Southern Utah's football team closes out the 2007 schedule Saturday when the Thunderbirds face off against top-ranked Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Thunderbirds (0-10, 0-4 GWFC) are still looking for their first win of the 2007 campaign after giving up 36 unanswered points over the final 16:30 last week at South Dakota State in a 52-27 loss. A week earlier the team suffered a disappointing 28-21 setback against Cal Poly in their home finale.

Saturday's game will give the Thunderbirds a rare distinction as it gives the team games against all of the teams ranked in the top-five of the two FCS polls recognized by the Great West Football Conference. SUU opened at No. 3 Montana, hosted No. 5 Southern Illinois and No. 4 McNeese State in back-to-back weeks, and played at North Dakota State, ranked first in the coaches poll and second in the SportsNetwork poll. This week's opponent, Northern Iowa, is first in the SportsNetwork poll and second in the coaches'.

UC Davis and South Dakota State are the only unranked teams the Thunderbirds have faced in so far 2007, if one includes North Dakota, which was ranked second in Division II the week of the SUU game and sixth last week. The other Thunderbird opponents were all listed in the FCS top-25 at the time they played SUU, including Montana (No. 2 at the time), Southern Illinois (No. 6), McNeese State (No. 6), Montana State (No. 13), Youngstown State (No. 12), and North Dakota State (No. 1). Cal Poly has been in and out of the polls this year and although the Mustangs were unranked the week they played at SUU they are No. 25 this week. SDSU began the season with a ranking and is second on the list of others receiving votes this week.

Northern Iowa (10-0, 6-0 Gateway) will be looking to achieve an unprecedented feat Saturday. The Panthers would become the first Gateway Conference team to complete an 11-0 regular season with a win. UNI has won 11 straight regular-season games, including victories over Iowa State (24-13) as well as common foes with SUU in South Dakota State (31-17), Southern Illinois (30-24) and Youngstown State (14-13).

The Game: Southern Utah (0-10, 0-4) at Northern Iowa (10-0, 6-0), 5:05 p.m. (Central), at UNI Dome (16,324/artificial).

The Series:Saturday's game will be the third between the two schools. Northern Iowa holds a 2-0 edge in the series which began with a 31-21 Panther win in Cedar City during the 1996 season. UNI made it two straight with a 53-33 win in Cedar Falls, Iowa, during the 1997 season.

Sanchez and Roan Earn Academic All-District Honors:

Two Southern Utah University football players have been named to this year's CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII squad, it was announced today. Seniors Matt Roan and Johnny Sanchez both earned the honor after being voted onto the team by balloting among the district's sports information directors.

Roan, an offensive tackle from Dublin, Va., carries a 3.79 cumulative grade point average in political science. He is a three-year starter.

Sanchez, a running back from Los Lunas, N.M., carries a cumulative GPA of 3.34 in engineering technology. A two-year starter, Sanchez has led the Thunderbirds in rushing in both 2006 and 2007.

“We're always excited to see our players get recognition for their accomplishments,” SUU head football coach Wes Meier said. “Matt and Johnny are two guys who work hard both on and off the football field and it's good to see them get this honor.”

Both players were named second-team all-Great West Football Conference in 2006 and Roan is a two-time academic all-GWFC selection since transferring from Virginia Tech. Sanchez was not eligible for academic all-GWFC honors last year after transferring from Glendale CC in the spring of 2006.

GWFC Players of the Week:

Southern Utah has had three players named Player of the Week by the Great West Football Conference this season, including cornerback Derrick Brown, who has received recognition twice this season, cornerback DeWayne Lewis and punter Trevor Ward.

Brown, a senior cornerback from Brigham City, Utah, tallied eight tackles, five solo, in the 23-22 loss at Youngstown State. Brown also had 1.5 tackles-for-loss as SUU held the Penguins to 324 total yards, 60 below their season-average, and just 160 rushing yards, well below their season-average of 215.8.

