CEDAR CITY, Utah -- After securing their first victory of the 2019 campaign, the Thunderbird football team will be back out on the road this weekend as they'll square off against the No. 3 ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits in Brookings, South Dakota. This will be SUU's final non-conference matchup of the season.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds won their first overtime contest since the 2013 season, as they knocked off Stephen F. Austin 45-38 in front of a home crowd inside Eccles Coliseum.
The T-Birds jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead, which included a trick play where Lance Lawson found Chris Helbig in the endzone from 10 yards out.
SFA outsocred the T-Birds 17-7 in the second quarter, sending the game to halftime all tied up 17-17.
The two teams played to a 7-7 draw in the third quarter, and a 14-14 draw in the fourth to send the game to overtime.
When overtime started the Thunderbirds received the ball first, and James Felila scored from 11 yards away to put the home team up seven.
The T-Birds were able to hold the Lumberjacks scoreless on their overtime drive, giving the T-Birds the 45-38 victory.
Offensive Leaders
Chris Helbig continues to be impressive at quarterback for the Thunderbirds. Through three contests the redshirt sophomore has completed 65 passes for 639 yards and two touchdowns. He has rushed for three more touchdowns on the ground, and had the first of his career through the air on Saturday.
Felila is the team's leading rusher, with 38 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas Duckett has carried the ball 22 times for 82 yards and one touchdown.
In the passing game, Lawson is SUU's leading receiver with 28 catches for 251 yards and two touchdowns. He's currently averaging 83.7 yards per game receiving. True freshman Zach Nelson has caught eight passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Top Defenders
Through three contests Nela Otukolo leads the team in tackles with 20 total. He has also tallied a sack, fumble recovery and pass breakup.
Aaron Romero leads the team in sacks with three total. He also has a forced fumble to his name.
Khalid Taylor had his first career interception for the Thunderbirds against Stephen F. Austin, and is the lone T-Bird with a pick this year.
Alex Sims is second on the team in tackles with 18.
Opponent Preview: No. 3 South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits will enter Saturday's contest as the No. 3 team in both the FCS Coaches' Poll and the STATS FCS Poll. SDSU had an impressive 2018 campaign, which resulted in a 10-3 record and a trip to the Semifinals of the FCS Playoff.
This season they are 2-1, with their lone loss on the year coming to Minnesota on the road by just seven points. Since that opening day loss, they've knocked off Long Island University (38-3) and Drake (38-10).
The Jackrabbits have played two quarterbacks significant time this season. Kanin Nelson has completed 18 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns, while J'Bore Gibbs has tallied 13 competitions for 193 yards and one touchdown.
Cade Johnson has been SDSU's most targeted receiver with 14 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns.
On the ground, Pierre Strong has been the featured running back with 35 carries for 243 yards and two touchdowns.
Seven Wilson is the leading tackler for the Jackrabbits, totaling 21 so far this season. As a unit SDSU's defense has picked off the opposing offense four different times this year, and has tallied 19 tackles for loss.
SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier is the winningest football coach in the history of the program, and compiled a 158-100 record in 22 seasons with the team heading into the 2019 campaign. He has led the Jackrabbits to the FCS Playoff eight times, and has done it for seven-consecutive seasons.
Last Time vs SDSU
The last time the Thunderbirds and Jackrabbits squared off was in 2015, in a contest that SDSU dominated 55-10. After starting that season 0-2, the Thunderbirds went on to claim their first Big Sky Conference Championship.
Southern Utah struck first, as Ammon Olsen found current T-Bird Director of Football Operations, Brady Measom, from nine yards out to put them on top 7-0.
Unfortunately for the T-Birds, the Jackrabbits would go on to score 48 unanswered points and ultimately run away with the contest 55-10.
Olsen finished with 137 passing yards on 17 completions.
Current Detroit Lion, Miles Killebrew, led the team defensively with 11 tackles. LeShaun Sims, who is currently suiting up for the Tennessee Titans, had six tackles and three pass breakups.
Big Sky v Missouri Valley
This weekend will feature five contests in the Challenge Series between the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Big Sky Conference.
