ALPINE, Texas (November 16, 2024) – In its final regular-season game of the 2024 season, The University of Texas Permian Basin football team got five passing touchdowns from freshman quarterback Issac Mooring combined with four rushing touchdowns from junior Kory Harris in a 75-7 victory at Sul Ross State University. In addition, the Falcons averaged nine yards per play and finished with 711 total yards of offense, which was good for a new program record, breaking the previous record of 677 yards set on October 14, 2023, vs. Eastern New Mexico University.

In the end, 10 of UTPB's 11 drives in the game that did not end either the first or second half resulted in a touchdown.

UTPB scored a touchdown on all seven of its drives in the first half and had 472 yards of offense at the break.

It started with a 77-yard touchdown pass from Mooring to Deon Cook, who caught the ball down the right sideline before cutting all the way across the field for the score on the first play of the game.

Each of UTPB's final six touchdowns of the first half all came on drives lasting at least five plays.

In all, the first half saw two touchdown receptions from Cook and two from Jeremiah Cooley, all from Mooring, while Harris scored twice on the ground.

Cook's second touchdown saw him make a pair of one-handed grabs, first on a 36-yard catch to get the ball to within the 10-yard line, and secondly on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Mooring to the back, left corner of the endzone.

Cook had five catches for 149 yards at the break.

Mooring's fifth touchdown pass of the first half came in the final two minutes on a six-yard pass to Ben Patterson to make the score 48-0.

Patterson (50 yards) and Cooley (63 yards) both led the team with six receptions at halftime.

Mooring was 24-for-26 passing for 350 yards in the first half while on the ground, Harris ran 14 times for 77 yards.

The UTPB defense also got into the act with a pair of interceptions in the second quarter by Jamarion Ravenell and Sione Teuhema, the latter of which came at the UTPB eight-yard line to help keep the Lobos out of the endzone in the final 15 seconds before halftime.

Harris opened up the third quarter with a 28-yard touchdown, giving him his third touchdown of the game and pushing him over 100 rushing yards (119) on the day.

A forced fumble by Austin Williams and a 28-yard return for a touchdown by Ashton Hamby on the first play of the next Sul Ross drive marked the third turnover by the Falcons' defense and made the score 62-0.

Harris' fourth touchdown came on a 53-yard run to make it 68-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Harris would finish the game with 26 carries for a program-record of 201 yards, which was good for 7.7 yards per attempt. He is the first UTPB runner to surpass 200 rushing yards in a game and 1,000 yards in a season (1,009 yards). In addition, with his four touchdowns, he ties the UTPB single-season record for both rushing touchdowns (11) and total touchdowns (12).

Backup quarterback Christian Kaopua was 3-for-3 passing for 40 yards and rushed three times for 49 yards, including a seven-yard rushing touchdown for the final score of the game.

As a team, UTPB finished with a season-high 318 rushing yards on 45 carries.

Mooring added just two passing attempts to his total in the second half, finishing 26-for-28 for 353 yards for the game. In addition to setting a program record for passing percentage (92.9 percent), Mooring now has the seventh most passing yards in a game for a single player in program history. Meanwhile, UTPB's 393 combined passing yards are the fifth most in a game in program history.

Cooley (78 yards) and Patterson (54 yards) led the receivers with seven catches while Cook caught six passes for 148 yards. With 16 combined touchdown receptions over the last two seasons and 19 for his career, Cooley is second in program history in career receiving touchdowns. In addition, Cooley, Patterson and Cook all surpassed 500 receiving yards for the season with their performances on Saturday.

On defense, it was the usual suspects as Tristan Exline and Yemi Oyesanya both recorded nine total tackles. Exline had 1.5 tackles for loss while Oyesanya had 1.5 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss. With 7.5 sacks this season, Oyesanya is UTPB's new single-season leader.

UTPB finishes its regular-season 7-4 overall and 6-3 in the Lone Star Conference, and is officially bowl eligible. The Falcons are hopeful to receive a berth in the Heritage Bowl on December 7 in Corsicana, Texas, and will learn their fate on Tuesday, November 19.

In addition to having the second-winningest season in program history, the Falcons have now had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in their history.