Quickly: Southern Utah University opens its 2010 home football season Saturday when the Thunderbirds host the University of San Diego at 6:00 p.m. in Eccles Coliseum.

Southern Utah (0-1/0-0 Great West) is coming off a 28-20 setback at Wyoming on Sept. 4. SUU played well in that game but gave up back-to-back third period scores to the Cowboys and that 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.

San Diego (0-1/0-0 Pioneer League) lost a42-14 decision at home to Azusa Pacific last Saturday. That game was tight early and went into halftime with a 14-14 tie, but the Cougars scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to clinch the victory.

SUU Head Coach Ed Lamb will be looking across the field at some familiar faces this weekend. He spent three seasons on the Torero staff immediately prior to taking the reins in Cedar City. While he was with USD, Lamb helped the Toreros to three consecutive Pioneer League championships as well as back-to-back NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major National Championships in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 the USD special teams ranked first or second in the Pioneer League in every statistical category and the defense finished 2006 ranked fourth nationally after the Toreros completed an 11-1 season. While at USD, Coach Lamb's responsibilities included serving as the team's budget manager and recruiting coordinator in addition to his on-field responsibilities.

On Saturday the Thunderbirds will both the military and first-response teams for the service they provide to better our lives as Americans and residents of Cedar City and Iron County.

SUU will also unveil its new high definition scoreboard and video wall at Saturday's game.

The Game: San Diego (0-1) at Southern Utah (0-1), Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (Mountain), Eccles Coliseum (8,500/Grass), Cedar City, Utah.

The Series: Saturday's game will mark the second meeting between the two schools on the football field. SUU came out on top of the first meeting last season when the Thunderbirds traveled to San Diego and came away with a 37-32 victory.

SUU In Home-Openers

A 36-7 home win over in-state rival Dixie State last season lifted Southern Utah to 28-18-1 in home-openers since the school moved to four-year status in 1963. The win over Dixie State was also the second straight home-opening win for SUU, which has come out on top of seven of its last 10 home-openers. 

In his third season at SUU, Coach Ed Lamb is 2-0 in home-openers with the win over Dixie State last season and a 38-10 win over Adams State in '08.

The Thunderbirds have opened at home 10 of the last 17 seasons but have played their first game on the road in six of the last eight years, including this season.

 

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 entering 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 information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner. The schedule follows:

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

            12:47 p.m. - Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh

            12:55 p.m. - South Dakota coach Ed Meierkort

            1:03 p.m. - North Dakota coach Chris Mussman

            1:11 p.m. - Southern Utah 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.

Next Up/Remaining Schedule

The Thunderbirds hit the road for back-to-back road games at San Jose State (Sept. 18) and 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 wrapping up their home season against Dixie State at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 6. The regular-season finale is scheduled for 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 9-14 one game 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 also 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 1-0 vs. his former school.

San Diego's Ron Caragher (UCLA, 1990) has a record 22-10 one game into his fourth season at USD. Caragher is 0-1 vs. the Thunderbirds.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its seventh 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. San Diego is a member of the Pioneer League (FCS) in football with the majority of its sports affiliated with the West Coast Conference.

SUU In The FCS National Ranks: 

Individuals: SUU has 16 players ranked in 11 major statistical categories this week, led by safety Matt Holley, linebacker Akeem Anifowoshe and defensive end Tyler Osborne. Holley is tied for fourth in the country with one interception per game, while Anifowoshe and Osborne are tied for fourth with an average of 3.5 tackles-for-loss per game. Anifowoshe and Osborne, along with Trent Barney, are also tied for 24th with one sack per game, and both Anifowoshe and Holley are tied for 43rd with 10 tackles per game. Fesi Sitake is tied for ninth in receptions per game with eight, is 20th in kickoff return average at 25.3 ypr and is tied for 41st in all-purpose yardage with 140.0.Brad Sorensen ranks in two categories, 32nd in total offense (208 ypg) and 43rd in passing efficiency (118.61). Brock Miller and Ryan McNamara are both tied for 24th with 1.0 field goal per game, Tysson Poots is tied for 45th with 5.0 receptions per game and Trent Barney is tied for 47th with a 36.75 yard per punt average.

Team: After one week of play the Thunderbirds rank among the top-50 in 12 of the 14 major statistical categories, including second in tackles-for-loss per game with 12. SUU also ranks eighth in rushing defense and 11th in turnover differential after giving up just 36 yards on the ground last week and finishing with no turnovers to Wyoming's two (plus-2.0 differential). SUU is also 15th in sacks (3.0), 27th in rushing offense (191 ypg), 39th in passing offense (193 ypg), 34th in total offense (384 ypg), 50th in scoring (20 ppg), 47th in total defense (355 ypg), 48th in scoring defense (28 ppg), 33rd in net punting (36.75 ypp) and 28th in kickoff returns (23.0 ypr).

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

• 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 Thunderbirds 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 were minus-29, vs. St. Mary's in 1998.
• Despite suffering the loss last week 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.

About the Toreros: Eleven starters return from last year's squad that finished 4-7 and 3-5 in the Pioneer League. Five players return on offense and six on defense, including defensive linemen Paul Tremblay and Mario Kurn, a pair of pre-season all-conference players. Quarterbacks Sam Scudellari and Bo Stompro, who both started last season, also return, as do receivers John McGough, Godfrey Smith and Kyle Warren.

Scudellari, who was the starter until an injury ended his season last year, earned the starting nod heading into this season. Last week against Azusa Pacific he completed 15-of-31 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was Smith, who caught six passes for 57 yards while Warren had four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns. JC transfer Kenslow Smith led the team in rushing with 52 yards on 16 attempts. Stompro, who earned Pioneer League offensive player of the week honors last year following the SUU game, saw limited action against Azusa Pacific, attempting four passes without a completion.

Defensively, end Kellen Barker led the way with 10 tackles, including one TFL, while LB Joe Martin had eight stops and a half TFL and Kurn and CB Al-Rilwan Adeyemi each finished with seven tackles. Kurn broke up a pair of passes and had the team's only sack while DBs Fred Obi and Donald Davis each had an interception.

As a team the Toreros finished with 230 yards of offense, 188 through the air and 42 on the ground. Azusa Pacific picked up 481 yards of offense, including 325 rushing and 156 passing.

Coach Ed Lamb On The Wyoming Game: "The effort by our guys at Wyoming was outstanding. All the great plays were made by our team.

"I'm proud of the effort but it was also a game that we could have won. We made some mistakes that we need to take a hard look at, we need to make our corrections.

"This is one point on a continuum and if we get better this week then this is maybe a spot we can look at and feel good about, but if we don't get better then we're not going to feel very good about it."

Coach Lamb On San Diego: "They had a costly loss against Azusa Pacific University last week. It's often hard to judge an NAIA team's ability, they have different eligibility rules .... Sometimes [APU] has been a poor team and sometimes they've been as good as an NCAA Division I team.

Azusa Pacific rushed for over 300 yards against San Diego, which is something our coaches are excited about after we had success with the run at Wyoming.

Their quarterback seems very talented on film and their offensive line is scrappy. They have some good pass rushers on the defensive line ... but we're still getting to know them."