CEDAR CITY, Utah, May 4 - The SportsNetwork has named Southern Utah University
quarterback Brad Sorensen as one of the top-10 quarterbacks at the
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level.
Sorensen, a junior-to-be from Grand Terrace, Calif. (Colton
HS/San Bernardino Valley College/BYU), threw for 21 touchdowns and a school-record
3,231 yards last year while leading the team to its first Great West Conference
championship and earning consensus first-team all-GWC honors at the quarterback
position.
He is the top returning passer in the FCS ranks in terms of
completions per game, with an average of 23.73 last season, a figure which
ranked fourth overall. He also ranked fourth in yards per game with 287.55, the
second-best average among quarterbacks returning for the 2011 season. In
addition to those two marks, Sorensen was sixth last season in both total
passing yards (3,231) and passing efficiency (149.74), numbers which check in
third among returning quarterbacks, and was eighth in total offense with 288.18
yards per game, fifth-best among returning players.
"He's like another coach on the field," SUU quarterbacks
coach and passing game coordinator Paul Peterson said of Sorensen. "He sees the
defense well and the we have the confidence in him that [given the defensive
look] he can put in the right play.
"He also has fantastic arm strength, and surprisingly good
mobility for his size, he's strong and hard to bring down," Peterson added.
"He's also still young, heading into his junior year with just one Division I
season behind him, we're interested to see how he progresses."
In addition to
Sorensen, Bo Levi Mitchell, who led Eastern Washington to a seven point win
over the Thunderbirds and an eventual FCS national championship last year, is
on the list, along with Tirell Rennie of Northern Iowa, a team the Thunderbirds
face off against on Nov. 12 this season.
Also on The SportsNetwork's list are Casey
Brockman of Murray State, Mike Brown of Liberty, Thomas DeMarco from Old
Dominion and DeNarius McGhee of Montana State. Jacksonville's Josh McGregor,
Appalachian State's DeAndre Presley and Jackson State's Casey Therriault are
also on the list.
Southern Utah opens
its 2011 season at South Dakota State on Sept. 3, with the first home game
slated for Sept. 10, against Sacramento State.
-- SUU --
