GUNNISON, Colo. (November 29, 2025) – The No. 10 University of Texas Permian Basin football team will be playing in a regional final for the first time in program history after ending the game with 21 unanswered points and defeating No. 15 Western Colorado University 21-15 on the road in the second round of the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs.

UTPB entered the fourth quarter trailing 15-0, but Kanon Gibson accounted for three combined touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) during the fourth quarter and overtime to help lead the comeback. Gibson completed 18 of his 21 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and ran seven times for 32 yards and a touchdown during the fourth quarter and overtime. He finished the game 38-of-51 for 354 yards and added 71 rushing yards on 20 attempts. He led the team in rushing attempts, yards and touchdowns for the second playoff game in a row. In addition to leading the Falcons through the air, Gibson was instrumental in the Falcons attacking the Mountaineers' rush defense that entered the game allowing just 99 yards per game, which ranked 15th in all of NCAA Division II. Gibson's 425 yards of total offense are tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history. His 354 passing yards were also a season-high.

The Mountaineer defense was stout against the run, surrendering only 117 yards on the ground, but Gibson found success with short throws and bubble screens as his receivers totaled 199 yards after the catch. Last week it was Traylen Suel leading the Falcons' receiving corps, and this week it was Jace Wyatt (13 catches, 99 yards) with arguably the best game of his career. The other leading receivers were TJ McKenzie (5 catches, 68 yards), Jaylon Tillman (8 catches, 66 yards, 1 touchdown) and of course, Suel (5 catches, 65 yards, 1 touchdown).

It was a dominating performance by the Falcons' defense, which held WCU to 219 total yards and 2-for-12 on third down. The defense was led statistically by Tristan Exline and Tre Yanez with eight tackles apiece. Exline added a sack while Yanez added a tackle for loss and a pivotal forced fumble in the fourth quarter.

Western's offense was stymied most of the way. Quarterback Drew Nash, averaging more than 260 passing yards per game, was held to just 105 yards, while the ground attack, with 114 net yards, was held to nearly 50 fewer yards than its per-game average.

You would not be able to tell how close the game was by looking at the statistics. UTPB led 28-13 on first downs, 354-105 on passing yards, and 471-219 in total yardage. One close statistic was time of possession, which UTPB led by under two minutes (30:56-29:04).

Now with 11 wins in one season for the first time in program history, No. 10 UTPB (11-2 overall) will take on No. 2 Harding University (13-0) in the final of Super Region Four (NCAA Quarterfinals) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, in Searcy, Arkansas. Harding has defeated No. 14 Northwest Missouri State University 38-16 and No. 6 Pittsburg State University 37-21 in its two playoffs games so far. This weekend the football team became the third UTPB program (joining men's basketball and men's tennis) to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division II era, and now it is the first UTPB program to advance to the Elite Eight in school history.

It was a slow start offensively (at least in terms of scoring points) for the Falcons, but the defense kept them in the game. UTPB won the toss and deferred to the second half, giving WCU the first possession of the game, and Nash's deep pass on third-down-and-14 was intercepted by Caimon Mathis at the UTPB 45-yard line. On fourth-and-one on UTPB's first possession, Gibson's pass was battled down at the line of scrimmage by Ian Loomis, giving the ball back to the Mountaineers at their own 46-yard line.

WCU proceeded to pick up a first down, the first of the game, but a quarterback hurry by David Walker on third-and-nine forced an incomplete pass and got the ball back for the Falcons. However, the punt was downed at the UTPB two-yard line, giving the Falcons a long way to go to try and record the first score of the game.

Instead, two plays later, running back Kory Harris was brought down by Kade Musser for a safety, giving the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead, and then the ensuing kickoff was returned 57 yards by DJ Allen Jr., setting the Mountaineers up at the UTPB 25-yard line with a chance to try and score the first touchdown of the game.

The kickoff return by Allen Jr., initially looked like a touchdown, but he was ruled to have just stepped out at the 25-yard line, and the UTPB defense was able to take advantage with a three-and-out to force a 43-yard field goal that just barely made it over the upright and made the score 5-0.

