SOUTHERN UTAH Thunderbird Football FCS Playoff vs. Weber State Game Time: Dec. 2 @ 6:00 PM (MT) TV: ESPN 3 | Radio: KSUB 590 University 2017 Schedule (9-2; 7-1 BSC) Name of School......................Southern Utah University DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (MT) Sept. 2 Oregon Eugene, Ore. 21-77 (L) Location...............................................Cedar City, Utah Sept. 9 Stephen F. Austin Nacogdoches, Texas 51-14 (W) Sept. 16 #18/21 Northern Iowa Cedar City, Utah 24-21 (W) Founded.................................................................1897 Sept. 23 Sacramento State Sacramento, Calif. 27-54 (L) Enrollment..............................................................8,881 Oct. 7 Cal Poly Cedar City, Utah 20-14 (W) Oct. 14 #16/18 Weber State Ogden, Utah 32-16 (W) Nickname..................................................Thunderbirds Oct. 21 #8 Eastern Washington Cedar City, Utah 46-28 (W) Oct. 28 Northern Colorado Greeley, Colo. 27-14 (W) Colors...........................................Red, White and Black Nov. 4 North Dakota Cedar City, Utah 47-21 (W) Stadium.................................................Eccles Coliseum Nov. 11 UC Davis Davis, Calif. 47-27 (W) Nov. 18 #23 Northern Arizona Cedar City, Utah 48-20 (W) Affiliation.......................................NCAA Division I FCS Dec. 2 Weber State Cedar City, Utah 6:00 PM Conference......................................Big Sky Conference University Website.....................................www.suu.edu Administration President ................................................ Scott L Wyatt Athletics Website.............................www.suutbirds.com Interim Athletic Director ......................... Debbie Corum Social Media.....................................................@SUUFB Chief Operating Officer ..........................Andrew Parrish Assoc. AD, Compliance ...............................Todd Brown History Assoc. AD, External Affairs ........................ Frank Pucher Asst. AD/Business Operations .............David Thompson First Year of Football.............................................1963 Asst. AD/Administration ................................ Dan Moye First Year of Big Sky Football................................2012 Asst. AD, Marketing ................................Nick Bartlett All-time Record...........................................246-300-10 Asst. AD, Football SID ......................... Chanel Barnes Postseason Appearances............................2013, 2015 Email [email protected] Head Coach Head Coach..........................................Demario Warren Alma Mater.............................................UC Davis, 2008 Record/Season..........................................15-7, Second Team Information 2016 Overall Record..................................................6-5 2016 Big Sky Record..................................................5-3 2016 Home Record....................................................4-1 2016 Away Record.....................................................2-4 2017 NFL Free Agent Signings................Josh Thorn- ton (Detroit Lions).....Steven Wroblewski (Arizona Car- dinals).....Raysean Pringle (Green Bay Packers).....Mike Sharp (New Orleans Saints) SOUTHERN UTAH FOOTBALL 2017 SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY THUNDERBIRDS Last Time Out Southern Utah’s last regular season outing was against the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona, where they secured a Big Sky Conference Championship with a 48-20 victory. The Thunderbirds did the majority of their damage on the ground. Jay Green Jr. rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns during the contest, and SUU quarterback Patrick Tyler scored two touchdowns on the ground as well. Tyler also threw for 238 yards during the course of the game. Landen Measom was the leading receiver for the Thunderbirds in the contest, catching eight passes from Tyler. Jarmaine Doubs led the Thunderbirds with seven tackles in the contest. All-Conference Honors The Thunderbirds were well represented when the Big Sky Conference released their All-Conference teams last week, with 22 different T-Birds being recognized by the conference for their play during the season. SUU had four players make the All-Conference First Team list, with Zach Larsen, Anu Pole’o, Mike Needham and Jarmaine Doubs Jr. all earning the recognition. Named to the Big Sky All-Conference Second Team was Marquez Tucker, James Felila, Robert Torgerson and Chinedu Ahanonu. Third Team members included PJ Nu’usa, Sefesi Vaa’ivaka, Taylor Pili and Taylor Nelson. 