As UND prepares to begin its transition to D-I FCS (formerly I-AA) football in 2008, the Sioux have scheduled a road game against a D-I FCS opponent for the second straight year. On Sept. 9 the Sioux will travel to Cedar City, Utah, to face the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
Though SUU may currently be unfamiliar to most UND fans, the matchup is likely the first of many. SUU has been been a charter member of the Great West Football Conference since 2004, while UND has accepted an invitation to join the GWFC beginning in 2008.
SUU achieved a 3-8 record in 2006 against a grueling schedule. The 2006 Thunderbirds handily defeated their lower-division opponents, crushing NAIA Montana Tech 34-0 and NCAA D-II Western State 55-3. SUU lost 2006 matchups against in-transition former D-II (and NCC) institutions NDSU 7-31 and SDSU 21-31.
The Thunderbirds face an equally difficult schedule in 2007, with all but one opponent having been ranked at the end of 2006. Despite hanging with Montana for the first three quarters of its season opener, SUU faltered in the fourth to lose 17-37. SUU will enter it’s match against UND hungry for a win against its lone lower-division opponent this season.
Fans who watched the matchup with Montana noted in the SiouxSports.com Forums that SUU runs quite a few option plays and confirmed that SUU’s talented quarterback throws pretty well and isn’t afraid to run. They also praised SUU’s defense as keeping them in the game against powerhouse Montana for three quarters, but also noted that they can be run on and gave up some long returns.
The Thunderbirds are returning seven offensive starters and eight defensive starters. Leading SUU on offense is signal caller Wes Marshall. Marshall’s 2006 performance earned him a few slots in the SUU record book with 16 passing TDs (#5), 1942 yds (#4), and 183 completed passes (#2). Also returning are 2nd team all-GWFC running back Jonnny Sanchez (589yds rushing, 15-129yds receiving in 2006) and running back Kyle Coop (378yds 3 TD, 12-116yds TD). The Thunderbirds lost both starting wide receivers from last year’s squad.
Turnovers were a weak point for SUU in 2006, giving up 8 fumbles and 15 interceptions. Head Coach Wes Meier notes, “if you take away a fourth quarter turnover in each of those games [an 18-14 loss at Cal Poly and a 30-27 loss at McNeese State] we start out 5-1 and who knows what would have happened?” SUU gave up three interceptions and lost one fumble in its 2007 opener against Montana.
Southern Utah 2007 Statistics
SiouxSports.com Forums pre-game discussion
Southern Utah Football Media Guide (1/2)
Southern Utah Football Media Guide (2/2)
Stats dump
Head-to-head history: Never met
Common opponents:
Though UND and SUU have not had any common opponents in the past few years, SUU has regularly played recent members of the NCC who had joined the Great West Football Conference.
2006 NDSU L 7-31
2006 SDSU L 21-31
2005 No. Colorado W 20-17 (OT)
2005 NDSU L 21-37
2005 @SDSU L 7-55
2004 @NDSU L 21-27
2004 @No. Colorado L 7-42
2004 SDSU W 23-17 (2OT)
2003 No. Colorado L 25-29
SUU 2006 Final Stats
Southern Utah Overall Team Statistics (as of Nov 18, 2006)
All games
TEAM STATISTICS SUU OPP
--------------------------------------------------------
SCORING....................... 215 276
Points Per Game............. 19.5 25.1
FIRST DOWNS................... 179 212
Rushing..................... 81 107
Passing..................... 86 81
Penalty..................... 12 24
RUSHING YARDAGE............... 1560 1903
Yards gained rushing........ 1805 2172
Yards lost rushing.......... 245 269
Rushing Attempts............ 342 431
Average Per Rush............ 4.6 4.4
Average Per Game............ 141.8 173.0
TDs Rushing................. 12 17
PASSING YARDAGE............... 1976 1988
Att-Comp-Int................ 333-187-15 278-159-7
Average Per Pass............ 5.9 7.2
Average Per Catch........... 10.6 12.5
Average Per Game............ 179.6 180.7
TDs Passing................. 16 18
TOTAL OFFENSE................. 3536 3891
Total Plays................. 675 709
Average Per Play............ 5.2 5.5
Average Per Game............ 321.5 353.7
KICK RETURNS: #-YARDS......... 36-807 36-745
PUNT RETURNS: #-YARDS......... 23-274 22-225
INT RETURNS: #-YARDS.......... 7-18 15-158
KICK RETURN AVERAGE........... 22.4 20.7
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE........... 11.9 10.2
INT RETURN AVERAGE............ 2.6 10.5
FUMBLES-LOST.................. 19-8 23-11
PENALTIES-YARDS............... 87-781 74-697
Average Per Game............ 71.0 63.4
PUNTS-YARDS................... 54-1917 43-1531
Average Per Punt............ 35.5 35.6
Net punt average............ 31.3 29.2
TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME....... 28:10 30:50
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS.......... 53/139 65/143
3rd-Down Pct................ 38% 45%
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS.......... 9/16 6/13
4th-Down Pct................ 56% 46%
SACKS BY-YARDS................ 16-117 21-144
MISC YARDS.................... 70 21
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED............. 30 35
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS.......... 2-8 11-16
PAT-ATTEMPTS.................. 27-30 31-34
ATTENDANCE.................... 26110 43836
Games/Avg Per Game.......... 5/5222 6/7306
UND’s final conference run in D-II, and the North Central Conference’s final football season, begins on September 15. Recent NCC football affiliate, Central Washington University (1-0), visits Grand Forks for the 42nd Annual Potato Bowl.