The game will be televised live by KMYU in Utah and will be available live on ESPN3

Quickly: Southern Utah University opens its 2012 football season Thursday when the Thunderbirds take on Utah State at 6:00 p.m. (Mountain) at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. The game is the season-opener for both squads and marks the opener of Southern Utah's 50th season as a four-year institution.

Southern Utah (0-0/0-0 Big Sky) is coming off a 6-5 season, its second straight 6-5 campaign. The Thunderbirds will be playing their first season as members of the Big Sky Conference after playing the last eight in the Great West.

Utah State (0-0/0-0 WAC) posted a 7-6 overall mark last season, including a 5-2 record in Western Athletic Conference games. The Aggies earned a bowl berth in 2011 but a last minute touchdown by Ohio in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl resulted in a heartbreaking 24-23 loss to end the season.

The Game: Southern Utah (0-0) at Utah State (0-0), Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (MDT), Romney Stadium (25,513, AstroTurf), Logan, Utah.

SUU In Season-Openers and Road-Openers

Southern Utah is 25-24-0 in season-openers since the school moved to four-year status in 1963 ... over that same time-span SUU is 13-36 in road-openers ... SUU is 4-6 in its last 10 season-openers and has lost seven straight road-openers, including a 29-28 setback at South Dakota State in the season-opener last season ... the last time the Thunderbirds won their first road game of the season was in 2004 when they took a 34-31 season-opening win at Weber State.

SUU Head Coach Ed Lamb is 1-3 in season-openers. In his four previous season-openers, Lambs teams have lost a 41-7 decision at Air Force in his first game at the SUU helm in 2008, notched a 36-7 home win over Dixie State in 2009, fell 28-20 at Wyoming in 2010 and suffered the setback at South Dakota State last year.

The Thunderbirds have opened on the road eight of the last 10 years. In addition to this year's game the previous openers away from home in that span were the game at South Dakota State last year, at  Wyoming in '10, at Air Force in '08, at Montana in '07, at Idaho State in '05, at Weber State in '04 and at Nevada in '03. The openers at home were against Dixie State in '09 and against Montana Tech in '06.

Thunderbird Practice Schedule: The players are off on Mondays. Daily practices Tuesday through Thursday are scheduled to begin at 4:30 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, or to arrange telephone interviews, contact Neil Gardner at gardner@suu.edu or 435-586-7753.

The Series

Utah State owns a 2-0 edge in the series with the Thunderbirds. Both games have been played in Logan. USU won the first meeting 30-14 in 2000 before claiming a 53-34 win in 2009.

The last time the teams met SUU drew first blood, taking a 3-0 lead on a 48-yard Ryan Griffith first quarter field goal but USU scored three TDs before SUU got back on the board again. The Thunderbirds pulled within 21-17 when Cade Cooper found current SUU receivers coach Fesi Sitake on a 7-yard TD pass with 9:59 to go in the first half but the Aggies got a field goal and a touchdown before another Cooper-to-Sitake hookup made the game 31-24 at halftime. SUU kept the game close in the second half until Diondre Borel found Stanley Morrison on a 69-yard pass to stake the Aggies to a 51-34 fourth quarter lead. A late safety accounted for the final score.

Big Sky Teleconference: The Big Sky Conference holds a weekly coaches teleconference, beginning at 10:00 a.m. (Mountain). With a number of Thursday games opening week the call will be on Monday, but all other weeks the call will be on Wednesdays. For information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner. The schedule follows:

            10:00 a.m. - Rob Ash, Montana State

            10:08 a.m. - Chris Mussman, North Dakota

            10:16 a.m. - Ed Lamb, Southern Utah

            10:24 a.m. - Jody Sears, Weber State

            10:32 a.m. - Mike Kramer, Idaho State

            10:40 a.m. - Mick Delaney, Montana

            10:48 a.m. - Earnest Collins, Jr., Northern Colorado

            10:56 a.m. - Jerome Souers, Northern Arizona

            11:04 a.m. - Nigel Burton, Portland State

            11:12 a.m. - Marshall Sperbeck, Sacramento State

            11:20 a.m. - Beau Baldwin, Eastern Washington

            11:28 a.m. - Tim Walsh, Cal Poly

            11:36 a.m. - Bob Biggs, UC Davis

TV: Thursday's game will be televised live by KMYU-TV. KMYU is available over the air and via cable and satellite. In southern Utah it is available over the air on Digital channel 2.2 and 12.1 and in Utah it is available on the following cable outlets: Comcast (channel 22), Baja (20) and Bresnan (18). It is also available in Utah on channel 12 on DirecTV and Dish Network.