Lewis, a junior cornerback from Denver, Colo., tallied nine tackles in the Thunderbirds' near-upset of No. 13 ranked Montana State. Lewis had five solo stops, two sacks and was in on three tackles-for-loss in the 7-3 setback. He also forced a fumble and broke up a pass on third down late in the game as the Bobcats were trying to run out the clock to force a punt and give the Thunderbirds a chance to come back.

Ward earned the special teams honor for his play against North Dakota State, Sept. 8, when the sophomore from Ogden, Utah, punted nine times for 356 yards, an average of 39.6 yards per kick. More importantly, he pinned the Fighting Sioux inside their own 20 yard line with five of those punts.

Brown earned his first honor after leading all players with 12 tackles, including five solo stops at Montana, Sept. 1. He was also credited with a half-sack on UM quarterback Cole Bergquist that led to a safety and put the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard for the first time in the game.

Radio: All of Southern Utah's 2007 football games are available over the Thunderbird Radio Network. SUU flagship station KSUU (91.1 FM) will carry every game live as well as on the worldwide web at www.suu.edu/ksuu. The games will also be carried live over Thunderbird Radio Network affiliate KSUB AM (590), which covers southwest Utah. Art Challis is in his 33rd season as the Thunderbirds' football voice. He is joined on home broadcasts by former SUU coach and athletic director Steve Lunt. SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner provides color commentary on road broadcasts.

TV: There will be no live broadcast of Saturday's game, but highlight feeds of all five Thunderbird home games are available via SUU's FTP site. For information on obtaining those feeds contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.

GWFC Teleconference: The Great West Football Conference holds a weekly teleconference, beginning at 12:30 p.m. (MST). The conference's head coaches all address their previous and upcoming games. For information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Sports Information Director Neil Gardner. The lineup follows:
              12:30 p.m. - Brief comments from Ed Grom, Great West Football Conference
              12:32 p.m. - UC Davis coach Bob Biggs
              12:40 p.m. - Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson
              12:48 p.m. - SDSU coach John Stiegelmeyer
              1:56 p.m. - NDSU coach Craig Bohl
              1:04 p.m. - SUU coach Wes Meier

Thunderbird Club Luncheons: The Thunderbird Club's weekly no-host luncheon is held Mondays at noon at the Cedar City Crystal Inn. The public is invited to attend the luncheons where Southern Utah's in-season coaches talk about their upcoming contests and review the past week's action.

The Coaches:

Ten games into his fourth season, SUU's Wes Meier (Utah, 1991) has a record of 10-32 as the Thunderbird head coach. Prior to taking the reigns of the SUU program in 2004, Meier served as the Thunderbirds' assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and defensive line coach in 2003, helping guide the team to a 4-7 record, the first step in rebuilding the team after back-to-back 2-9 and 1-10 seasons. Meier, who played defensive line at SUU in the mid-1980s, returned to the Thunderbirds after a long career in the Utah high school ranks. Meier is 0-0 vs. Northern Iowa.

UNI's Mark Farley (UNI, 1986) is 61-24 in his seventh season at the helm of the Northern Iowa program. He is 0-0 vs. Southern Utah.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is in its fourth season in the FCS Great West Football conference after eight seasons as an NCAA I-AA independent. SUU is affiliated with the Summit League in all its other sports except women's gymnastics, which competes in the Western Athletic Conference. Northern Iowa is affiliated with the Gateway Football Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference in the majority of its sports.

SUU In The National Ranks:

Individuals: Return specialist Nick Miller appears twice in this week's NCAA rankings with averages of 10.11 yards per punt return, which ranks 35th in the FCS, and 146.4 all-purpose yards per game (30th). Punter Trevor Ward is 48th with an average of 39.34 yards per punt.

Team: As a team, SUU ranks among the FCS top-50 in two categories. The Thunderbirds are 42nd in passing offense (219.6 ypg) and 44th in kickoff returns (21.02 ypr). SUU is also 51st in punt returns (9.7 ypr).

