Quickly: Southern Utah University heads back out on the road this week as the Thunderbirds travel to San Jose, Calif. for a Saturday match-up with San Jose State. The game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (Pacific) in Spartan Stadium.

Southern Utah (1-1/0-0 Great West) is coming off a home-opening 32-3 win over San Diego. The Thunderbird defense stifled USD, limiting the Toreros to 34 passing and 145 total yards, including just 36 in the second half. Seven different T-Birds broke up passes in the game and six had a tackle-for-loss. Special teams came up big as well, blocking a punt and recovering a muffed punt, with both plays leading to SUU scores.

San Jose State (0-2/0-0 WAC) will be hosting SUU in its 2010 home-opener. The Spartans opened the season with a 48-3 loss at top-ranked Alabama, then traveled to Wisconsin last weekend where they came out on the wrong end of a 27-14 decision.

SJSU will be the Thunderbirds' second Football Bowl Subdivision opponent this season. SUU opened with a 28-20 setback at Wyoming on Sept. 4. The T-Birds played well in that game but gave up back-to-back third period scores to the Cowboys, which wound up being the difference. The Thunderbirds rallied back in the fourth quarter but came up short when Brad Sorensen's long pass to Tysson Poots as time expired tumbled to the ground.

The Game: Southern Utah (1-1), at San Jose State (0-2), Saturday at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific), Spartan Stadium (30,456/Grass), San Jose, Calif.

Thunderbird Practice Schedule: The players are off on Mondays. Daily practices Tuesday through Thursday are scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. and end at 6:15 p.m.

Media Availability: Players and coaches are available for interviews on Tuesdays following practice, at approximately 6:15 p.m. To contact a player or coach on another day or time contact Neil Gardner at gardner@suu.edu or 435-586-7753.

The Series: Saturday's game will mark the second meeting between the two schools on the football field. The last meeting came in 2000 when the Spartans took a 47-7 win in San Jose.

TV: All of Southern Utah's home games 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 in Utah 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.

Coaches Show: Coach Ed Lamb appears weekly on The T-Bird Zone, which airs Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. on KCSG television.

Video Highlights: Video highlights of the Thunderbirds' road games will be available to accredited media outlets 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 2010 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 network affiliate KSUB AM (590), which covers southwest Utah. Art Challis is in his 34th season as the Thunderbirds' football voice. Former Thunderbird standout Dave McMullin provides color commentary.

GWC 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 a schedule and information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.

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.

Next Up/Remaining Schedule: The Thunderbirds head back out on the road next week for a game at Texas State (Sept. 25) before returning home to host Northern Arizona at 1:00 p.m. on Oct. 2. After a trip to North Dakota to open Great West Conference play (Oct. 9) SUU hosts GWC foe Cal Poly in its annual Homecoming game at 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 16. SUU remains at home the following week for another conference clash, this time against South Dakota, at 1:00 p.m. in the Coliseum. The T-Birds wrap up their GWC slate the following weekend at UC Davis on Oct. 30, before the home finale against Dixie State at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 6. The regular-season wraps up Nov. 13, when SUU travels to Cheney, Wash., to take on Eastern Washington.

The Coaches: SUU's Ed Lamb (BYU, 1996) has a record of 10-14 two games into his third season as the Thunderbird head coach and his third season as a head coach overall. Last led the team to a 5-6 record, a mark which bettered the 2008 team's 4-7, which was its best since '04. Prior to taking over at SUU, Lamb spent three seasons at the University 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 the University of Redlands, three as defensive coordinator and one as defensive line coach. Coach Lamb is 0-0 vs. San Jose State.

San Jose State's Mike MacIntyre (Georgia Tech, 1989) has a record of 0-2 two games into his first season as a head coach. He is 0-0 vs. the Thunderbirds.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its seventh season in the Great West Conference, which competes at the NCAA Division I (FCS) level. SUU is affiliated with The Summit League in all its other sports except women's gymnastics, which competes in the Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State is a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision Western Athletic Conference.

SUU Versus the FBS: This will be SUU's 15th game against an NCAA FBS opponent and its seventh against a team currently competing in the Western Athletic Conference. All 15 contests have come on the road. Southern Utah is 1-14 against FBS foes and 0-5 vs. the WAC. The Thunderbirds' only win over an FBS team came at Arkansas State, a 34-24 triumph back in 1997. SUU's losses to FBS teams came at Boise State (35-27 in 1999), at San Jose State (47-4 in 2000), at Utah State (30-14 in 2000 and 53-34 in 2009), at South Florida (42-12 in 2001), at Troy State (20-17 in 2001 and 40-15 in 2002), at Arkansas State (38-16 in 2002), at Nevada (24-23 in 2003), at Florida Atlantic (32-7 in 2006), at Air Force (41-7 in 2008) at San Diego St. (35-19 in 2009) and at Wyoming, 28-20 earlier this season. For the record, SUU lost a 43-10 home decision against Idaho back in 1994 when the Vandals were members of the Big Sky competing at the FCS level.

