Southern Utah's football team opens the 2009 season Thursday when the Thunderbirds host Dixie State at 6:05 p.m. in Eccles Coliseum. The game, which will be telecast live by KCSG TV, is the season-opener for the Thunderbirds but is the second for the Red Storm, who opened with a 37-28 win over Adams State last Thursday in St. George, Utah.

            Thursday's game will be telecast live by KCSG-TV. It is just the second Thursday night game in SUU's four-year football history. The first was in 2005, when the Thunderbirds traveled to Idaho State but came away disappointed after a 38-13 setback at the hands of the Bengals.

            Southern Utah (0-0, 0-0 Great West) is coming off a 4-7 season, including a   1-3 mark in Great West Football Conference play. The Thunderbirds are opening at home for the first time since the 2006 season, when they claimed a 34-0 win over Montana Tech in the opener in the Coliseum.

            Dixie State (1-0, 0-0 GNAC), which is in its fourth season at the NCAA Division II level, also finished 4-7 last season, with a 2-6 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

            Southern Utah is hoping to continue to improve under second-year Head Coach Ed Lamb. Last year's 4-7 mark last year was the best for SUU since the 2004 season when they posted a final 6-5 mark, and the 38-10 win over Adams State in the second game of the season (and the SUU home-opener) snapped a 19-game skid.

            The Game: Dixie State (1-0) at Southern Utah (0-0)Thursday, 6:05 p.m. (Mountain), Eccles Coliseum (8,500/Grass).

            The Series: Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between the two schools as four year colleges. Prior to SUU's move to four-year competition in 1963 both schools competed as junior colleges. Before SUU's move there was an annual SUU/DSC rivalry that stretched from 1935 to 1962. SUU held a 24-12-3 edge in that series, which began with a 19-7 SUU win (by then-Branch Agricultural College) and ended with a 6-2 SUU win (by then-College of Southern Utah).

            SUU In Season-Openers: Southern Utah is 24-22-0 in season-openers since moving to four-year status in 1963, 12-9 in season-openers at home and 27-18-1 in home-openers. SUU has won six of its last 10 season-openers and seven of its last 10 home-openers. However, the Thunderbirds have lost two straight season-openers,  both on the road, 41-7 at Air Force last year and 37-17 at Montana in 2007. The last season-opening win came in 2006 when the 'Birds claimed the 34-0 home win over Montana Tech. SUU also upset Weber State in Ogden, Utah, 34-31 in the 2004 season-opener and prior to a 24-23 season-opening loss at Nevada in 2003 the Thunderbirds had won six straight openers, including one on the road (45-35 at Montana in 1998) and five at home (44-13 over Illinois State in 1997, 50-7 over Ft. Lewis in 1999, 54-16 over Ft. Lewis in 2000, 28-21 over Weber State in 2001 and 7-0 over Mesa State in 2002). In his second season at SUU, Coach Ed Lamb is 0-1 in season-openers (41-7 at Air Force) but 1-0 in home-openers (38-10 over Adams State in the second game of 2008).

            The Thunderbirds have opened at home 10 of the last 16 seasons but have played their first game away from Cedar City four of the last six years. The road openers in that span were the game at Montana in 2007, at Nevada in 2003, at Weber State in 2004 and at Idaho State in 2005.

            TV: Thursday's game will be televised live by KCSG-TV, which is available via cable channel 6 in Cedar City, Hurricane, Provo, Santa Clara, St. George and Washington City; via satellite on Direct-TV channel 44 and Dish Network channel 37; and via Comcast cable channel 116 in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Cache and Summit counties.

            Highlight feeds of the remaining four Thunderbird home games will be available via SUU's FTP site. For information on obtaining those highlights contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.

            Radio: All of Southern Utah's 2009 football games will be available over the Thunderbird Sports 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 entering his 34th season as the Thunderbirds' football voice. He will be joined on home and selected road broadcasts by Chris Holmes.