UTPB tried to respond as the offense went five-wide for several plays to open its next drive. Gibson scrambled for nine yards on second down to pick up the first down, UTPB's first of the game, and then the very next play saw Gibson find Wyatt for 10 yards and another first down. On third-and-six, Gibson went outside to Harris for 11 yards and another first down, and then a screen pass from Gibson to Kylin Mathis went for nine yards to pick up yet another first down. On third-and-one from the WCU 13-yard line, Gibson picked up five yards on the quarterback keeper, giving UTPB its fifth first down of the drive and bringing an end to the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter and with first-and-goal at the eight, Gibson again kept it himself and got it down to the one-yard line, but that was followed by a three-yard loss on a fumble by Gibson on second down. On third-and-goal from the four, Gibson's pass to Suel in the endzone was incomplete, and UTPB opted to take the points with a kick, but Angel Diaz's 21-yard field goal attempt was blocked to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. It would not be the last blocked kick of the game for the Mountaineers.

Nash then began to open up the passing game for the Mountaineers, completing a 23-yard pass on third-and-nine, followed by an 11-yard pass on first down. Then on third-and-five, Nash rattled off a 17-yard run to get the Mountaineers down to the UTPB 17-yard line, and on the very next play Allen Jr. just got his foot down for a 17-yard touchdown pass by Nash for the first touchdown of the game and a 12-0 lead with 8:17 left before halftime. It was an 11-play, 92-yard scoring drive for WCU.

After two first downs on UTPB's next drive, Gibson was sacked on third-and-15 from the 50-yard line, and the Falcons punted it back to the Mountaineers. The next UTPB drive in the final two minutes of the first half ended with a fumble by McKenzie fighting for extra yardage at the WCU 23-yard line, giving the ball back to the Mountaineers yet again.

Both teams had nine first downs in the first half while the Mountaineers doubled up the Falcons in rushing yards (80-40) and held a slim 166-162 lead in total yards. UTPB led 122-86 in passing yards. In addition, both teams had just two third-down conversions and were just over a minute and a half of each other in possession time (15:36-14:02 WCU).

UTPB went three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, but the UTPB defense got the ball back for the offense after a three-and-out by the Mountaineers. After two first downs, the second Falcons' drive of the half ended with a sack fumble on third-down-and-15, the third sack of the game by the Mountaineers' defense.

With 6:39 left in the third quarter after a timeout by the Falcons, a big play on fourth-and-one for WCU from the UTPB 37-yard line saw a two-yard rush by Nash to move the chains. Fortunately, the UTPB defense would hold and force a punt by Nash that went into the endzone for a touchback.

With the third quarter winding down, UTPB tried to make its move in the final 3:18 of the period. After a 14-yard run by Gibson to set up third-down-and-six from the Falcons' own 44-yard line, Gibson got it to McKenzie for 15 yards and a first down. Two plays later, Gibson would pick up another first down with a four-yard rush on second down, bringing an end to the third quarter.

UTPB picked up three more first downs (5-2) than WCU in the third quarter and outgained the Mountaineers by a margin of 80 yards to 18 yards, but still had no points to show for it, and then an errant pass by Gibson as he was hit on the very first play of the fourth quarter resulted in a 76-yard interception return for WCU's Easton Peterson to set the Mountaineers up at the UTPB 15-yard line. It was the second turnover of the game by the Falcons to go along with a blocked field goal attempt.

On the Mountaineers' next play, Gabe Schubarth scooted around the right end for a touchdown, only to have the play called back for offensive holding. Fortunately, the UTPB defense continued its strong performance, holding WCU to a 31-yard field goal to make it 15-0 Mountaineers with 12:51 left to play.

The ensuing UTPB drive started with a five-yard sack by Ricky Freymond, putting the Falcons behind the chains. After a 13-yard pass to Camden Tyler, UTPB faced fourth-down-and-four from its own 31-yard line, and Gibson was able to keep the drive alive with a 10-yard pass to Tillman. Gibson then hit Wyatt for four yards on third-down-and-one from the 50, but an offensive pass interference call on the Falcons on the next play again pushed back the offense.

The drive continued, and on third-and-two from the WCU 38-yard line, a keeper by Gibson went for five yards and a first down, and then Gibson began picking apart the defense with a 13-yard pass to McKenzie to get it down to the 20-yard line.