SUU's TV Games in 2012: In addition to the Utah State game SUU is scheduled to play on live television three more times this season, including three of the next four contests. Next week's game at Cal, the Big Sky opener at Portland State (Sept. 22) and the Big Sky home-opener vs. Montana State (Sept. 29) will all be televised. The Cal game will be on Pac-12 TV, the PSU game will be on FOX Northwest, and the Montana State game will be televised in high definition on ROOT Sports.

Video Highlights: Video highlights of the Thunderbirds' home and 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 2012 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. Art Challis is entering his 38th season as the Thunderbirds' football voice. Matt Roan, a former all-conference performer for the Thunderbirds, will provide color commentary.

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 face off against a Pac-12 school in football for the first time in history Sept. 8, when they travel to Berkeley, Calif., to take on Cal in a noon (PDT) game. The following week SUU opens its home schedule on Sept. 15, with a 6:00 p.m. game against Division II New Mexico Highlands in Eccles Coliseum.

Southern Utah hits the road for its first Big Sky contest on Sept. 22 when the Thunderbirds meet Portland State. The team then returns home for a pair of BSC contests, against Montana State on Sept. 29 in the annual Homecoming game, and against Sacramento State on Oct. 6.

Following a road trip to Montana on Oct. 13 the 'Birds return home for their final two home games of the season. SUU hosts Weber State on Oct. 20, then Eastern Washington visits Cedar City on Oct. 27.

The regular season wraps up with road games at North Dakota (Nov. 3) and Northern Arizona (Nov. 10). Should SUU qualify for the FCS playoffs, the Thunderbirds would have a bye week between the NAU game and the FCS first round.

The Coaches

A 2010 Eddie Robinson Award nominee, SUU's Ed Lamb (BYU, 1996) has a record of 21-23 entering his fifth season as the Thunderbird head coach and his fifth season as a head coach overall. Last year Lamb guided the Thunderbirds to their second straight winning season and their first win over an FBS-level opponent (UNLV) since 1997.  He led the team to a Great West Conference championship in 2010 when the Thunderbirds went undefeated in GWC play and finished the season with a 6-5 overall mark. 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. Lamb is 0-1 against the Aggies as he was the Thunderbird coach the last time the teams met, in 2009.

Utah State's Gary Andersen (Utah, 1986), who spent the 2003 season as head coach at Southern Utah, is in his fourth season on the sidelines at USU. He brings a 15-22 record with the Aggies and a 19-29 overall record into the game. Two additional members of the Aggie staff have ties to SUU, as linebackers coach Kevin Clune and director of football operations Mark Andersen were both on the staff when Gary Andersen was head coach at SUU. Klune was defensive coordinator at SUU in 2003 and 2004, while Mark Andersen was director of football operations at SUU in 2003. Andersen is 1-0 vs. SUU, as he was at the Aggie helm in 2009.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its first season in the Big Sky Conference following eight years as a member of the Great West Conference. Utah State is in its final season a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

Captains: This year's captains are seniors Brad Sorensen (QB), Cody Larsen (DT), Dylan Fox (C) and Jeff Tukuafu (DE).

SUU In The FCS National Ranks: 

SUU had six players ranked among the FCS top-50 in 14 statistical categories at the end of last season, while the team figured among the top-50 programs in 13 categories and among the top-30 in eight.

Defense: DT Tyler Osborne ranked 16th in sacks with an average of 0.95 per game and 47th in tackles for loss with 1.32 per game while LB Chad Hansen ranked 42nd in tackles with an average of 9.45 per game.

Offense: On the offensive side of the ball, QB Brad Sorensen ranked eighth in completions per game with 26.2, ninth in passing yards per game with 285.7, 11th in total passing yards with 3,143, 13th in total offense with 281.3 ypg, 30th in passing efficiency with a rating of 137.91 and 36th in points responsible for with 12.0 ppg. Austin Minefee was ninth in all-purpose yards with an average of 159.2 per game and 44th in scoring at 7.1 ppg.

