Kenebrew
Drew Barton
26
North Ala. UNA 3-8 , 3-4
38
Winner Southern Utah SUU 5-5 , 4-2
North Ala. UNA
3-8 , 3-4
26
Final
38
Southern Utah SUU
5-5 , 4-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UNA North Ala. 0 7 19 0 26
SUU Southern Utah 7 14 10 7 38

Game Recap: Football |

Kenebrew sets new record in 38-26 loss at Southern Utah

Seventh year senior totals 187 receiving yards to set FCS school record; second most all time

CEDAR CITY, Utah (November 9, 2024) — North Alabama came up short on the scoreboard on its longest road trip of the season despite the heroics of quarterback TJ Smith, who passed for a career-high 452 yards and three touchdowns in the Lions' 38-26 loss to Southern Utah at Eccles Coliseum.

UNA (3-8, 3-4 in the United Athletic Conference) clawed back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter as the Lions got into the end zone three times in just over six minutes. Smith threw touchdown passes of 75, 70 and 22 yards, while seventh-year senior receiver Takairee Kenebrew caught five passes for a career-best 187 yards in his next-to-last appearance in a UNA uniform.

Kenebrew's 187-yard performance tied Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Hill (1980 vs. Jacksonville State) for the second-most receiving yards in a game in UNA history.

Kenebrew's 75-yard TD catch in the third quarter padded his lead as atop UNA career touchdown receptions list. His 30th career touchdown catch was also the second-longest of his UNA career. He is now the only player in school history to catch 30 touchdown passes.

Southern Utah controlled possession for better than 20 minutes to build a 21-7 lead at intermission. Prior to Smith engineering a two-play scoring drive late in the second quarter for the Lions' first score, UNA had been limited to 60 total yards, including -1 yards rushing.

"We were explosive in the third quarter, same as we were last week against Austin Peay," said UNA head coach Brent Dearmon. "It was the same story as last week — we didn't come out and perform well in the first half. We still have an opportunity to do something that hasn't been done here, four conference wins in the Division I era, so we know we've got to buckle it up and go to work in the open week."

Southern Utah's Targhee Lambson, the leading rusher in FCS, had three rushing touchdown runs finished with 173 yards on 31 carries.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER
Southern Utah 7, North Alabama 0: Targhee Lambson scored his 18th rushing touchdown of the year on an 18-yard run to cap a 13-play, 84-yard drive after the Thunderbirds' defense had forced UNA to punt on the opening possession. Jayden Rogers kicked the extra point at the 4:01 mark after Southern Utah consumed nearly 7½ minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
Southern Utah 14, North Alabama 0: Lambson's second TD of the game – a one-yard run – came at the 11:08 mark after the Thunderbirds put together another time-consuming 13-play drive, this one taking up almost seven minutes.

Southern Utah 21, North Alabama 0: Lambson made it a first-half hat trick with a two-yard TD run to finish off a nine-play, 79-yard SUU drive. Lambson set up the touchdown run at the 1:56 mark with his 39-yard gain to the UNA 2 one play earlier.

Southern Utah 21, North Alabama 7: The Lions finally found an offensive spark after the ensuing kickoff. TJ Smith found Kobe Warden with a 56-yard bomb from UNA's 22 to the Thunderbirds 22 on the first play, then Smith connected with Dakota Warfield for a 22-yard touchdown with 1:17 remaining in the first half. Scott Payne tacked on the extra point for the Lions.

THIRD QUARTER
Southern Utah 24, North Alabama 7: SUU's Jayden Rogers, whose previous career-long field goal was 42 yards, converted a 50-yard kick at the 7:42 mark. Rogers' field goal capped another nine-play Thunderbirds scoring drive, this time covering 42 yards and taking up more than four minutes.

Southern Utah 24, North Alabama 13: Back stormed the Lions, who quickly moved 75 yards in two plays. Smith's second touchdown strike of the day went for 70 yards to redshirt junior  wide receiver Justin Luke, but the extra point try failed.

Southern Utah 31, North Alabama 13: The Thunderbirds turned to the air to extend their lead as quarterback Jackson Berry directed a four-play drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Shane Carr.

