Southern Utah beats Northern Arizona for Big Sky title

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Jay Green ran in three touchdowns, Patrick Tyler carried in two more and Southern Utah clinched the Big Sky Conference title with a 48-20 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday.

Green finished with 25 carries for 134 yards and Tyler was 20-of-30 passing for 238 yards with an interception and another 31 yards rushing. Isaiah Diego-Williams also had a rushing TD and Manny Berz kicked two field goals for Southern Utah (9-2, 7-1), which edged Northern Arizona 442-379 in total offense.

The Thunderbirds captured the automatic berth to the FCS playoffs but will share the conference title with Weber State, which finished Saturday with an identical season record but lost to Southern Utah in October.

Northern Arizona (7-4, 6-2) got 246 yards from Case Cookus with 23-for-44 passing, including a 2-yard TD throw to Matthew Kempton late in the fourth quarter. Cory Young had a rushing TD and Griffin Roehler had two field goals.