Special Teams: Minefee finished the season ranked eighth in kickoff return yards with an average of 29.24 yards per return, while Brady Measom was seventh in punt returns with an average of 12.3 yards per return. Kicker Colton Cook was 20th in field goal kicking with an average of 1.3 per game.

Team: In the team categories SUU led the nation in kickoff returns at 26.33 ypr and was second in net punting at 39.08 ypp. SUU also finished the season ranked 12th in passing offense (287.4 ypg), 13th in sacks (2.82 spg), 18th in punt return average (12.0 ypr) and 19th in pass defense (178.2 ypg). The Thunderbirds finished the season 27th turnover margin (plus 0.64), 28th in pass efficiency defense (115.67 rating), 32nd in scoring defense (22.8 ppg), 34th in scoring offense (30.2 ppg), 36th in passing efficiency (135.98 rating) and 44th in both total offense (381.0 ypg) and total defense (351.3 ypg).

2012 Preseason Accolades: SUU had four players receive pre-season honors. Senior quarterback Brad Sorensen, senior offensive guard Zach Brackus and senior defensive tackle Cody Larsen all earned preseason all-Big Sky honors as well as being recognized on a handful of preseason all-America teams. Junior offensive guard Gavin Farr also earned several preseason all-America nods. In addition, Sorensen is on the Payton Award Watch List for the second straight season, is the only FCS-level player on the Unitas Award watch list and was named the pre-season offensive player of the year by the Big Sky Coaches.

Brad Sorensen

            The Sports Network (1st Team All-America)

            College Sports Journal (1st Team All-America)

            Phil Steel's Preview (1st Team All-America)

            Senior Scout Bowl (1st Team All-America)

            College Sports Network (2nd Team All-America)

            Beyond Sports Network (2nd Team All-America)

            All-Big Sky

            Big Sky Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

            Unitas Award Watch List

            Payton Award Watch List

Zach Brackus

            College Sports Network (1st Team All-America)

            Beyond Sports Network (1st Team All-America)

            Sports Network (3rd Team All-America)

            All-Big Sky

Cody Larsen

            Sports Network (2nd Team All-America)

            College Sports Network (2nd Team All-America)

            Phil Steele (3rd Team All-America)

            All-Big Sky

Gavin Farr

            Sports Network (1st Team All-America)

            College Sports Network (2nd Team All-America)

            Phil Steele (3rd Team All-America)

SUU picked to finish eighth In Big Sky Polls

Southern Utah was picked to finish eighth by both the coaches and the media in the 2012 Big Sky Conference football polls. The Thunderbirds are entering their first season in the BSC this fall.

SUU received 74 points, including one first-place vote from the coaches, one point behind Northern Arizona and seven behind No. 6 Weber State. The Thunderbirds garnered 258 points from the media to finish 26 behind Weber State, which was voted seventh.

"I think that when these preseason polls come, most coaches look to be somewhere in the middle two-thirds area," SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. "They want to be in striking distance and have enough respect around the league that we can be in striking distance of a realistic shot at a conference championship and it appears that most of the coaches and media place us in that middle two-thirds area.

"I would think puts us in a position there most people think we have a realistic shot at competing and yet we're flying under the radar," Lamb pointed out. "We're not one of the favorites, we're not a red-letter opponent for any of our opponents, they're probably looking forward to other games against other opponents in the conference as being bigger games, at least as far as conference championship implications go. So I think that we're probably in a situation, at least early in the season where you're going to be playing an underdog role. Traditionally SUU and our players respond very well to that role."

Montana State was picked to win the conference and was followed by Eastern Washington, Montana, Portland State and Cal Poly in both the coaches and the media polls.

"That's the way that I see it," Lamb said. "Usually preseason polls are a combination of what teams did the previous year in their league and then who they have coming back, particularly a the quarterback position because I think we all make the assumption that there's some player leadership present when the quarterback is returning. Montana State matches up in both those criteria, they had a nice in-conference record last year, plus they return their quarterback and I think that in every regard they should be considered the preseason number-one."