            GWFC Teleconference: The Great West Conference holds a weekly teleconference, beginning at 12:45 p.m. (Mountain). The conference's head coaches all address their previous and upcoming games. For information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner. The schedule follows:

            12:45 p.m. - Introduction by Great West Commissioner Ed Grom

            12:47 p.m. - Cal Poly Coach Rich Ellerson

            12:55 p.m. - USD Coach Ed Meierkort

            1:03 p.m. - UND Coach Chris Mussman

            1:11 p.m. - SUU Coach Ed Lamb

            1:19 p.m. - UC Davis coach Bob Biggs

            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: SUU's Ed Lamb (BYU, 1996) has a record of 4-7 entering his second season as the Thunderbird head coach and his second season as a head coach overall. Last year Lamb guided the Thunderbirds to their most successful season since 2004. Prior to taking over at SUU, Lamb spent three seasons at the University of of San Diego where he coordinated the special teams and recruiting and was the Toreros' defensive backs coach. Prior to his time at USD Lamb spent two seasons as defensive coordinator at Idaho. He also served a season at BYU as a linebackers coach and four seasons at Redlands, three as defensive coordinator and one as defensive line coach.

            Dixie State's Ron Haun (Weber State, 1966) has a record of 8-25 at Dixie State. Prior to taking over at DSC, Haun spent 20 seasons as head coach at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho), where he compiled an overall record of 178-40-2, and coached his teams to 10 league championships and had 17 teams ranked among the NJCAA's top-15. 

            Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its sixth season in the Great West Conference after eight seasons as an NCAA Division I (FCS) independent. SUU is affiliated with The Summit League in all its other sports except women's gymnastics, which competes in the Western Athletic Conference. Dixie State is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in football while its remaining sports are affiliated with the Pacific West Conference. 

SUU In The FCS National Ranks: 

            Individuals: SUU had individuals ranked among the nation's top-50 FCS performers in seven offensive and defensive categories in last year's season-ending statistics. Wide receivers Nick Miller (now playing with the Oakland Raiders) and Tysson Poots each appeared in three different categories. Miller led the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 195.4 per game and also ranked fifth in punt return average at 16.0 yards per returng and 50th in receiving yards at 69.4 yards per game. Poots was third in both receiving yards per game (112.4) and receptions per game (7.6) and was 24th in scoring at 7.64 points per game. Punter Trevor Ward ranked eighth with an average of 42.8 yards per punt, while since-graduated quarterback Cody Stone ranked 27th in total offense with an average of 244.4 yards per game. Defensively, defensive tackle Austin Curtis (who has also graduated) ranked 45th in tackles for loss with an average of 1.23 per game.

            Team: As a team, the Thunderbirds ranked among I-AA's top-50 in four categories: punt returns, where they were third at 16.92 ypr; net punting, where they were sixth at 35.89 ypp; tackles for loss, where they were 18th with 7.18 per game; and passing offense where SUU checked in at No. 19 with 249.27 ypg.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

SUU is entering its 47th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 24th as a member of the NCAA. The 2009 season also marks the Thunderbirds' 17th as a member of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) and is the school's sixth in the Great West Conference.

The Thunderbirds have two all-Americans and six first team all-conference players returning, including senior punter Trevor Ward and junior receiver Tysson Poots, who both earned honorable mention all-America and first-team all-conference honors last year. In addition to Ward and Poots, senior linebacker Robert Takeno, junior cornerback Colin Pretlow, junior safety Akeem Anifowashe and senior center Stephen Boyer all earned first-team all GWC honors last year. In addition to the first-teamers, senior guard Aarron Po'uha earned second-team recognition last year.

SUU also returns three academic all-GWC honorees from the 2008 squad: Poots, Pretlow and Ward. In addition to those three, senior running back Brandon Godfrey, who sat out last year with an injury, earned academic all-GWC honors in 2006 and 2007.

SUU plays six of its 11 games against FCS opponents this year, with the exceptions being the games at FBS opponents San Diego State and Utah State, the opener against Division II Dixie State, and the games vs. North Dakota and South Dakota, a pair of teams making the transition from Division II to Division I status.

