Utah Tech and Southern Utah met for the first time as conference foes on the gridiron in 60 years on Saturday night in a renewal of the "Battle for the Ax" rivalry.

However three fourth quarter turnovers doomed the Trailblazers as the Thunderbirds claimed round one of a home-and-home season series, and the ax by a 31-17 decision in the WAC opener for both teams inside Eccles Coliseum.
 
UT (1-3/0-1 WAC) had a chance to make an early statement in its opening possession as the Blazers covered 43 yards on their first two offensive plays. Quali Conley kick started the offense with a 13-yard run, while quarterback Kobe Tracy connected with a streaking Deven Osborne for a 30-yard catch-and-run down the sideline to get into SUU territory.
 
However the drive would stall at the SUU 24 when Conley was stopped on 4^th-and-1.
 
The T-Birds (3-1/1-0 WAC) took possession on downs and quickly flipped the field, thanks in part to a 44-yard pass play from Justin Miller to Isaiah Wooden, to set up first and goal at the UT 5. SUU got on the board three plays later on an Elijah Burns 1-yard plunge with just under six minutes gone off the clock.
 
Utah Tech answered on its ensuing drive, marching 75 yards on nine plays to pull even at 7-7. Tracy accounted for 71 of those yards in the air, including a 17-yard connection to Rickie Johnson, followed by an 18-yard completion to Joey Hobert.
 
Then on 1^st-and-10 at the SUU 18, Tracy zipped a pass over the top to Johnson, who leaped and made a highlight-reel diving catch in the corner of the end zone for the tying score. 
 
With the game still tied at 7-7 to begin the second quarter, Utah Tech started its first possession of the stanza at its own 10-yard line following a T-Bird punt. However the drive got off to a rocky start as Tracy was sacked just outside of the goal line for a 9-yard loss.
 
Backed up against his own goal line, Tracy took the shot gun snap on second down, stepped up in the pocket and fired a strike over the middle to Hobert for a 39-yard completion to the UT 40. But again Utah Tech would see its drive stall in SUU territory, this time at the T-Bird 35, when on 4^th-and-7, Tracy could not connect with Hobert, and the Blazers would turn it over on downs.
 
Southern Utah wasted little time cashing in the stop as Miller and Wooden connected for a 65-yard touchdown on the very next play to extend to a 14-7 advantage.
 
The Trailblazers looked like they were going to answer quickly when on their very next offensive play, Tracy read the SUU blitz and dumped a short screen pass to Conley, who scampered 47 yards down the sideline to the SUU 20.
 
Tracy then found Johnson for an 18-yard hook up to the T-Bird 2, but UT could not punch it into the end zone and had to settle for a Connor Brooksby 20-yard chip shot field goal that made a 14-10 game.
 
SUU would counter with a Micah Pettit 47-yard field goal, while Miller capped a 16-play, 82-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Bolingbroke just before the halftime gun to spot his side with a 24-10 lead at the intermission.
 
Both teams traded empty possessions for most of the third quarter, though Utah Tech did manage to score the only points of the frame, which came a Tracy-to-Hobert 15-yard connection with 37 seconds left in the period.
 
UT covered 80 yards in seven plays on that drive, which included a 15-yard targeting penalty on SUU, and an 18-yard Conley scamper. Then on 2^nd-and-4 at the SUU 15, Tracy lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone, where Hobert out-jumped three T-Bird defenders to haul in his team-leading fifth touchdown of the season. 
 
Utah Tech's defense forced a three-and-out on SUU's next possession, but the Thunderbirds got the ball back one play later when Tracy was intercepted by defender Rodrick Ward. Ward returned the pick 16 yards to the UT 20, but a holding penalty on the return backed SUU up the Blazer 40.
 
Southern Utah marched the ball to the 1-yard line, where on 2^nd-and-goal, Miller fumbled the snap and the ball was recovered by freshman linebacker Jared Fotu.
 
However UT could not take advantage of the takeaway as the Blazers were forced to punt.
 
SUU would score the dagger touchdown on its next possession, capping a seven-play, 60-yard drive with a Bobby Cole 9-yard run with 4:55 remaining.
 
The Trailblazers would turn the ball over again on their next possession, and again it was Ward who forced it as he picked off Tracy at the SUU 45 and returned it 41 yards to the UT 15. Utah Tech managed to force a Pettit field goal try from 34 yards out, but the kick sailed wide right.
 
Utah Tech had one more chance on offense, but Blazers' third miscue of the frame ended any hope a road comeback win
 
Utah Tech tallied 376 yards of total offense on the night, with 302 of those yards coming through the air. Tracy wound up 19-of-36 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns, and in the process became the third quarterback in the program's NCAA era to surpass 3,000 passing yards (3,048).  

Meanwhile, Conley posted his second-career 100-yard rushing game as racked up 112 yards on the ground to go with 50 yards receiving. 
 
Hobert finished with six catches for 105 yards to go with his touchdown. The sophomore receiver continued to add to his impressive start, becoming the first Trailblazer in the program's NCAA era to record four-straight 100-yard receiving games and catch at least one TD pass in his first four career games. 
 
The sophomore also became just the second player in the program's four-year era to record four-straight, 100-yard receiving games. The last to do it was former Blazer tight end Joe Don Duncan, who achieved the feat twice in 2011 (five-straight) and 2013 (four-straight) during his All-American career.
 
Miller threw 352 yards on 25-of-33 passing and two touchdowns, while Burns led SUU with 61 yards rushing to go with his first-quarter score. SUU finished with 449 yards of total offense. 
 
Utah Tech returns home next Saturday for a WAC match-up against Abilene Christian. Kick-off inside Greater Zion Stadium is set for 7 p.m.