Sacramento State was picked ninth by the coaches, followed by North Dakota, Idaho State, UC Davis and Northern Colorado. North Dakota was picked sixth in the media poll while Northern Arizona was ninth, followed by Sacramento State, UC Davis, Idaho State and Northern Colorado.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

• SUU is entering its 50th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 27th as a member of the NCAA. The 2012 season also marks the Thunderbirds' 20th as a member of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision and is the school's first in the Big Sky Conference. SUU competed in the Great West Conference the past eight seasons.
• The opener at Utah State marks the eighth time in the last 10 seasons the Thunderbirds have played their first game of the season on the road, including the last three in a row. Last year SUU opened at South Dakota State, in 2010 it opened at Wyoming. The other openers at the road during the past 10 years came at Air Force (2008), at Montana (2007), at Idaho State (2005), at Weber State (2004) and in 2003 the opener was at Nevada. The two openers at home were in 2009 against Dixie State and in 2006 when the 'Birds kicked off the season against Montana Tech at Eccles Coliseum.
• The Thunderbirds have five players returning who earned first-team all-Great West Conference honors last year, including the four preseason all-Americans and linebacker Chad Hansen.
• SUU has eight returning academic all-GWC honorees, including Larsen, senior offensive linemen Russell Petersen and Dylan Fox, junior defensive lineman Brad Meyer (who had the only 4.0 GPA among football players on the list), junior cornerback Tyree Mills, junior linebacker K.C. Rawlinson, sophomore defensive lineman Kouri Jones and sophomore receiver Easton Pedersen.
• SUU plays 10 of its 11 games against NCAA Division I opponents this year, with eight against teams from the championship subdivision and two from the bowl subdivision. Utah State and California are the two FBS opponents and SUU faces a Division II opponent for the first time in two seasons when it hosts New Mexico Highlands.
• About half of the players on the roster are Utah natives, with 45 hailing from the Beehive State. California is the next-most represented state, with 24, while nine call Nevada home. Four players come from Texas, with two from Florida, Idaho and Washington, and one each from Arizona, Colorado and Tonga.

Coaching Lineup: 

The SUU staff returns almost intact for 2012, with Head Coach Ed Lamb entering his fifth season on the SUU sidelines. The only change in the staff this year is former passing game coordinator Paul Peterson has moved on to take the offensive coordinator duties at Sacramento State. Justin Ena, an NFL veteran and former BYU standout, will  continue as defensive coordinator and will work with linebackers. Former BYU and Utah assistant Steve Clark will again handle offensive coordinator duties. Ryan Hunt, a former all-conference performer at offensive tackle for SUU, returns as defensive line coach while Demario Warren, a former UC Davis running back, returns as secondary coach and has taken some of Peterson's recruiting duties. Teag Whiting, another NFL veteran and former BYU standout, is in his third season as offensive line coach after working as a graduate assistant in 2009. Ronnie Pentz is in his fourth season with the team, his second co-coordinating special teams and his second as tight ends coach after working with the linebackers his first two seasons. Aaron Fernandez, an all-GWC defensive tackle in 2008,  is the co-linebackers coach and co-recruiting coordinator, while former Thunderbird standout WR/KR Justin Wattenscheid enters his third season with the team as co-special teams coordinator and running backs coach. Fesi Sitake, a former all-conference receiver for the Thunderbirds who worked as a student assistant last year, moves into a full-time position this year, working with the team's receivers. 

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.            

Quick SUU Outlook

The Thunderbirds return just 12 starters from last season, but all 12 played pivotal roles. In addition to the starters, a handful of returning players were on the field for significant minutes last year, even though they might not be considered "starters" per se.

Five players who started at least six games return on offense, five are back on defense and two specialists from last year's 6-5 squad will be on the field in 2012. Included in the group are senior quarterback Brad Sorensen, a 2012 first-team preseason All-American, a 2011 Walter Payton Award nominee and the Great West Conference's Most Valuable Player last year.

Sorensen completed 288-of-425 passes for 3,143 yards and 17 touchdowns last season after completing 261-of-390 passes for a school-record 3,163 passing yards and 21 touchdowns in 2010 when he earned consensus first-team all-GWC honors.

Also returning on the offensive side of the ball are starting offensive linemen Gavin Farr and Zach Brackus, as well as Dylan Fox, who was the team's starter at fullback before moving to center for the season-finale last year, where he is anticipated to start this season. The fifth starter back on offense is junior WR Fatu Moala, who had 26 receptions for 370 yards in 2011.

Farr, a junior, and Brackus, a senior, both earned pre-season All-America nods from The Sports Network, with Farr named to the first team and Brackus to the third. Farr was the GWC's offensive lineman of the year in 2010 and Brackus has started every game the past three seasons.

