Sorensen Saves Best For Last In SUU’s Triple-OT Upset Of Northern Arizona
By Lance Berndt
FCS Columnist
College Sports Journal
FLAGSTAFF, AZ. — Southern Utah will be wondering if it will ever find another quarterback quite like Brad Sorensen for years to come.
Since the start of 2010, Sorenson has shattered just about every quarterback record at Southern Utah.
Before him, no quarterback at SUU had ever thrown for over 8,000 yards throughout their career, and in just three seasons, Sorensen has reached 9,445 yards.
Add on an impressive junior college season at San Bernadino Valley College, and Sorensen finishes his college career with 999 completions for 11,725 yards, 78 touchdowns and just 31 interceptions.
Heading into his final game, the passer considered by most NFL scouts to be the top draftable QB in the current draft class had led Southern Utah to an even 16-16 record.
However, that was for a team that had just two winning seasons since the turn of the century before Sorensen took over in 2010.
One can only speculate what levels of FCS greatness Brad Sorensen could have encountered had he been surrounded with the talent at the level of a school like Montana/Eastern Washington/Montana State.
But his Mormon roots led him to Utah.
After playing the 2006 season at San Bernadino Valley College, Sorenson served on an LDS church mission to Malaja, Spain from 2007-09.
After he returned, he spent a season redshirting at BYU and in the spring of 2010, he transferred to Southern Utah.
He was immediately thrown into the quarterback role and never lost that position in his 3 year career with the Thunderbirds.
His impressive run hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
The tall and burly quarterback has pro scouts watching his every move and has been compared to the likes of Joe Flacco and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Both are currently starting for their respective NFL teams, and both quarterbacks played at the FCS level.
Although his football playing career will likely continue at the pro level in the future, Brad Sorensen refused to end his Southern Utah career on a sour note.
After notching wins at the ever-so-difficult Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula and over conference leader and -then-No. 1-ranked Eastern Washington, Sorensen led his Thunderbirds into Flagstaff to face the new conference leader in Northern Arizona.
Although Southern Utah held a 12-0 halftime lead, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks stormed back and looked to escape with the lead after taking a 15-12 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Although NAU had essentially shut him down through the first 55 minutes of the game, Sorensen put the Thunderbirds on his back for one final drive.
First they marched down the field and kicked the game-tying field goal as time expired. Sorensen was 5-of-6 for 39 yards on the drive.
Then in overtime Sorensen could not be stopped.
He completed a 19=yard pass to Henna Brown on the very first play of the first overtime and two plays later he ran for a four-yard touchdown.
In the second overtime, NAU struck first to take a seven-point lead and then the Thunderbirds took a potential game ending blow on a holding penalty that put them into a third and 16 from the 31.
Sorensen didn’t flinch completing a clutch 15-yard pass to allow for an easy chance to convert on fourth down.
Two plays later he tossed a game-tying 14-yard TD throw to Fatu Moala to force the game into a third overtime.
In the third overtime, Sorensen kept the momentum going with a third-down, 22-yard scoring strike on his final college pass.
Then he watched as his defense clinched the victory in his final collegiate game.
Sorenson finished the game with 225 yards passing, completing 23-of-41 attempts with two touchdowns.
It was a fitting ending for Sorensen’s college career, but at we can hope to see him shredding defenses on Sundays in the near future.