After a delay of game on UTPB to back the Falcons up to the 25-yard line, Gibson passed to Suel for 19 yards, and then went the final six yards to Suel for the touchdown. Gibson then converted the two-point conversion on a pass to K. Mathis, cutting the deficit to 15-8 with 7:56 left to play. It was a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive that occurred in less than five minutes for the Falcons.

UTPB then turned it back over to its defense, and on the very first play, a fumble by running back Quinn Bailey was forced by Yanez and recovered by Jamarion Ravenell at the WCU 29-yard line.

McKenzie broke free for 16 yards on a quick-out on the first play of UTPB's ensuing drive, and two plays later Gibson kept it himself and went 13 yards for a touchdown. UTPB went for the lead with a two-point conversion and completed the pass, but a holding call instead forced a long extra point kick by Diaz from the 13-yard line. However, the craziness continued as the kick was blocked, but an offsides call on WCU wiped away the block and moved Diaz back up to the eight-yard line, where this time he nailed it to tie the game at 15-15 with 7:02 left to play.

The fourth quarter marched on, and after two first downs to get the Mountaineers past midfield, the UTPB defense stiffened and forced three straight incomplete passes by Nash to get the ball back for the offense.

Starting at its own seven-yard line with 4:24 on the clock, the Falcons went with an empty backfield, and on the second play, an incompletion to Ben Patterson drew a pass interference call to give the Falcons an automatic first down. A holding penalty on the Falcons made it first-and-18 from the eight-yard line, but Gibson found Wyatt for 16 and five-yard pickups on back-to-back plays to pick up another first down.

Gibson followed with a 10-yard pass to Suel and a six-yard pass to Tillman, and then Harris ran for five yards to pick up the fourth first down of the drive to get the ball to 50-yard line at the two-minute warning.

The penalties began to mount as another defensive pass interference call on WCU moved the ball to the WCU 38-yard line. Needing just a field goal to win the game, UTPB attempted to drain the clock as Harris rushed for eight yards and Gibson ran for 10.

After a one-yard reception by Wyatt, WCU took its first timeout of the second half with 56 seconds remaining. On the next play, Gibson tried to get outside on his five-yard run, but managed to stay in bounds to force WCU's second timeout. That brought up third-down-and-four from the 14, and Gibson kept it at the left hashmark for Diaz as he went right up the middle for only two yards, but did the job of forcing WCU's third and final timeout.

With two of his kicks being blocked earlier in the game, Diaz walked out for the potential game-winning 30-yarder, but it was again blocked by the Mountaineers, who kneeled to take the game to overtime.

UTPB led 13-2 on first downs, 55-24 on rushing yards, 149-11 on passing yards, and 204-35 on total yardage in the fourth quarter. There were a combined 20 penalties (10 by each team) for 167 yards between the two teams in regulation.

UTPB got the ball first in overtime and needed to switch its mentality from slowing down for the field goal try at the end of regulation to tying to put six points on the board in overtime. After a four-yard pass to Tillman on the first play, Gibson went right back to Tillman on the second play, and Tillman made his defender miss before going for 21 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. Unfortunately, Diaz's extra point was again blocked, the fourth time the Mountaineers blocked a kick in the game, meaning the Falcons' defense needed to keep the Mountaineers out of the endzone to secure the win.

On the first play of WCU's overtime possession, Will LeBlanc stuffed the running back, Quinn, for no gain on first down, and then WCU had an open receiver, but Yanez closed the gap and earned the pass breakup to bring up third down. On fourth-down-and-15 following back-to-back penalties on WCU and an incomplete pass (breakup by Kharel Coney), C. Mathis secured the final pass breakup as a final holding penalty on the Mountaineers was declined.

With the win, UTPB improves to 4-1 this season against nationally-ranked opponents (all top-15), and is the only team in the country with three top-five wins. In addition, UTPB is now 15-3 overall on the road under Head Coach Kris McCullough, and earns payback for the team's first loss with Coach McCullough at Western Colorado back in 2023. UTPB is also now 3-0 this season against teams from the state of Colorado.