SUU In The FCS National Ranks: 

Individuals: SUU has 10 players ranked among the FCS top-50 in 14 major statistical categories this week.

Defense: LB Akeem Anifowoshe has the highest individual ranking, at eighth in tackles for loss with 2.75 per game, while Tyler Osborne is right behind him in ninth with 2.5 per, and Cody Heinreich is 25th at 1.75. Heinreich is also 14th in sacks with 1.0 per game, and rounding out SUU's defensive rankings Matt Holley is 24th in interceptions (0.5 ipg) with Blake Fenn 39th in tackles per game (10.0).

Offense: On the offensive side of the ball Tysson Poots is 21st in scoring with 9.0 ppg, 26th in receiving yards per game (83.5) and 35th in receptions per game (5.5). Fesi Sitake is 28th in receptions per game (6.0) and in all-purpose yards (145 ypg), while QB Brad Sorensen ranks 29th in passing efficiency (136.59) and 31st in total offense (230 ypg).

Special Teams: SUU has players ranked in all four special teams categories. Brock Miller is 15th in field goals per game at 1.5, while Sitake is 22nd in kickoff return average (27.4 ypr) and 28th in punt return average (8.8 ypr). Trent Barney ranks 46th in punting (38.25 ypp).

Team: After two weeks of play the Thunderbirds rank among the top-50 in 14 of the 17 major statistical categories, including second in tackles-for-loss per game with 11.5. SUU also ranks seventh in rushing defense (73.5 ypg), ninth in total defense (250.0 ypg), 13th in sacks (3.0 spg) and 14th in scoring defense (15.5 ppg). SUU is 17th in net punting (38.4 ypp), 18th in kickoff return average (25.5 ypr). The Thunderbirds rank 22nd in total offense (397.5 ypg), 31st in passing offense (231.5), 35th in both rushing offense (166 ypg) and pass defense (176.5 ypg), 41st in passing efficiency (132.96), 44th in scoring (26.0 ppg) and are tied for 46th in turnover margin (0.0).

Weekly Award Winners

Tysson Poots earned honorable mention as receiver of the week on th enational level from College Football Performance Awards for his play in the Thunderbirds' win over San Diego. Poots caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

Akeem Anifowoshe and Tyler Osborne both received honors following their performances in the Thunderbirds' 28-20 loss at Wyoming on Sept. 4. Anifowoshe was named the Great West Conference's defensive player of the week, while both players earned honorable mention honors from College Football Performance Awards.

Anifowoshe tallied 10 tackles, including five solo stops, 3.5 tackles for losses and a sack in the Wyoming game. One of his tackles for a loss came when the Cowboys were inside the SUU 5-yard line and on the following play he provided the pressure that forced Wyoming quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels to throw on the run, a pass which wound up being intercepted by Matt Holley in the end zone.

Osborne also had 3.5 tackles for losses and a sack in the game, with all but one of his five total tackles coming in the Cowboy backfield.

The Great West Conference awards are determined by the conference office. The CFPA bases its awards on a statistical formula which determines "the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams," according to a CFPA press release.

Preseason Accolades: WR Tysson Poots, WR Fesi Sitake and LB Akeem Anifowoshe all earned preseason honors from at least one publication. Poots is a consensus first-team all-American, is listed on the Payton Award Watch list (which honors the top offensive player at the FCS level) and was named the Great West Conference's pre-season offensive player of the year. Sitake also earned second-team honors as a return specialist from the College Sporting News, JB Scouting and from Phil Steele's Annual and third-team honors from The Sports Network. Anifowoshe earned honorable mention recognition from the Senior Scout Bowl.

Captains: This year's captains are Tysson Poots, Colin Pretlow and Fesi Sitake.

SUU Picked Third In GWC Coaches Poll: Southern Utah pulled one first-place vote and 14 points in the annual pre-season poll of the Great West Conference coaches, placing them third, behind defending champion UC Davis and four-time champ Cal Poly. UC Davis was the clear favorite, with 23 points and three first-place votes, while Cal Poly accumulated 18 points and the final first-place nod. South Dakota tallied 11 points to finish fourth while North Dakota was picked to finish fifth with nine points.

