network, who was also running for a result. “We always talked about how to get out step by step. That was our first step.”
🚨 SELECT SIX ALARMS 🚨
Kobe Singleton pulls one down and introduces it to @SUUThunderbirds.
As a reminder, he’s a newbie. pic.twitter.com/z6gSFAKFPS
– KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) August 29, 2021
That’s how the rest of Week Zero ended at the start of the 2021 college football season
Box score: Illinois 30, Nebraska 22
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Under a new coach, with fans in the stands for the first time since 2019 and his replacement quarterback at the helm, Illinois beat Nebraska 30:22 on Saturday for the 2021 college football season kick off.
The Big Ten conference victory did not come without a price for the Illinois.
Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters left the game with his left (non-throwing) shoulder after being hard sacked towards the end of the first quarter. He was 3-of-4 pass for 35 yards. He did not return and was replaced by Artur Sitkowski, a second transfer from Rutgers.
Peters’ status was not clear after Saturday’s game.
Box score: Fresno State 45, UConn 0
Jake Haener completed 20 of 26 passes for 331 boys and three touchdowns to help the Bulldogs to a shutout win against the Huskies at the season opener.
Former Provo High receiver Ty Jones, who moved from Washington, caught a 9-yard touchdown pass on his debut with Fresno, the UConn a year after the Huskies to 107 yards, nine first downs and 2-of-16 Third Downs kept the 2020 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Box score: UCLA 44, Hawaii 10
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – The mother of UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson echoed the thoughts of many Bruins fans in the first half of Saturday’s game against Hawaii after Zach Charbonnet scored his third touchdown.
Melva Thompson-Robinson tweeted “Thank you @UMichFootball” as Charbonnet raced 106 yards on his UCLA debut and drove the Bruins to a 44-10 season opening win at the Rose Bowl.
Charbonnet – who was in Michigan for the last two seasons before making the move – was also the first Bruins since Johnathan Franklin in 2012 to run for three TDs at a season opener.
“My line has put me in great situations when I got an opportunity,” said Charbonnet. “It allowed us to be one-on-one defenders and that’s all a running back could ask for.”
UCLA scored in their first five possession games and took a 31-3 halftime lead when they earned an eight-game loss to non-conference teams in 2017. It’s also the first time Chip Kelly has won an opening win as UCLA coach in four seasons.
LAS CRUSES, NM (AP) – Jacob Cowing had a career high of 158 yards, including a 59-yard score, and UTEP opened the season with a 30-3 win over New Mexico on Saturday night.
Cowings Yardage came up with just five catches, including one for 72 yards when he finished his sixth career 100 yard game. Gavin Hardison was an 11-of-16 pass for 249 yards and an interception.
UTEP rolled to a 20-3 halftime lead, with Hardison throwing 154 yards, 104 on cowing before the duo combined just over a minute in the second half for their long score. Ronald Awatt and Deion Hankins rushed to touchdowns and Gavin Baechle kicked three field goals.
The Miners, 3-5 last fall, returned all 11 starters on offense and eight on defensive as they defeated the Aggies 452-190.
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