The Big Sky is currently 3-1 against the Missouri Valley, with the one loss coming when the T-Birds lost No. 11/12 Northern Iowa Panthers.
Big Sky At A Glance
As Big Sky play enters week four, five different teams in the league currently sit with a 2-1 record. Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and UC Davis will all enter the weekend vying for the top spot in the Big Sky.
After a 41-13 win over Lehigh, UC Davis (2-1) is ranked No. 4 in both the AFCA and STATS FCS polls. The victory gave the Aggies a 2-0 record versus FCS opponents this season. UC Davis will be highly tested this weekend with a game at No. 1 North Dakota State (3-0) – the defending FCS Champions.
Weber State (1-2) remained in the No. 6 slot in the STATS FCS poll but fell one spot to No. 7 in the AFCA Coaches' poll. The Wildcats dropped a 19-13 decision at Nevada this past weekend. Weber State has a bye this Saturday and will return to the field on Nov. 28 to host No. 9 Northern Iowa (1-1).
Montana State (2-1) picked up its second FCS non-conference win this season with a 23-14 road victory over Western Illinois. The Bobcats moved up to No. 8 in the STATS FCS poll and the coaches bumped them up to No. 14. Montana State will host Norfolk State (1-2) this week.
Eastern Washington (1-2) fell out of the Top 10 for the first time this season, after a heartbreaking 49-45 loss to then-No. 17 Jacksonville State. The Eagles are ranked No. 11 in both polls as they open conference play this week with a game versus Idaho (1-2).
Montana fell to Oregon, 35-0 this past weekend, as it rolled in at No. 19 in both polls this week. The Griz (2-1) host Monmouth (2-1) of the Northeast Conference on Saturday.
Other Big Sky teams receiving votes were Northern Arizona, Idaho State and Sacramento State.
Words From Coach Warren
On what it meant to get a win last weekend…
"It's been a long time and I'm really happy for the guys," SUU head coach Demario Warren said. "They fought, they wanted it, and I'm hoping that we can learn a lot of lessons from a win. We've lost a lot, and learned a lot from those, so I'm hoping that we can see we can be a really good team if we play disciplined football and play for each other."
On the biggest focuses at practice this week…
"We've got to be ready to go play a 60 minute football game against one of the best teams in the country," he said. "I said before UNI we weren't good enough at that point to go beat a top-15 team on the road, so we'll see how far we've come in the last two weeks. We competed against Northern Iowa, so I have confidence we can compete against anybody, it's just if we're willing to execute and think a little bit harder about the game, and our assignments when we're tired."
On what he's seen from SDSU…
"Their receiver is one of the best guys we'll see all year long," he said. "I love No. 20 in the backfield, he does a really good job and he's physical. Their defense doesn't make mistakes. Their kick returner is in the top-10 in the country in punt yards, so they've got a lot of weapons and they're a really good football team."
On what they can do this time around to avoid a blowout like 2015…
"I think we've got to go in there humble and hungry," he said. "Just because we won a game I think we should all know how much work we put in to that, so we've got to put that much work in this week. "I think we got off to a good start, but it's just a mentality. It's just us. There isn't going to be very many SUU fans out there, so we've got to really come together and stick together to make plays."
On the emergence of Lance Lawson…
"He's versatile and a competitor," he said. "He brings a great energy and he comes to work every day. We challenged him this offseason because we knew he'd be a really great football player if he put the work in, and I believe he did that."
Where To Watch / Listen / Follow Along
Saturday's contest will be livestreamed on www.gojacks.com.
The contest can be heard on the local airwaves by tuning in to KSUB 590 AM in Cedar City. On the call will be legendary Thunderbird broadcaster Art Challis, and ESPN 97.7's Devin Dixon, host of the Devin Dixon Show.
Live stats will be available on www.suutbirds.com and www.gojacks.com prior to kickoff.
Follow Us
Keep tabs on the Thunderbirds throughout the entire Big Sky Kickoff by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.
Tickets
Single game tickets and season tickets are available for the remainder of the 2019 campaign at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