Stone Steps Up:

Junior QB Cody Stone took over for the injured Wes Marshall at North Dakota State, then got the first start of this SUU career against Cal Poly. The transfer from Bakersfield College, who also spent a season at Northern Colorado, responded in a big way, completing 23-of-42 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns in his debut as a starter. It was the first 300-yard passing game by a Thunderbird since Marshall passed for 301 yards in the season-opener last year against Montana Tech last year and the first against a Division I opponent since Nov. 13, 2004, when Casey Rehrer threw for 315 yards in an overtime game against South Dakota State.

Stone's 310-yard performance is the eighth-best in SUU history, surpassing Tom Miller's 307-yard effort vs. Adam State back in 1966, while the 23 completions tied for the eighth-most in school history, along with several other players. The performance also set a school record for passing yards and completions in a first game as a starter. The 23 pass completions, 42 attempts and 310 yards were all individual and team highs this year.

Stone came back and passed for another 266 yards and two touchdowns last week but was intercepted four times, giving him seven TD passes but 11 interceptions.

Stone got his first extensive action of the season against McNeese State after Marshall was knocked out of the game. Stone responded well to the charge, completing 18-of-38 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, although he also was intercepted twice. He also ran eight yards for another TD. He came in again when Marshall was knocked out at NDSU and rallied the team by completing 11-of-20 passes for 182 yards and a pair of scores, but he was also intercepted four times.

Climbing the Charts:

Marshall has been climbing the SUU career record charts the past two seasons. He tallied 41 total yards before being sidelined by an injury at North Dakota State and now has 4,808 career total yards. With the injury he will finish his career ranked fifth on SUU's all-time total yards list, 73 yards shy of No. 4 Casey Rehrer (2003-04) who piled up 4,922 yards. Matt Cannon is the SUU career leader, with 8,390 yards from 1997 to 2000, with Rick Robins' (1992-95) 7,468 yards  second.

Marshall passed Chad Richard (1,004 plays, 1984-87) in the total plays category to move into third place vs. UC Davis. With 308 plays this season and 1,034 total, Cannon (1,197 plays) and Robins (1,429 plays), are the only players ahead of Marshall.

Marshall also moved up a spot on the career passing yardage list vs. UC Davis and he has moved up five spots this season, into third place. After passing Jerry Dyer (3,026 yards in 1974 and 1975) at Montana, Marshall moved past Buck Paopao (3,125 in 1969 and 1970) vs. North Dakota and past Scott Burns (3,470 yards from 1976-80) and Cannon (3,531) at Montana State. With his 237-yard day against UC Davis, Marshall upped his total to 3,995 yards to move past Rehrer, who finished his career with 3,993 yards. With 28 more vs. NDSU he has probably finished his career with 4,023 career passing yards. Richard (4,128 yards) is in second place, with Robins (7,441) first on the list.

Thunderbird Notes:

• Senior running back Johnny Sanchez ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns at South Dakota State. The yards are his second-highest total of the season, behind the 181 he had against McNeese State, and his touchdowns match his season-best. He also carried in two scores at Montana in the season-opener. He also had 25 carries at SDSU, tying his season-high (also at Youngstown St.).

• Cornerbacks Derrick Brown and DeWayne Lewis each had an interception at SDSU. It was the first pick of the season for both, as well as Lewis' first as a Thunderbird. Saturday's interception gives Brown three for his SUU career.

• Southern Utah scored a season-high 27 points at South Dakota State.

• Two Thunderbird receivers, Tysson Poots and Jeremy Edwards finished with career-high receiving yardage totals vs. Cal Poly. Poots caught six passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while Edwards had six grabs for 110 yards vs. the Mustangs. It marks the only time in SUU's FCS history that two Thunderbirds had 100 or more receiving yards in the same game.