            Quick Outlook: Heading into his second season as head coach of Southern Utah's football program, Thunderbird Coach Ed Lamb is optimistic about his team's outlook this year. Expectations for continued improvement stem from areas of upgraded talent, size and strength, and an additional year with the current offensive and defensive schemes in place, to on-the-field production.

            On the offensive side of the ball nine players who started at least one game last season return, while the defense boasts seven who started in various schemes last year. The only area where significant change will be evident is on special teams, where two of the three primary specialists will have to be replaced.

            SUU has a pair of honorable mention all-Americans back this season, senior punter Trevor Ward and junior wide receiver Tysson Poots. Those two are joined by a handful of all-Great West Conference performers, including senior linebacker Robert Takeno, junior safety Akeem Anifowoshe, junior cornerback Colin Pretlow, and offensive linemen Stephen Boyer and Aarron Po'uha.

            Ward ranked eighth in the country last year with a 42.78 yards per punt average while Poots was third in both receptions per game and receiving yards per game (7.55 receptions for 112.36 yards per game) as well as 24th in the nation in scoring at 7.64 points per game.

            Takeno and Pretlow have both been named all-GWC every year of their collegiate careers, with Takeno a three-time and Pretlow a two-time honoree. Takeno has led the team in tackles two of the last three years, including a team-high 94 stops last season. Pretlow co-led the team with two interceptions last season, when he had 59 tackles. Anifowoshe was second on the squad with 76 tackles last year, including seven for losses.

            The Thunderbirds will have a new quarterback this season but in Lamb's eyes it will be an upgrade. Cade Cooper – a junior college all-American at Snow College in 2005 who sat out last year after transferring from Oregon – takes over from record-setting Cody Stone in the pocket.

            “Cody gave us everything he had last year, he was a great competitor and he worked hard to be a team leader and the best player he could be ... [but] Cade brings us a lot of experience and a breadth of experience,” Lamb said.

            “[Cooper] brings some leadership qualities too,” Lamb went on to say. “For a player who has never taken a snap in our uniform he brings a lot more leadership than you might imagine.”

            The offensive line is one area where the Thunderbirds also have high expectations. With five starters who average 6-foot-5 and 313 pounds they certainly have the size to compete. Boyer (6-3, 300) moves from guard to center this year, a move Lamb said has been a natural, while Po'uha (6-5, 325) moves from guard to tackle. Lining up alongside them will be senior guard Levi Mack (6-5, 325), sophomore tackle Joe Ellis (6-6, 300) and sophomore guard Zach Brackus (6-5, 316). A handfull of similarly sized reserves are also on the roster.

            The receiving corps is deep and experienced, with three of last year's top four wideouts back. Poots, sophomore Jared Ursua and junior Fesi Sitake all caught over 25 passes last season, led by Poots' school-record totals of 83 catches for 1,236 yards and 14 touchdowns. Sophomore Abbel Aiono also returns after spending the 2008 season as the primary backup at tight end.

            At running back last year's top three rushers, junior Deckar Alexander, senior Kennie Apilli and sophomore Daryl Brown, all return, but injuries to Alexander and Brown during fall camp have opened the door for both Apilli and sophomore Austin Minefee to vie for the starter's role. Minefee rushed for over 100 yards in the team's final two scrimmages of the fall and Apilli averaged aver 70 yards in those two tune-ups.

            The team lost a great deal of talent on the defensive side of the ball to graduation, but with Takeno, Anifowoshe and Pretlow back there is a solid foundation of returning talent.

            In addition to Anifowoshe and Pretlow the Thunderbirds have the versatile D.J. Lucchesi, a junior who finished the season fourth on the team in tackles while playing everywhere except on the line; sophomore Blake Fenn, who also lines up in a variety of positions; and sophomore cornerback Erron Vonner – who all finished among the team's top-15 tacklers last season – returning in the secondary.

            In addition to Takeno, the linebacking corps includes Troy Bunting, who stepped into a starting role because of injuries last year and responded with 46 tackles, seven for losses; Drew Willard, a sophomore who was just back from an LDS church mission last season but rose to the top of the depth chart in the spring and stayed there. Redshirt freshman Rickey Clark, sophomore Andrew Taeoalii (who started in 2005 prior to serving a mission of his own) and Fenn will also contribute.