Last season the Thunderbirds finished tied with North Dakota and South Dakota in second place after all three posted 2-2 marks in league play. UC Davis finished atop the standings at 3-1 (with the Aggies' only loss coming at the hands of SUU, 56-35) and Cal Poly was fifth at 1-3.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

• Tysson Poots caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns against San Diego. He has now caught a touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games and it was his 15th career 100-yard game.
•  Junior quarterback Zack Olsen scored his first collegiate touchdown against San Diego when he scrambled around the left end for 17 yards and the final score of the game.
• SUU held San Diego to 34 passing yards, the sixth-fewest passing yards by an opponent in SUU's 4-year history (since 1963). SUU gave up just 145 total yards and only 36 in the second half when the Toreros had just two first downs and didn't make it past the SUU 49 yard line.
•  The Thunderbird defense allowed just two drives of over six plays and just four over five plays against San Diego. Six players had tackles for losses and seven broke up passes.
• In a span of less than 40 seconds DT Cody Heinreich doubled his career sacks total against San Diego. He had solo sacks on back-to-back plays in the third quarter for a total of 16 yards. Coming into the game Heinreich, a junior, had one career sack.
• Fesi Sitake has led the team in all-purpose yards both times out this season. He had 140 yards at Wyoming, 63 receiving, 76 on kickoff returns and one on a punt return. Against San Diego he finished with 150 yards, 46 receiving, 61 on kick returns and 43 on a pair of punt returns.
• Between serving an LDS church mission and sitting out last season as a redshirt it had been over three years since Brad Sorensen had thrown a pass in a game when he took the field at Wyoming. His first completion covered 23 yards and went to Tysson Poots, his first touchdown also went to Poots, a seven-yarder.
• The Thunderbirds' 191 rushing yards at Wyoming were their most since going for 244 vs. Dixie State in the opener last year and their 193 passing yards were the fewest since the T-Birds threw for just 189 in that Dixie State game.
• SUU held Wyoming to 36 rushing yards, the fewest ever by an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision team against the Thunderbirds. The 36 yards were the fewest by an SUU opponent since the second game of the 2006 season when the Thunderbirds held Division II Western State to six rushing yards. The T-Birds had 10 tackles-for-loss in that game, including five sacks, for a total of minus-74 rushing yards. The SUU record for rushing yards allowed in a game is minus-35 against Asuza Pacific way back in 1971. The fewest rushing yards allowed by SUU against an FSC team was minus-29, vs. St. Mary's in 1998.
• Despite suffering the loss, SUU had more total yards than Wyoming. The Thunderbirds finished with 384 yards while the Cowboys had 355. Southern Utah also had the ball for 34:43 to 25:17 for Wyoming.
• SUU is in its 48th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 25th as a member of the NCAA. The 2010 season also marks the Thunderbirds' 18th as a member of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision and is the school's seventh in the Great West Conference.
• The opener at Wyoming marked the sixth time in the last eight seasons the Thunderbirds have played their first game of the season on the road. In 2008 SUU opened at Air Force, in 2007 the team opened at Montana, in 2005 at Idaho State, in 2004 the team opened at Weber State and in 2003 the opener was at Nevada. The two openers at home have been last year against Dixie State, a 36-7 SUU victory, and in 2006 when the 'Birds kicked off the season with a 34-0 defeat of Montana Tech at Eccles Coliseum.
• The Thunderbirds have an all-American and five all-conference players returning, including senior wide receiver Tysson Poots, who earned second-team all-America, FCS Fabulous-50 and first-team all-conference honors last year. In addition to Poots, senior cornerback Colin Pretlow and senior linebacker Akeem Anifowoshe (who played safety in 2009) earned first-team all GWC honors last year, with Pretlow also taking home Fabulous-50 honors from The College Sports Network. In addition to the first-teamers, senior wide receiver Fesi Sitake earned second-team honors and cornerback Erron Vonner earned honorable mention recognition last year.
• Poots was also an academic all-American last year, as well as an academic All-GWC selection. SUU has nine returning academic all-GWC honorees, including Poots, Pretlow, Sitake, Vonner, LB Blake Fenn, OL Dylan Fox, FB/LS Brigham Nielson, QB Zach Olsen, OL Trevor Schauerhamer, and DB Tyson Turley. Poots and Pretlow were both academic all-GWC honorees in 2008 as well.
• SUU plays 10 of its 11 games against NCAA Division I opponents this year, with the exception being the game against Division II Dixie State. Two of the Division I opponents, Wyoming and San Jose State, compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, while the other eight compete at the Football Championship Subdivision level. North Dakota and South Dakota are in the transition phase between Division II and Division I.
• SUU's roster is heavy with Utah natives, as 45 hail from the Beehive State. California is the next-most represented state, with 24, while a baker's dozen call Nevada home. Four come from Texas, three are from American Samoa, and the Thunderbirds have one player from each of the following states: Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington, as well as one player from Samoa (in addition to the three from American Samoa).