10 more Thunderbirds were named Honorable Mentions to the All-Conference Teams. Our Coach of the Year SUU head coach Demario Warren was awarded the title of Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in recognition of what the team was able to accomplish this season. He shared the honor with Jody Sears from Sacramento State. In just his second year in charge of the Thunderbird program, Warren led his team to a 9-2 overall record and a 7-1 record in Big Sky Conference play. Warren has also been very solid at home, sitting with a 9-1 record over two years at Eccles Coliseum. SOUTHERN UTAH FOOTBALL 2017 SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY THUNDERBIRDS Going into the season the Thunderbirds were picked to finish seventh in the league. It’s fair to say that they proved plenty of people wrong this season. Warren led the Thunderbirds to their second Big Sky Conference title in three seasons, when the Thunderbirds knocked off Northern Arizona 48-20 in their final game of the season. He also led the team back to the FCS Playoffs for the third time in five years. Southern Utah also won nine Division I games in a single season for the first time in the history of the program. Overall, Warren now sits with a 15-7 overall record. Rank ‘Em The Thunderbirds might have earned the No. 8 seed in the FCS Playoffs, but they also reached their highest ranking ever in both the FCS Coaches’ Poll and the STATS FCS Poll following their performance against Northern Arizona. The T-Birds were No. 12 in the final STATS FCS Poll moving up two spots from their previous ranking in that poll. In the FCS Coaches Poll they moved up from No. 18 to No. 13. Coming into the season the highest ranking the Thunderbirds reached was No. 15 during the 2015 campaign. Home Field Advantage Losing at home over the last three seasons has been a rare occurrence for the Thunderbirds. This season they finished 5-0 at Eccles Coliseum. In 2016 they finished 4-1, with the lone loss coming against Weber State. And in 2015 they were again undefeated, finishing with a perfect 5-0 record at home. This season the Thunderbirds also broke the attendance record on two separate occasions. Most recently, 10,842 fans packed Eccles Coliseum to watch the Thunderbirds knock off the Lumberjacks. SOUTHERN UTAH FOOTBALL 2017 SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY THUNDERBIRDS Opponent Preview: Weber State Wildcats After finishing the regular season 9-2 and claiming a share of the Big Sky Conference championship, the Wildcats of Weber State knocked off Western Illinois 21-19 in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs. The victory was Weber State’s third playoff win in the history of the program. Weber State quarterback Stefan Cantwell threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns during the contest. His top receiver was Andrew Vollert, who caught eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. He also hit Drew Batchelor four times for 52 yards and two touchdowns. Cantwell also led the team in rushing with 43 yards on the ground. The Wildcats caused a lot of damage in the oppositions pocket, as they finished the day with four sacks. Xequille Harry had an interception for the Wildcats and Jordan Preator led the team with 11 tackles. Recent Series History vs. Weber State In the regular season edition of the Beehive Bowl, the Thunderbirds were able to knock off the Wildcats in Ogden with a 32-16 victory. Patrick Tyler had a big game through the air against Weber State, throwing for 281 yards and three touchdowns. He found Logan Parker six times for 118 yards and two touchdowns, including a long touchdown on the opening play of the game that went for six. Chinedu Ahanonu and Mike Needham both had big defensive outings. Ahanonu had 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Needham finished the game with 11 tackles and two tackles for loss. Both Chance Bearnson and Jalen Russell had an interception in the contest for the T-Bird defense. Big Sky At a Glance Southern Utah and Weber State are the only two teams that remain in the FCS Playoffs from the Big Sky Conference, meaning that only one will remain when the weekend is over. The Big Sky initially had three teams in the field, but the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona fell to the University of San Diego in the opening round 41-10. NAU ended the season with a 7-5 overall record. SOUTHERN UTAH FOOTBALL 2017 SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY THUNDERBIRDS Words From Coach Warren On what the Big Sky Conference title means to him….. “It’s another step in the right direction,” Warren said. “We’ve been working on a program that could gain both Big Sky respect and National respect, and having two conference championships in the last three years I think we’re starting to gain that. Hopefully now were expected to be in the conference title race every single year.” On what differences, if any, he’s seen from Weber State since the teams last played….. “They’re moving some guys around a little bit more than they did earlier in the season,” Warren said. “Cantwell is obviously playing at a high level