            Perhaps the team took its biggest hit along the defensive line, where it lost a pair of all-conference tackles, but seniors Chad Westwood (a two-year starter) and Scott Larsen both had an impact last year, while sophomore Cody Heinreich, junior Nick Garcia and redshirt freshman Cody Larsen all had good springs and have been solid in the fall.

            On special teams Ward – the holder of a handful of SUU records – is back to try for his fourth all-GWC honor. Taking over the kicking duties is senior Ryan Griffith, a converted wide receiver who has worked hard to fill the shoes of the since-graduated Steve Pulver. Return duties look to fall to Ursua and Sitake, who have the big shoes of Nick Miller – who led the nation in all-purpose yards last year – to fill.

            Coaching Lineup: The staff will return virtually intact for the 2009 season, with Lamb as head coach/defensive coordinator. Former Weber State all-American and NFL standout Al Pupunu returns as assistant head/tight ends and running backs coach while former BYU and Utah assistant Steve Clark will again handle offensive coordinator duties. Another NFL veteran, former BYU standout Justin Ena is back as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, and Paul Peterson, a former JC all-American at Snow College who was also a successful QB at Boston College, will again handle the quarterbacks and receivers as well as heading up recruiting. Ryan Hunt, a former all-conference performer at offensive tackle for SUU, returns as defensive line coach while Demario Warren, who played running back at UC Davis before injuries cut short his career, returns as secondary coach, and another NFL veteran and BYU grad, Jason Andersen, is slated to coach the offensive line. In addition to those coaches, Shane Braman returns as an offensive assistant. New to the staff this year will be graduate assistants Teag Whiting, another former BYU player with NFL experience, and Ronnie Pentz, who was an all-conference performer for Lamb at University of San Diego. Rounding out the staff will be student assistant Aaron Fernandez, a two-time all-GWC performer for the Thunderbirds.

            2009 Schedule: Lamb says he likes the way the 2009 schedule is set up, with a variety of tough opponents in the first five games before the GWC opener at Cal Poly, Oct. 17, then the conference schedule, and finally a pair of non-conference tilts to wrap up the campaign.

            “The thing I really like about our schedule is the way it's set up,” he explains. “We have five non-conference games before we even have to think about a conference game and I really like the way that's set up. We've got time to grow as a team, we've got time to have success, have struggles and respond to both before we have to get into our conference. The mark of a good team is the team that wins the conference championship so I expect us to be well prepared before we ever play a conference game.

            “Then we've got all four of our conference games in a row. If at that point we have learned in the first five games enough to win our conference in the next four, then we play two very well respected teams, with a shot to get into the [FCS] national playoffs. First things first, setting ourselves up in the first five games and win the conference. That would be a really nice position to be in, to have a conference championship in hand and then be playing Eastern Washington and San Diego in two highly visible games at the end of the season.

            “I think the schedule is perfect for us,” he adds. “The philosophy here has been to schedule the best teams we can get to come and play us and for us to play on the road. [SUU Athletic Director Ken Beazer] had a vision for us to become a national contender and I want it to stay that way.

            “We play two Division I-A teams [San Diego State and Utah State]; we play Texas State, a playoff team last year; obviously Cal Poly is in our league, they're a playoff team; UC Davis is a pre-season top-25; we round out our non-conference schedule with two traditional top-level FCS teams, Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington, who have both been in the top-half of the standings in the Big Sky; and we've got the University of San Diego, who averages nine or 10 wins over the past four years, the best [Division I] non-scholarship team we could schedule; so it's a challenging schedule, which is good. We also have the Dixie game, which will be a great game for community involvement, will be great for the southern Utah area.”

            Red Storm Warning: Dixie State lost six all-conference players from last season's squad but returns three – all on the offensive side of the ball – including quarterback Judd Thompson (6-3, 220, Sr), running back Adam Wells (5-9, 203, Jr) and receiver Kyser Christensen (6-3, 215, Jr).