• Poots and Edwards were at it again at South Dakota State, where each caught six passes. Edwards finished with 84 yards while Poots had 77. Nick Miller had the only TD grab at SDSU, however. Miller had just one catch but made the most of it, taking it 41 yards for a score.

• Senior safety D.J. Senter led the team with nine tackles at SDSU, tying his season-best.

• Junior DT Aaron Fernandez had a sack at SDSU to give him the team lead with four this season. Senior DE Jimmy Judd tallied his team-high 11th tackle-for-loss vs. Cal Poly. 

• SUU's Rob Takeno returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown against Cal Poly. It was the first time the Thunderbirds had scored on a fumble return since 2005 when Brian Kofoed scooped and scored vs. UC Davis.

• Cal Poly also had a fumble return for a score. It is the first time in SUU's history that each team has had a fumble return for a score, and it was the first time since Oct. 29, 2005 (North Dakota State) that an SUU opponent had scored on a fumble return.

• Cal Poly came into the SUU game with the top-ranked offense in the FCS but the Thunderbirds held the Mustangs to 391 yards, breaking a string of four straight games that CP had piled up at least 500-plus yards. SUU limited Cal Poly to just two drives longer than 50 yards.

• Senior linebacker Robert Bala rose to the occasion in his final home game, recording a career-best 11 tackles, a team-high, against Cal Poly. He was also in on three tackles for losses and a sack and was able to break up a pass. Fellow senior D.J. Senter had a season-high nine tackles from his strong safety spot, including seven solo stops, and he also forced three fumbles, two of which SUU was able to recover. Takeno and CB  DeWayne Lewis were also in on nine tackles, while senior DE Jimmy Judd had eight tackles with two TFLs, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry.

• Takeno now has a team-high 74 tackles this season, while Bala is second with 64 and CB Derrick Brown is third with 59.

• Three quarterbacks saw action at North Dakota State, Marshall, Stone, and redshirt freshman Stetson Peck. For Peck it was his first game-action since joining the Thunderbirds last season. He played relatively well in the fourth quarter, completing 5-of-9 passes for 28 yards and carrying twice for six yards. Stone completed 11-of-20 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, although he was also intercepted twice. Stone also carried three times for 10 yards but was sacked once to leave him with eight net rushing yards.

• The three QBs combined to complete a then-team season-high 22 passes for a then-season-high 238 yards. They also completed passes to a season-high 12 receivers, including TE Joel Johnson, who made his first two receptions as a Thunderbird.

• Jeremy Edwards was on the receiving end of three of those passes at NDSU, two of which went for scores. His 79-yard TD reception from Stone was the team's longest play from scrimmage this season, bettering a 66-yard Johnny Sanchez run against McNeese State. He was also on the receiving end of a 6-yard TD pass from Stone. Edwards, who finished the game with 93 receiving yards, has come up big in the last five games. In addition to the Cal Poly and NDSU games, he caught a touchdown pass for against UC Davis and finished with three receptions for 83 yards, including the 48-yard TD grab. He had three receptions for 50 yards in the Thunderbirds' final drive at Montana State, then came back with three big catches at Youngstown State for another 81 yards and a touchdown. He also had a catch on a 2-point conversion at YSU. 

• Wide receiver/return specialist Nick Miller has also been on a roll lately. The junior from Scottsdale CC piled up 276 all-purpose yards at North Dakota State, including 208 on kickoff returns, 59 receiving yards and nine on his only carry of the day. In his last six games Miller has tallied 185 (MSU), 155 (YSU), 185 (UCD), 276 (NDSU), 83 (Cal Poly) and 153 (SDSU) all-purpose yards. He is now averaging 144.7 all-purpose yards per game, the No. 30 average in the nation.

• Senior WR Ryan Higgins caught just one pass against UC Davis but it was a big one. The 24-yard strike from Wes Marshall went for a touchdown to give SUU a 7-0 lead and was Higgins' first TD reception in his two seasons at SUU.