Southern Utah 31, North Alabama 19: Smith's third TD pass went for 75 yards to "TK" Kenebrew as the Lions found the end zone in just two plays. Kenebrew's 75-yard reception was the second-longest of his storied career and came with 5:33 left in the third. UNA's two-point conversion attempt failed.

Southern Utah 31, North Alabama 26: Jayvian Allen's fifth rushing TD of 2024 finished off an 82-yard drive as the Lions scored their third touchdown in less than seven minutes. Payne added the extra point as UNA cut the deficit to five entering the final quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
Southern Utah 38, North Alabama 26: A turnover at an inopportune time proved costly when Smith was hit while looking downfield. His throw was picked off by SUU's Kameron Rocha, who returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown to snuff the Lions' momentum. Rocha was later ejected for targeting for a hit on Tanaka Scott.
 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • TJ Smith had the second-most single game passing yards in school history and the most of the FCS era, going 21-for-34 for 452 yards. The all-time record was set by Luke Wingo with 511 in 2014 against Valdosta State, while the previous FCS school record was set by Christian Lopez with 446 at Gardner Webb.
  • Smith's yards are the most thrown by a UNA quarterback in a road game.
  • Kenebrew's 187 receiving yards established a new FCS record, surpassing Andre Little's 183-yard effort vs. Gardner-Webb in 2019.
  • Kenebrew's 187 yards ties Jerry Hill for the second-highest single-game total ever by a Lions receiver. Mico McSwain had 210 yards against Arkansas Tech in 2009.
  • TJ Smith's 56-yard completion to senior Kobe Warden late in the second quarter was the longest reception of Warden's career and the second-longest pass of Smith's career. 
  • UNA had four receivers with more than 60 receiving yards: Kenebrew (187), Luke (70), Warden (67) and Tanaka Scott (64).
  • UNA won its first game ever as an FCS member by beating Southern Utah 34-30 in 2018 in a non-conference matchup. The Thunderbirds at the time were members of the Big Sky Conference.
  • UNA is 3-2 record against teams from Utah, including the 2018 win at Southern Utah and back-to-back wins over Utah Tech in 2023 and this year — both in Florence. The other was an FBS matchup against No. 8 BYU, where the Lions lost 66-14 against the Cougars and Heisman Trophy finalist Zach Wilson.
  • Southern Utah head coach DeLane Fitzgerald spent one season as the offensive coordinator at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn., in 2005. His starting quarterback was Bethel Hall of Famer and current UNA head coach Brent Dearmon, who passed for 13 TDs as the Wildcats went 7-4 that year.  Lions defensive backs coach De'Von Lockett was a graduate assistant at Bethel who assisted with receivers in 2005.
  • Southern Utah's Eccles Coliseum is the fourth-highest elevated stadium in college football at 5,796 feet. It is one of five stadiums that are more than a mile high in elevation, joining Wyoming (7.215), Northern Arizona (6,980), Air Force (6,620) and Colorado (5,360). 
  • TJ Smith has accounted for 1,940 all-purpose yards with 20 touchdowns since taking the helm as UNA's starting quarterback seven weeks ago.
  • Kameron Rocha's interception return in the fourth quarter was the second pick-six thrown by UNA quarterbacks this season.
  • Kenebrew moved past Dexter Boykin (2018-21) into fourth place on the career receptions list 140 career catches. "TK" would need 12 in his final games against Eastern Kentucky to surpass UNA Hall of Famers Ricky Lindsey (1966-68) and Michael Edwards (1993-96) and become the Lions' second-leading all-time receiver. Dre Hall (2014-17) holds the career receptions record with 201.
  • UNA has committed two turnovers in seven of its eight losses. Both Lions' turnovers against Southern Utah came in the fourth quarter.


COMING UP NEXT

The Lions have their second open date of the season next week before the season finale at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff at 20,500-seat CG Bank Field at Roy Kidd Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN+.

The Colonels hold a 2-0 in the series, including a 56-53 come-from-behind win in Richmond, Ky., in 2022, where the teams combined for 1,039 total yards and 55 first downs.  

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
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