            Thompson actually earned all-conference honors as a tight end but he moved to quarterback from in the spring. After starting his collegiate career as a quarterback at Utah State, he transferred to Dixie but wound up playing tight end for three seasons before getting his chance to run the show in the spring.

            Thompson completed 27-of-40 passes for 374 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception, last Thursday against Adams State.

            His favorite targets figure to be Christensen, who caught 49 passes for 674 yards and six touchdowns last year, and Skyler Ence, who had 45 receptions for 477 yards and four scores in 2008. Christensen had nine receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns vs. Adams State while Ence had 11 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown against Adams State.

            Wells led the team in rushing last year despite missing two games. He finished the season with 556 yards and three touchdowns and also caught 14 passes for 89 more yards. Tauni Vakapuna, who played in just two games last season, also has high expectations, and was the team's top rusher against Adams State, with 52 yards and a score on 17 carries. Wells carried just four times against ASC and finished with minus-12 yards.

            On the defensive side of the ball safety Ross Doman is the top returning tackler after tallying 51 stops and leading the team with three interceptions last season. Cornerback Richard May had 43 tackles and two more picks in 2008 and nickle back Micah Harward is back after recording 40 tackles, including 5.5 for losses last year. Those three are the only players who finished among DSC's top-10 tacklers last season but nose guard Manu Mafi had 18 tackles and was tied for third on the team in sacks with 3.5.

            LInebacker Nick Cragin led the Red Storm in the opener with eight tackles and an interception, while Keauntea Bankhead – a transfer from Arizona Western – had six tackles, including a half-sack.

            The Red Storm also was the beneficiary of Western Washington dropping its program. A handful of Western players opted to migrate to the sunnier climate of St. George to finish their collegiate careers, including junior defensive end Nick Rocco, a unanimous all-GNAC pick last season.

            SUU Picked Fifth In GWFC Poll: The Thunderbirds are picked fifth in the GWFC pre-season coaches poll this year.

            The coaches tabbed Cal Poly to defend its title, with UC Davis tabbed to finish second for the second straight year. Cal Poly picked up four first-place votes, with the Aggies grabbing the other. South Dakota, North Dakota and SUU were closely bunched at 3-through-5, with USD receiving 12 points, UND receiving 10 and SUU receiving nine.

            SUU has finished fifth the past four seasons. The Thunderbirds' best league finish came in 2004, when they finished third in the conference's first season.

            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.            

            Ed Lamb On Dixie State: “Dixie has already played one game so they have a little bit of an advantage going into this game. Dixie State is much improved from a year ago. They handled [a good Adams State team] last week, the score was a lot closer than the game. Dixie was in control the whole game.

            “They've got a great quarterback, he's tall, he's athletic, he's been playing tight end for them for three years in a starting role. They've a physical defense and a big running back, they've got a lot of pieces in place, so they're going to be improved over last year and I hope they come into this game with a lot of confidence.”

            Lamb on the Thunderbirds: “There's a lot of community excitement about this game. Our guys are really excited about it. Typically when a Division I team plays a Division II team there's a real fear that the higher-rated team will kind of overlook the opponent but I can assure you that our guys are not going to overlook the opponent. Our guys are very excited about the game; they've worked very hard and they're focused.

            “The last year we've changed some of our game-to-game goals. Last year when we won the turnover-takeaway battle ... we were 3-0, we were undefeated, so that's been a real point of emphasis in camp. Also when we rushed for 100 yards we had three victories and zero losses and any time we accomplished 66 percent or greater on third downs stops on defense – where we could get the opponent to punt or forced them to try a field goal on fourth down – we were undefeated as well.

            “We really want to duplicate those [statistics] and we've put a lot of effort into situational-type practices: running the football, stopping the run, getting off the field on third down on defense,  protecting the football on offense and taking it away on defense.

            “We want to see if we can effectively and efficiently run the football on first down and in short-yardage situations where the defense is expecting the run. Our players are skilled in the area of the pass game so I don't have as many questions there as I do with running the ball effectively and efficiently.

            “I think if we can run the ball well in game one it will give us  confidence going down the stretch and I think it will help our defense as well.”