Courtesy: Deb Hill Akeem Anifowoshe is one of three returning first-team all-GWC players for the Thunderbirds this season.

CEDAR CITY, Utah, July 29 – Southern Utah University will open the third fall football camp of the Ed Lamb era Monday when the Thunderbirds take the field for the first time in preparation for the 2010 campaign. All players are scheduled to report Sunday evening for orientation and equipment checkout with the first workout slated for 9:05 a.m. at the Thunderbird practice facility.
    “The players and coaches are very eager to get started,” Coach Lamb says. “Everyone has put in a lot of hard work during our off-season and summer conditioning programs, and we are anxious to see the cumulative team result of so much effort.”
    Ninety players are expected in camp on Monday, including 46 letter-winners, 11 redshirts, 25 newcomers and eight early transfers or returning squad members.
    The Thunderbirds open the season Sept. 4, when they travel to Laramie, Wyo., for a matchup with the University of Wyoming. The home-opener is the following week when SUU hosts San Diego in a 6:00 p.m. game at Eccles Coliseum.
    Southern Utah then hits the road for back-to-back road games at San Jose State (Sept. 18) and Texas State (Sept. 25) before returning home to host Northern Arizona at 1:00 p.m. on Oct. 2. After a trip to North Dakota to open Great West Conference play (Oct. 9) SUU hosts GWC foe Cal Poly in its annual Homecoming game at 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 16. SUU remains at home the following week for another conference clash, this time against South Dakota, at 1:00 p.m. in the Coliseum.
    The T-Birds wrap up their GWC slate the following weekend at UC Davis on Oct. 30, before wrapping up their home season against Dixie State at 1:00 p.m. on Nov. 6. The regular-season finale is scheduled for Nov. 13, when SUU travels to Cheney, Wash., to take on Eastern Washington.

Thunderbird Practice Schedule: 

    Week One: The team will hold conditioning sessions each morning at 9:05 a.m. Monday through Friday, with practices slated for 4:15 p.m. each of those days. Practices on Monday and Tuesday will be in helmets only, while practices on Wednesday and Thursday will be in shells. The first full-pads practice will be Friday, and Saturday the team will hold its first two-a-day practice with a morning workout at 9:05 a.m. and an afternoon practice at 4:15.
    Week Two: Two-a-day workouts will be held Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:05 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., with single workouts at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. The first full scrimmage will be Saturday, Aug. 16, at 4:15 p.m.
    Week Three: The team will be off Aug. 16-18 before resuming with a single afternoon practice Thursday, Aug. 19, morning and afternoon practices Aug. 20 and another afternoon scrimmage Aug. 21.
    Week Four and Game Week: The players will have a off-days on Mondays, followed by single practices at 4:15 p.m. each day through the rest of the week.
    NOTE: All practice and scrimmage times are approximate and subject to change.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

• SUU will be entering its 48th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 25th as a member of the NCAA. The 2009 season also marks the Thunderbirds’ 18th as a member of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision and is the school’s seventh in the Great West Conference.
• The opener at Wyoming marks the sixth time in the last eight seasons the Thunderbirds have played their first game of the season on the road. In 2008 SUU opened at Air Force, in 2007 the team opened at Montana, in 2005 at Idaho State, in 2004 the team opened at Weber State and in 2003 the opener was at Nevada. The two openers at home have been last year against Dixie State, a 36-7 SUU victory, and in 2006 when the ‘Birds kicked off the season with a 34-0 defeat of Montana Tech at Eccles Coliseum.
• The Thunderbirds have an all-American and five all-conference players returning, including senior wide receiver Tysson Poots, who earned second-team all-America, Fabulous-50 honors and first-team all-conference honors last year. In addition to Poots, senior cornerback Colin Pretlow and senior safety Akeem Anifowoshe (who moves to linebacker this year) earned first-team all GWC honors last year, with Pretlow also taking home Fabulous-50 honors from The College Sports Network. In addition to the first-teamers, senior wide receiver Fesi Sitake earned second-team honors and cornerback Erron Vonner earned honorable mention recognition last year.
• Poots, Pretlow and Sitake were also named pre-season all-Americans by The Sports Network and Poots is on the Walter Payton Award watch list.
• Poots was also an academic all-American last year, as well as an academic All-GWC selection. SUU has nine returning academic all-GWC honorees, including Poots, Pretlow, Sitake, Vonner, LB Blake Fenn, TE Dylan Fox, FB/LS Brigham Nielson, QB Zach Olsen, OL Trevor Schauerhamer, and DB Tyson Turley. Poots and Pretlow were both academic all-GWC honorees in 2008 as well.
• SUU plays 10 its 11 games against Division I opponents this year, with the exception being the game against Division II Dixie State. Two of the opponents, Wyoming and San Jose State, compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, while the other eight compete at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
• Nearly half of the players reporting this weekend are Utah natives, with 43 hailing from the Beehive State. California is the next-most represented state, with 22, while an even dozen call Nevada home. Three each come from Texas and American Samoa, two are from Hawaii, and the Thunderbirds will have player from each of the following states in camp on Monday: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Ohio and Washington.