Coaching Lineup: The SUU staff returns almost intact for the 2010 season, but some of the titles have changed. Head Coach Ed Lamb will give up his duties as defensive coordinator and hand those reins to third-year assistant Justin Ena. Ena, an NFL veteran and former BYU standout, will also continue as linebackers coach. Former BYU and Utah assistant Steve Clark will again handle offensive coordinator duties, while  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 and taking on the mantle of passing game coordinator. 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. Another NFL veteran and former BYU standout Teag Whiting, takes over as offensive line coach after working as a graduate assistant last year. Whiting replaces Jason Andersen. Ronnie Pentz, who was a graduate assistant working with the linebackers and special teams last year takes over Ena's former duties as special teams coordinator this year. Aaron Fernandez, an all-GWC defensive tackle in 2008, returns as a defensive assistant and will take on the duties of assistant recruiting coordinator. The only newcomer is former Thunderbird standout Justin Wattenscheid, who replaces  Al Pupunu as tight ends and running backs coach. Pupunu left the Thunderbirds for the University of Idaho last spring while Andersen opted to devote his time to another business venture.

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.            

About the Spartans: San Jose State will be happy to be at home this week after opening at No. 1 Alabama, then traveling to No. 11 Wisconsin last week. The Thunderbirds are the only unranked team the Spartans face in their first four weeks of play, as SJSU visits Utah next week. In addition to SUU and Utah, SJSU faces WAC foe Utah State later in the season, so the Spartans will get a healthy does of Beehive State foes this season.

San Jose State is 10-0 all-time against FCS-level teams, including a 47-7 win over SUU back in 2000. The Spartans are 49-24-2 in home-openers and had an eight-game winning streak in first games at Spartan Stadium going until Utah took a 24-14 win last season.

Quarterback Jordan La Secla (6-3, 205, Sr) has completed 27-of-40 passes for 313 yards with two interceptions and two touchdowns in the first two games. His favorite targets have been freshman wideouts Chandler Jones (5-9, 165) and Noel Grigsby (5-10, 170), who have 11 and nine receptions, respectively, for 133 and 134 yards and a touchdown apiece. Brandon Rutley (5-10, 190, Jr) has carried the bulk of the rushing load, with 25 carries for 83 yards.

Defensively, LB Vince Buhagiar (6-3, 235, Fr) leads the team with 18 tackles, while fellow 'backer Tiuke Tuipulotu (5-10, 205, Jr) has 15 tackles and a team-best nine solo stops along with three passes broke up, which co-leads the team. CB Peyton Thompson (5-11, 180, Jr) also has three PBUs as well as the Spartans' lone interception to go with 11 tackles. Safety Alex Germany (5-9, 181, Jr) has 13 tackles. Seven Spartans have logged tackles-for-loss, led by CB Ronnie Yell (5-9, 175, So) with two.

As a team, the Spartans have averaged 72 rushing and 169 passing yards while allowing their two ranked opponents to average 234.5 yards on the ground and 262.5 on the ground.

Coach Ed Lamb On The San Diego Game: "Our defense played outstanding, [allowing] 145 total yards and only 34 yards passing, San Diego could not consistently get anything going. The defense played incredibly hard and really well, they were well-coached by [defensive coordinator] Justin Ena and the defensive coaches; I thought they put together a great game plan.

"There are some big opportunities for our team to learn and we're going to have to do that. We flat-out need to get better, of course that is the objective every week. This team has huge potential and can be really good, right now we're just seeing a small part of that."

Coach Lamb On San Jose State: "They are really good with their team speed. Overall they've got a fast team, we're going to have to address that. We're going to have to  play fast, we're going to have to train fast all week, we're going to have to play with great enthusiasm, we're going to have to be quick on our reads and assignments. We have to play well, we have to play hard. They're a very good team in all areas. They have played a very difficult schedule so far, the record is not an indication of the quality of the San Jose State team."