ELLENSBURG, Wash. (October 12, 2024) – It was a memorable first collegiate start for quarterback Issac Mooring and UT Permian Basin's defense and special teams shined as the Falcons came up with a hard-fought 14-13 victory on the road against the No. 9-ranked team in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) top-25 poll, Central Washington University, on Saturday night.

In addition to earning a top-10 win on the road, this is the highest nationally-ranked team the Falcons have defeated in program history after beating three nationally-ranked teams last year in Coach Kris McCullough's first season leading the team.

Playing with a true freshman at starting quarterback, the Falcons' offense struggled in the first half, but the defense and special teams did its job and gave UTPB (4-3 overall, 3-2 Lone Star Conference) a chance to get back in it in the second half.

CWU (4-2, 3-1) returned the opening kickoff of the game to the 50-yard line and converted with running plays on fourth-and-three, third-and-seven and third-and-eight before an 11-yard touchdown run up the middle by quarterback Kennedy McGill.

McGill came into the came as the LSC's third-leading rusher and top touchdown scorer.

The UTPB offense had just 10 yards and one first down to show for itself in the first quarter as CWU possessed the ball for over 11 minutes in the opening period.

Just two plays into the second quarter, a fake punt by the Wildcats on fourth-and-five saw a nine-yard pass from the punter Dan Stewart to senior safety Tanner Volk, the reigning Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Cliff Harris Award winner.

McGill would follow with runs of 29 yards and eight yards to get the Wildcats into the redzone, but this time the Falcons were able to hold the Wildcats to a field goal attempt, and the kick from 25 yards out went off the goalpost to keep it at a one-score game.

The next drive for CWU resulted in another trick play by the Wildcats, but this time a long throw toward the endzone by wide receiver Jalen Grable on the end-around resulted in an interception by Jalani Jefferson at the UTPB two-yard line.

However, instead of attempting to run out the rest of the clock and going into halftime in a one-score game, UTPB threw incomplete passes on second and third down to give CWU another chance to score with one minute left.

Once again, the Falcons' defense was up to the task and made a stand with the Wildcats in the redzone as a 29-yard field goal attempt was blocked by the Falcons' Frank Mulipola.

At the break, UTPB had just 20 yards of offense, was averaging just 1.05 yards per play, was 0-for-5 on third down, and had just seven and a half minutes of possession, but two interceptions by the defense and two missed field goals by CWU helped keep them in the game.

CWU, meanwhile, accumulated 208 yards of total offense and 148 yards on the ground in the first half, but had just seven points to show for it.

The opening drive of the second half was exactly what the doctor ordered for UTPB as Mooring hit Deon Cook for 19 yards on third-and-nine to get the Falcons past midfield. Then after two more first downs, Mooring was able to punch it into the endzone himself on fourth-and-one from the CWU two-yard line.

It was a methodical 11-play, 65-yard scoring drive for UTPB, with 18 of those yards coming on the ground by Mooring, who really began to showcase what he could do both as a passer and as a runner.

McGill and CWU, however, responded in a big way with a 10-play, 60-yard drive featuring 45 more rushing yards by McGill, who ended it with a 16-yard touchdown run.

The extra point kick was missed by Quinton Pacheco, and this would certainly come back to haunt the Wildcats in the end.

Mooring and UTPB looked to keep their momentum going on the next drive as a 16-yard run on an end-around by Ben Patterson got the Falcons to midfield. An 11-yard completion from Mooring to La'Quan Wells on third-and-eight kept the drive going, and then a 17-yard pass again from Mooring to Wells on third down got the Falcons into the redzone to start the fourth quarter.

Mooring again converted on third-and-long, finding Brock Johnson for a seven-yard reception to get UTPB down to the CWU eight-yard line.

Three straight runs by Mooring ended with his second two-yard touchdown run of the second half, and Angel Diaz added the extra point to give the Falcons the 14-13 lead.

It was a statement drive by the Falcons, who went 85 yards in 15 plays, and then after a stop on third-and-nine on the next CWU drive from just before midfield, UTPB had the ball at its own 18-yard line with 8:31 on the clock and a one-point lead.

Mooring continued to rise to the occasion, hooking up with Jeremiah Cooley for 19 yards on third-and-nine and then taking it himself for four yards on third-and-three.

UTPB picked up two more first downs on an 11-yard pass from Mooring to Cook and on a nine-yard run by Mooring to get the ball down to the CWU 25-yard line.

Just before the two-minute timeout, Kory Harris rushed it for seven yards and the fifth first down of the drive.

That got the ball down to the 15-yard line, and then with 1:03 left, Diaz went out for the field goal try and connected from 27 yards out, making the kick in the same direction that CWU missed three times (2 FG's, 1 XP) from earlier in the game.

However, just when you thought CWU would have one last chance, a running into the kicker penalty by the Wildcats on the field goal attempt by Diaz gave UTPB its sixth and final first down of the drive, and the Falcons went into victory formation.

Coach McCullough spoke after the win and said, "What a team and program win. To go on the road and beat a top-10 team in the country is not supposed to happen. This group of guys deserves this win and I'm so proud of guys continuing to step up to the plate when their name is called."

The final drive saw the Falcons run 18 plays for 74 yards and take all 8:31 of game time off the clock.

After gaining just three first downs in the first half, UTPB ended the game with 18 first downs compared to 16 for CWU while UTPB finished up with 227 yards of total offense.

In addition, the UTPB defense limited the Wildcats to just 77 yards of offense in the second half and just 60 passing yards for the game.

Mooring would finish 12-of-24 for 107 yards passing, but showed his toughness as he led the Falcons with 55 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts. In the second half alone, Mooring was 9-for-13 for 105 yards passing while adding 42 rushing yards.

Harris matched Mooring with 16 attempts on the ground and gained 53 yards to help the Falcons eclipse the 100-yard mark (120 yards) and drain the clock with three long drives in the second half. In all, there were only a combined five drives between the two teams in the second half.

Cook led the UTPB receiving corps with five catches for 41 yards.

Linebacker Jalon Rocquemore paced the defense with 11 tackles and was followed by Tristan Exline with eight.

Ashton Hamby had seven tackles and two quarterback hurries, and Kharel Coney had the Falcons' only sack of the game.

In addition to his interception in the second quarter, Jefferson had the Falcons' first interception of the game back in the first quarter and added two more pass breakups to his impressive stat line for the day.

In addition to Diaz, Rafael Vargas did a great job on special teams, punting five times for 191 yards (38.2 avg.) and a long of 46 yards.

The Falcons return to Astound Broadband Stadium for their final home game of the season at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, against Western Oregon University. Before the game the Falcons will honor their graduating seniors.