• After going primarily to the run game at Youngstown State the Thunderbirds attempted 41 passes to 36 rushes against UC Davis. Wes Marshall attempted a season-high 41 passes, completing 16 for a personal season-high 237 yards. the team was more balanced again at NDSU, attempting 37 passes with 30 rushing plays, although the rushing totals do include four sacks.

• Robert Takeno co-led the team with seven tackles at NDSU, along with senior FS Jovan Jackson. Takeno, who also had nine tackles vs. UC Davis to lead the team a week earlier, has led or co-led the team four times this season and he has been either first or second on the team in all but two games.

• Jackson picked off his first pass of the season at North Dakota State.

• Sophomore DE Chad Westwood snagged his first career interception when he picked off a Matt Engle offering in the second quarter of the UC Davis game. Westwood also knocked down a pass and notched a QB hurry.

• No Cal Poly rusher had a 100-yard game vs. SUU. NDSU's Pat Paschall rushed for 105 yards vs. the Thunderbirds following UC Davis'  Brandon Tucker's 119 yard rushing effort, giving opponents back-to-back 100 yard rushing games for the only time since Montana's Lex Hilliard finished with 108 yards in the opener and North Dakota's Ryan Chappell went for 138 in the second game of the season. Prior to Tucker's effort, the Thunderbirds hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher since Chappell.

• Senior RB Johnny Sanchez carried a team-season-high 25 times at Youngstown State. He finished with 102 net rushing yards but 16 yards in losses gave him 86 official yards. He also had a 5-yard touchdown run, his third of the season.

• The team had a season-high 50 rushing attempts at YSU and threw the ball a season-low 18 times. The team's yards-per-pass average was a season-best 8.4 yards. SUU hadn't attempted fewer than than 32 passes (at Montana, vs. Southern Illinois) in any previous game this season.

• Wes Marshall's 2-yard TD run in the first quarter at YSU was the team's first first-half touchdown of the season. It also gave the Thunderbirds their first lead. The score was also Marshall's first rushing TD of the season. Marshall finished with 67 yards on the ground and the team tallied 171.

• Youngstown State had just four drives longer than 50 yards but the Penguins were able to capitalize on all four, scoring field goals on the first three and a touchdown on the fourth. SUU held YSU out of the end zone on its first eight possessions, and the first time the Penguins converted with a touchdown it was on a 2-yard drive after a fumble was recovered at the SUU 2-yard line.

• The Youngstown State game was about as even as it gets, right down to the final score of 23-22. SUU had 323 yards of offense while YSU had 324. As noted above the time of possession was 30:36-29:24. In addition, SUU averaged 4.8 yards per play, YSU averaged 4.7, each team punted six times, SUU averaged 3.4 yards per rush, YSU averaged 3.7, and SUU ran 68 plays while YSU ran 69.

• Southern Utah's defense rose to the occasion at Montana State, allowing just two drives longer than 50 yards. The longest Bobcat drive in the second half was 19 yards. The Thunderbirds held MSU to just 75 passing yards, the first time they had held an opponent under 100 yards since Western State threw for 92 in the second game of the season last year (Sept. 9, 2006).
• The 219 yards of total offense allowed to the Bobcats were the fewest given up by SUU this season.

• Despite cold and snowy conditions, the SUU at Montana State game drew the largest crowd ever for a non-conference game at MSU's Bobcat Stadium, 14,337.

• After some statistical adjustments were made, junior cornerback DeWayne Lewis led the SUU defensive effort at Montana State with nine tackles. while Jovan Jackson had seven. Lewis also tallied his first sacks and tackles-for-loss of the year and broke up a pass late in the game on third down to force a Bobcat punt. Lewis's sacks are a team season-high and his single-game TFL's are tied for the team season-high, along with DE Jimmy Judd, who was also in on three stops for losses at MSU.

• Wes Marshall completed a season-high 21 passes at Montana State and finished with a then-season-high 226 passing yards. Six of his passes went to junior WR Craig Gritton, who tied his career-high for receptions in a game.