Fox is perhaps the best story on the Thunderbird squad. He joined the team in the fall of 2008 as a walk-on linebacker after a stellar career at nearby Cedar High School. During the subsequent four seasons he has played on special teams, at linebacker, at tight end, at fullback, and has had two go-rounds on the offensive line. Last year, after starting all season at fullback, Fox moved to center for the season finale' at Northern Arizona after injuries had decimated the SUU offensive line. Fox took the move in stride, played a basically flawless ball game, and came out of spring ball as the team's center, which allows Farr to move to guard.

Two all-GWC performers return on defense, senior end Cody Larsen and junior linebacker Chad Hansen. Larsen was second on the team in both sacks and tackles for loss last year, with 6.0 and 7.5, respectively, while Hansen led the team with 104 tackles, including a team-high 53 solo stops. Larsen earned second-team preseason All-America recognition from The Sports Network.

Joining Larsen and Hansen as returning defensive starters are senior free safety Brennan Fjord and senior defensive end Jeff Tukuafu. Fjord had 32 tackles, 19 solo, and broke up a pair of passes last year while Tukuafu had 27 tackles, with 4.5 TFLs and 3.0 sacks. In addition to those players junior Tommy Collet was a part-time starter who played significant minutes at both safety positions in 2011 and finished the season with 40 tackles (23 solo) with a pair of fumble recoveries.

The returning specialists are junior K/P Brock Miller and junior K Colton Cook. Miller punted 18 times for 727 yards, an average of 40.4 ypp, pinning opponents inside the 20 seven times. He also was 5-of-5 on PATs. Cook handled most of the team's place-kicking duties, hitting 27-of-27 PATs and 14-of-19 field goals to finish second on the team in scoring with 69 points.

Aggie Notes: 

Utah State returns 14 starters and 42 letter-winners from last year's 7-6 bowl squad, including quarterbacks Chuckie Keaton (6-1, 200, So) and Adam Kennedy (6-5, 219, Sr). Keaton, the first true freshman to start a season-opener in USU history, started the first eight games until he was sidelined by injury and Kennedy took over to guide the team to five straight conference wins and the bowl appearance.

Also back for USU are three offensive linemen, including Remington Award candidate and 2011 all-WAC performer Tyler Larsen (6-4, 315, Jr) the younger brother of SUU defensive tackle Cody Larsen.

The Aggies also have two starting wide receivers (Matt Austin, 6-2, 202, Sr, and  Chuck Jacobs, 6-0, 178, Sr) and one running back (Kerwynn Williams, 5-8, 189, Sr) returning as well.

USU's rushing game has been prolific in recent years. The Aggies led the WAC and were sixth in the nation after averaging 282.7 yards per game on the ground last year.

On the defensive side of the ball the Aggies have six starters returning, including the majority of its secondary, as cornerbacks Jumaine Robertson (5-11, 182, Sr) and Nevin Lawson (5-10, 183, Jr) as well as strong safety McKade Brady (5-11, 197, Sr) all return. Lawson and Brady started all 13 games last season while Robertson started 10. The trio finished third-through-fifth on the team last year, with Robertson leading the team in passes broken up with 12.

The Aggie defense led the WAC in total defense, allowing 366.2 yards per game, was second in the WAC in rushing defense (127.7 ypg) and tackles for loss (5.92 average) and was third in the conference in both pass efficiency defense (125.58) and sacks (1.92 spg).

The Aggies are playing their final season in the Western Athletic Conference

Coach Ed Lamb On The Thunderbirds: "Training camp [went] very well. Our players had a great off-season and a great summer and that's allowed us to focus a little bit more on the details of their position rather than spend an exorbitant amount of time conditioning or building a culture. I think the guys handled the lion's share of that over the summer, so I think we've had our most productive camp and we'll have our strongest, fittest team."

Coach Lamb On Utah State: "I think they're the hottest team in the state of Utah. A couple of points here and there at the right times last year and they're a nine- or 10-win team, a bowl victory team, maybe going to a bigger bowl than they went to. I'm really curious to see week two: Utah State against Utah.

They're committed to running the football, they run it very well. They have some quarterbacks who can make that happen and a very good offensive line. They're creative on defense, and sound. I think like any good team they have a lot of great athletes who play hard."