CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird football team will make their way to Tucson, Arizona this weekend in search of their first win of the season against the Arizona Wildcats. This matchup will also be Southern Utah's final non-conference matchup of the 2018 campaign, as they'll transition into Big Sky Conference play following the contest.

Last Time Out

In their second game of the 2018 season the Thunderbirds fell to the Beavers of Oregon State 48-25 at Reser Stadium.

The Beavers started red hot, jumping out to a 38-0 advantage over the Thunderbirds. SUU struck late in the second quarter, as Chris Helbig found Frank Harris III for his first career touchdown from 43 yards out. OSU added another field goal before the end of the first half, and took a 41-7 lead into the break.

The T-Birds added a field goal to start the third quarter, and roughly five minutes of game time later Chris Helbig snuck into the endzone to cap off a 70-yard drive to pull SUU back to 41-16. Manny Berz started the fourth quarter with another field goal, and with over three minutes to play Helbig found Jay Green Jr. for a 21-yard touchdown to bring the final score to 48-25.

Helbig completed 31 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Logan Parker was Helbig's top target on the night, catching six passes for 73 yards. Landen Measom had a solid day as well for SUU in the passing game, catching seven passes for 67 yards.

On the ground James Felila carried the rock 12 times for 51 yards, and Green Jr. rushed 15 times for 49 yards.

For the second-straight weekend Chinedu Ahanonu led the team in tackles with 10. AJ Stanley had eight for the T-Birds, while Jalen Russell, Taelin Webb and Taylor Nelson all had six.

Two Starts In

With two starts on the Division I level under his belt, Helbig has been very impressive as the offensive leader for the Thunderbirds.

Combining his two starts, Helbig has completed 59 passes for 656 yards and four touchdowns. Through 86 passing attempts he has yet to throw an interception.

He has also done some damage on the ground, carrying the ball for 68 yards and two touchdowns. That makes him the team's third-leading rusher.

Offensive Leaders

Senior wide receiver Ty Rutledge has been impressive for the Thunderbirds so far in the passing game. The St. George native has caught 12 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. That's an average of 105.5 yards per game and 17.6 yards per catch.

Parker has also gone over the 100-yard threshold for SUU, with nine catches for 105 yards. The senior tight end is averaging 52.5 yards per game.

On the ground James Felila has done a lot of work for the Thunderbirds, carrying the ball 28 times for 134 yards and one touchdown. Jay Green Jr. has carried the rock 20 times for 88 yards and has a touchdown through the air.

From High Jump To Jump Balls

When Harris broke into the endzone for the Thunderbirds against Oregon State, the former track and field star recorded his first career touchdown in only his second collegiate game.

Last season Harris was a Thunderbird, but he was a member of the T-Bird track and field team and competed in the high jump. He claimed the Big Sky Championship in the high jump during the indoor track and field season, and made it all the way to NCAA West Prelims during the outdoor season.

Transitioning to football, Harris had caught three passes for an average of 17.7 yards and a long of 43.

Defensive Leaders

With two games gone in the 2018 season, Ahanonu has been a major factor for the Thunderbirds at linebacker. He leads the team with 20 tackles, which is nine more than any other player on the defensive end. He's also been credited with one tackle for loss.

As a redshirt freshman, Stanley has 11 tackles and a forced fumble for the Thunderbirds, as does Taelin Webb who also has five pass breakups and one tackle for loss. Jalen Russell has 10 tackles, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery for the T-Birds.

As a defense the Thunderbirds have nine tackles for loss, three sacks and nine pass breakups so far this season.

Opponent Preview: Arizona Wildcats (0-2, 0-0)

Looking for their first win of the season, the Arizona Wildcats will return home this Saturday after falling in their season opener in Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats fell to the BYU Cougars in the team's season opener 28-23, before heading on the road last weekend and falling to the Houston Cougars 45-18.  

Wildcat quarterback Khalil Tate received plenty of preseason hype leading up to the campaign, and has completed 41 passes for 538 yards and a touchdown to this point of the year. He's also picked up two scores on the ground.

J.J. Taylor has been the featured back for Arizona, carrying the ball 36 times for 147 yards and a touchdown. At receiver, Shawn Poindexter has caught 11 passes for 202 yards.

Colin Schooler has been a strong force on the defensive side of the ball for Arizona, with 25 tackles and four tackles for loss already this season.

Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin is in his first year with the Wildcats after a six-year tenure at Texas A&M. While with the Aggies he compiled a record of 51-26 and had three bowl victoires. Before making his way to A&M, Sumlin was the head coach of the University of Houston where he had a career record of 35-17. In total, Sumlin has an 86-43 record as a head coach and has taken a team to a FBS Bowl Game nine times.  

Big Sky At A Glance

Through two weeks, three Big Sky teams have moved to 2-0 and another remains without a loss. Eastern Washington, Montana and UC Davis are all 2-0 heading into the third weekend and Idaho State is 1-0 after having a BYE week last weekend. Along with the T-Birds, Cal Poly, Northern Colorado and Portland State will all enter this weekend looking for their first win of the season.

Jake Maier from UC Davis has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league to this point, completing 61 passes for 748 yards. In just two games EWU's Gage Gubrud leads the Big Sky in touchdown passes with nine.

SUU won't be the only Big Sky team taking on a Pac-12 opponent on Saturday, as UC Davis will go head-to-head with Stanford, Eastern Washington will take on Washington State and Idaho State will face off against the Cal Bears.

Words From Coach Warren

On his biggest takeaways from last Saturday…

"We've got a team that's not going to quit," he said. "I think they're going to come out and fight for 60 minutes. They believe they're going to win every game, no matter who the competition is, and the coaches are the same way so I know I've got a bunch of competitive guys around me that want to win."

On the biggest keys at practice this week...

"Just being detailed, we've got to be better at doing what we do and understanding how important each person's assignment is to the team and once we do that I think we'll have a little bit more success," he said.

On Khalil Tate…

"He's unbelievable," he said. "I don't think I've seen somebody that can throw the ball as hard and as far and be as athletic as him. He does some really special things and he's going to be a real handful when we get to Saturday."

On Kevin Sumlin's team as a whole...

"They're inexperienced at some spots," he said. "You can see them making mistakes where in a couple years they won't be making those errors. But, Kevin Sumlin's one of those coaches that I've always looked up to so I know he'll get it right. But athletically and speed wise I think they've got the right kind of people in there, they just need time. So I think they'll be a really good program and I expect that sooner than later."

Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along

Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. MDT on Saturday evening. Saturday's game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network and streamed online at pac-12.com/live.

The game will be broadcast locally over the airwaves on KSUB 590 AM in Cedar City and ESPN 97.7 in St. George.

A link to live stats will be available on www.osubeavers.com and www.suutbirds.com prior to kickoff.

Follow Us

Keep tabs on the Thunderbirds by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.

Tickets

Single game tickets for the 2018 season can be purchased online at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.