• Freshman CB Akeem Anifowashe made the most of his one kickoff return at Montana State, bringing the offering back 46 yards. It was his career-best and the team's long this season.

• Johnny Sanchez ran for a career-best 181 yards on 16 carries against McNeese State. The 181 yards were the most by a Thunderbird since the 2002 season. Sanchez has enjoyed his two games against the Cowboys, as he ran for 161 yards and two TDs at McNeese last year, giving him 342 yards in the two games. Sanchez had two long runs vs. the Cowboys this year, one of 66 and another of 63 yards.

• Junior kicker Steve Pulver tied the record for the second-longest field goal in SUU history against Southern Illinois when his 52-yard second quarter attempt split the uprights. The kick was a career-long and tied Andy Parry's effort back in 1985. The longest field goal in SUU history was 60 yards, by Bill McKane in 1968 and tied a year later by Roy Ferguson.

• Pulver had the first rushing attempt of his career, a 14-yarder at Youngstown State. He also punted for the first time this year and got off a 37-yard kick. Pulver ran for his second first-down in as many games against UC Davis when he scrambled 19 yards in the first quarter against the Aggies.

• DeWayne Lewis had a then-career-best seven tackles vs. McNeese State. while freshman CB Collin Pretlow tied his career-high with six, as did senior DT Aaron Fernandez, who also had the team's only sack against the Cowboys.

• True freshman safety Tyler Peck had a career-high eight tackles vs. Southern Illinois and junior nickel back Troy Osborne had seven, also a career-high. Tabatabai had eight tackles, one off his career high. DE Chad Westwood and Pretlow each had six stops vs. the Salukis; Westwood also had a sack, a QB hurry and knocked down a pass while Pretlow's tackles were all of the solo variety. Pretlow also broke up a pass.

• Zack Samorano led the team in tackles against North Dakota with a career-best 12. Robert Bala also had a career-high against UND, with nine stops.

• Pretlow and junior S Nick Snowden each tallied interceptions vs. North Dakota State, their respective firsts as Thunderbirds. For the record, Pretlow had the first interception of the year, as his came early in the second quarter while Snowden's came in the fourth period.

• Derrick Brown's 12 tackles at Montana were a career-high. Tabatabai had nine stops, also a career-best and Fernandez  had six, also a personal-best.

• In the Welcome Back Kotter category, the Thunderbirds are happy to have punter Trevor Ward back on the squad after a two-year LDS church mission. Ward earned Great West Football Conference Player of the Week honors after the North Dakota game when he averaged 39.6 yards per punt on nine kicks, with five inside the Sioux 20. On the season Ward has punted 58 times for 2,279 yards, a 39.3 yard per punt average. His ability to stop the ball inside the 20 has been a strength, as he has pinned opponents deep 17 times.

Utah's Team:

The Thunderbirds have always been proud to be Utah's Team and this year is no exception as the SUU squad boasts 53 home-grown players. Nevada has the second-highest number of players on the roster, with 18, followed by California with 13. There are eight players hailing from Arizona, three from Idaho, two from Florida, and one each from Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Virginia. The Thunderbirds also have three international players on the roster this season: two from American Samoa and one from Sweden.

Panther Prints:

Northern Iowa boasts the second-ranked scoring defense in the country after allowing an average of just 13.5 points per game this season. The Panther run defense is highly-ranked, checking in at seventh, at 92.4 yards allowed per game with the pass defense 45th at 193.2 ypg, but the offense has been prolific as well, as UNI is 10th in total-O at 445.2 ypg. UNI averages 232 yards per game on the ground (13th) and 213.2 through the air (49th) and its passing attack carries an efficiency rating of 172.26. The Panthers average 35.6 points per game, the 16th-best average in the FCS.

