CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird football team will be back on the road for the third-straight weekend this Saturday as they travel to Flagstaff, Arizona for a rivalry showdown with the NAU Lumberjacks for the right to hoist the Hinton Burdick Grand Canyon Trophy.
Last Time Out
In their second-straight contest against a Pac-12 Conference opponent, the Thunderbirds fell to the Arizona Wildcats 62-31 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
There was only one score in the opening 15 minutes last Saturday, as the Wildcats scored with 9:42 to play in the opening fram to take a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter, things got really interesting on both sides. The Thunderbirds scored their first points of the game on a Manny Berz field goal just four seconds into the quarter, but the Wildcats automatically responded with a kickoff returned for touchdown to take a 14-3 advantage. SUU's next drive, which was 13 plays and went for 75 yards, was capped off by a Jay Green Jr. touchdown run as the Thunderbirds pulled back within four, 14-10.
After a Wildcat field goal, the Thunderbirds had another 75-yard drive that lasted just over five minutes to tie the contest up at 17-17. Arizona scored one more time before the break, and took a 24-17 advantage into the half.
Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, the third quarter belonged to the Wildcats. Arizona scored four times in the third frame to take a 48-17 lead into the final 15 minute period.
SUU added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a second Chris Helbig touchdown run and a jump ball to Frank Harris III for his second-career touchdown to bring the final score to 62-31.
The result moved the Thunderbirds to 0-3 on the season heading into Big Sky Conference play.
Offensive Leaders
With three starts this season, Helbig has been impressive as a redshirt sophomore transfer from Butler Community College. He has completed 86 passes for 926 yards and five touchdowns.
Helbig's top target this season so far has been Ty Rutledge, who has pulled in 13 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown. Landen Measom has also caught 13 balls for SUU for 148 yards for an average of 49.3 per contest. Alex Croyle and McCoy Hill have both caught 10 passes for SUU, while Logan Parker has grabbed nine. Harris III leads the receiver group with two touchdowns.
On the ground James Felila has had the largest amount of carries, rushing 39 times for 182 yards and a touchdown. Green Jr. has also carried the ball 35 times for 173 yards and another score. Helbig has rushed 37 times for the T-Birds and has four touchdowns on the ground.
Defensive Leaders
Senior leader Chinedu Ahanonu leads the Thunderbirds in the total tackles category, with 26 through three games. He's also tallied two tackles for loss in three starts.
AJ Stanley is second on the team in tackles as a redshirt freshman with 13 total. He's also stripped two balls and leads the team with two forced fumbles.
Taelin Webb leads the Thunderbirds with six pass breakups, and is third on the team in tackles with 12 and a tackle for loss.
Taylor Nelson and Jalen Russell both have 11 tackles and have both recovered a fumble for the T-Birds.
Lehi Afatasi and Oscar Burgueno both have two tackles for loss for the Thunderbirds.
Opponent Preview: NAU Lumberjacks (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky)
After starting the season by knocking off UTEP 30-10 on the road, the Lumberjacks moved to 1-2 after falling to Eastern Washington and Missouri State on back-to-back weekends. NAU's game against EWU was a non-conference game against a conference opponent.
NAU starting quarterback Case Cookus did not play against Missouri State, but has completed 24 passes this season for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Replacing Cookus has been Daniel Bridge-Gadd, who has completed 42 passes for 488 yards and four touchdowns.
Emmanuel Butler has pulled in 10 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns this season, while Brandon Porter has caught 14 balls for 115 yards. On the ground Joe Logan has rushed 42 times for 162 yards and a touchdown.
Tristen Vance leads NAU in tackles with 22 and two for loss. Kameron Johnson has 19 tackles, 15 of which are solo. He also leads the team with two interceptions.
NAU head coach Jerome Souers is in his 21st year as the head coach of the Lumberjacks, after being retained following the 2017 season despite an earlier decision to let him go following the campaign. In 2017 he led the Lumberjacks to a 7-5 overall record and a 6-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play. The team ended up participating in the FCS Playoffs.
Last Time vs. NAU
When the Thunderbirds and Lumberjacks squared off in 2017 a Big Sky Conference title was on the line in the final regular season contest of the season for both squads, and the Thunderbirds ran away with a 48-20 victory to claim their second league title in three seasons.
Patrick Tyler led the charge offensively, completing 20 passes for 238 yards. Green Jr. had a massive day on the ground for SUU, running the ball 25 times for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Tyler also broke into the endzone twice on the ground.
For NAU Cookus had 23 completions for 246 yards and a touchdown.
Recent Series History
The Thunderbirds and Lumberjacks have played every year since the 2008 season, and during that span the T-Birds have won six of the 10 contests.
Since joining the Big Sky Conference the Thunderbirds are 5-1 against the Lumberjacks, and have won four-straight contests dating back to 2014.
Big Sky At A Glance
Entering the fourth week of the season six different Big Sky Conference teams sit atop the league at 2-1. Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, Sacramento State, UC Davis and Weber State make up that group.
Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky in terms of scoring offense, while Sacramento State leads the league in scoring defense. The Thunderbirds are second in the Big Sky in total offense. EWU leads the conference in rushing offense and UC Davis leads it in passing offense.
Words From Coach Warren
On his biggest takeaways from the Arizona game...
"We've got to get a lot better defensively," he said. "That starts with me first and foremost, and that's something that we've really got to focus in on. We've got to get stops consistently, we had good moments but nothing to be able to force a punt and be able to get the ball back for our offense. So those were the biggest keys. Obviously the kickoff, we've got to get much better there, but had some bright spots on special teams. I though the punt team did a tremendous job averaging 42 yards per punt, the offense did a great job of controlling the football moving the ball down the field, we've got to execute and score more points in the red zone but I think we'll be alright. But it's Big Sky week and were moving on to NAU."
On Northern Arizona...
"They're good, they're explosive, they've got really good receivers and a couple fast backs," he said. "They had a couple touchdowns called back, because that game could have been a lot different last week, they obviously beat an FBS team in game one so offensively they're explosive so it's going to be another test for our defense. Defensively they're ball hawks, they had five turnovers in the first half last week which is incredible, so our offense needs to make sure we take care of the football and move it like we've been moving it. But overall, they're a great football team that was ranked before last week, and they were picked third in the conference for a reason they've got a lot of talent."
On the rivalry for the Grand Canyon Trophy…
"It's been 11 years straight since I've been here, I think they're the only team we've played every single year, so it's a big rivalry," he said. "It was heated last year. Two of the last three have been for the conference championship so I know there's no love lost there, and it's going to be a physical, fun battle on Saturday."
Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Saturday's game will be streamed on the PlutoTV App on Channel 239. The game can also be heard on KSUB 590 AM.
Links to live stats will be made available before the contest on www.suutbirds.com and www.nauathletics.com.
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.