QB Eric Sanders (6-1, 200, Sr) has completed 169-of-220 passes for 2,031 yards and 13 TDs with five interceptions. His favorite targets have been WR Johnny Gray (5-9, 185, Jr) and RB Corey Lewis (6-0, 197, Jr), with 48 and 42 receptions, respectively. Gray has 697 receiving yards and five TDs while Lewis has piled up 518 receiving yards. Gray also has carried 197 times for 1,138 yards, an average of 111.5 per game, and has scored 11 rushing touchdowns. Sanders has six rushing touchdowns as seven Panthers have scored via the run and seven have scored via the pass.

Defensively UNI fress safety Clifford Waters (6-0, 203, Sr) has tallied a team-high 73 tackles, while LB Brannon Carter (6-3, 233, Sr) has 66 stops with five interceptions and five PBUs. MLB De'Veon Harris (6-1, 215, Jr) has 65 tackles and co-leads the team with 5.5 tackles for loss, along with team sacks leader DT Mark Huygens (6-6, 277, Jr, 4.0 sacks).

SUU Picked Fifth In GWFC Poll:

The Thunderbirds are picked fifth in the GWFC pre-season coaches poll this year.
The coaches unanimously tabbed North Dakota to defend its title with 16 points and four first-place votes, while Cal Poly was a consensus second-place pick with 12 points and the other first place vote (coaches may not vote for their own team). South Dakota St. was picked fourth with eight points and SUU had four points.

SUU's Eccles Coliseum is one of two football stadiums in the world sporting both the Olympic Rings and an Olympic Cauldron inside the stadium (The Los Angeles Coliseum is the other). Southern Utah's Olympic Cauldron, donated by DCI Incorporated of Utah, was lit by the Olympic Torch Feb. 5, 2002, during the Olympic Torch Relay.

Wes Meier On Northern Iowa:

“Northern Iowa is another very physical, big, strong football team. They are solid across the board.

"Defensively they are primarily a zone team but they will man-up on you from time-to-time. They've got quickness and speed and size.

"On offense they look very similar to us. They like to spread you out and run option. They've got a great back and a quarterback who is very good at running their offense. They've also got some good receivers. They're solid on both lines, very big and physical and they're going to present a huge challenge for us.

“They're undefeated for a reason. They're a very good football team and we're going to have our work cut out for us.”

Meier on the Thunderbirds:

“Last week we played one of our best games for two quarters but we really had a melt-down at the end. The turnovers just killed us, like they have all year.

“Overall though, we've been playing some very good football over the last couple of weeks despite a lot of key injuries. Our young guys have been stepping up all season and they did it again last week.

“Cody [Stone] has been in a backup role for most of the season but he's come in the last couple of weeks and almost guided us to a couple of wins. It's tough going from a backup to the starter but he has responded to the call very well.”

The Last Time SUU and Northern Iowa Met:

Nov. 8, 1997, at Northern Iowa: UNI 53, SUU 33 ? Southern Utah had its best passing night of the season and finished with 499 yards of offense but it wasn't enough as the Thunderbirds fell behind early and couldn't catch up in the 53-33 loss.

UNI scored on its first three possessions to build an 18-0 lead, but SUU freshman QB Matt Cannon rallied the team with TD passes to Koby Leon and Kam Brown before the Panthers scored on a one-play, 59 yard drive consisting of a pass from Shane Fortney to Mike Furrey for a 25-14 halftime advantage.

UNI slowly pulled away in the second half as Fortney finished with 388 passing yards, the best effort by an SUU opponent in 1997. Panther tailback Terry Hollimon finished with 122 rushing yards, making him only the second player to rush for 100 or more yards that season.

For the Thunderbirds, Cannon ran for 116 yards and passed for another 142 filling in for an injured Joe Dupaix. Southern Utah fullback Brook Madsen ran for 116 yards as well, pushing him over 1,000-yards on the ground for the second straight season. Madsen is still one of just three Southern Utah backs to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and one of just two to do it three times. Cannon is the other.

DT Ahaz Griffith led the SUU defense with nine tackles, while safety Clay Marshall tallied seven.