Southern Utah's football team opens the 2008 season Saturday when the Thunderbirds take on Air Force at USAFA's Falcon Stadium. It is the season-opener for both squads.

Southern Utah is coming off an 0-11 season, including an 0-4 mark in Great West Football Conference play. The Thunderbirds finished fifth in the league last year.

Air Force posted a 9-4 record last season, a mark which included a 6-2 record and a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons capped their season with an appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Southern Utah is hoping to replicate some of Air Force's 2007 success this season. When he took over the program prior to last season, Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun inherited a team which went 4-8 in 2006, but led it to a bowl appearance. SUU Coach Ed Lamb is hoping to have the same kind of impact on the Thunderbirds this fall.

The Game: Southern Utah (0-0) at Air Force (0-0), Saturday, 12:00 p.m. (Mountain), Falcon Stadium (46,692/FieldTurf).

The Series: Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.

SUU In Season-Openers: Southern Utah is 24-21-0 in season openers since moving to four-year status in 1963, 12-13 in season openers on the road. SUU has won seven of its last 10 season-openers, with the hiccups coming last year at Montana (37-14), at Nevada in 2003 (24-23), and at Idaho State in 2005 (38-13). In 2006 the Thunderbirds claimed a 34-0 home win over Montana Tech in the opener. SUU upset Weber State in Ogden, Utah, 34-31 in the 2004 season-opener and prior to the loss at Nevada the Thunderbirds had won six straight openers, including one on the road (45-35 at Montana in 1998) and five at home (44-13 over Illinois State in 1997, 50-7 over Ft. Lewis in 1999, 54-16 over Ft. Lewis in 2000, 28-21 over Weber State in 2001 and 7-0 over Mesa State in 2002). SUU Coach Ed Lamb is heading into his first season-opener as a head coach.

The Thunderbirds have opened at home nine of the last 15 seasons but have played their first game away from Cedar City four of the last five years. The road openers in that span were the games at Montana in 1998 and 2007, at Weber State in 2004, at Nevada in 2003 and at ISU in 2005. Prior to a six-game winning streak in openers which ended at Nevada, the Thunderbirds had lost four in a row to open the season ? all at home ? although three of those four losses came at the hands of opponents (Northern Iowa, Idaho and Northern Arizona) which were ranked in the I-AA top-25 at the time.

Radio: All of Southern Utah's 2008 football games will be available over the Thunderbird Sports Network. SUU flagship station KSUU (91.1 FM) will carry every game live as well as on the worldwide web at www.suu.edu/ksuu. The games will also be carried live over Thunderbird Radio Network affiliate KSUB AM (590), which covers southwest Utah. Art Challis is entering his 34th season as the Thunderbirds' football voice. He will be joined on home broadcasts by former SUU coach and athletic director Steve Lunt. SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner provides color commentary on road broadcasts.

TV: There will be no live television for Saturday's game. Highlight feeds of all five Thunderbird home games will be available via SUU's FTP site. For information on obtaining those feeds contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.

GWFC Teleconference: The Great West Conference holds a weekly teleconference, beginning at 12:45 p.m. (MST). The conference's head coaches all address their previous and upcoming games. For information on accessing the teleconferences, contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner. The schedule follows:
12:45 p.m. - Introduction by Great West Commissioner Ed Grom
12:47 p.m. - Cal Poly Coach Rich Ellerson
12:55 p.m. - USD Coach Ed Meierkort
1:03 p.m. - UND Coach Chris Mussman
1:11 p.m. - SUU Coach Ed Lamb
1:19 p.m. - UC Davis coach Bob Biggs

Thunderbird Club Luncheons: The Thunderbird Club's weekly no-host luncheon is held Mondays at noon at the Cedar City Crystal Inn. The public is invited to attend the luncheons where Southern Utah's in-season coaches talk about their upcoming contests and review the past week's action.

The Coaches: SUU's Ed Lamb (BYU, 1996) has a record of 0-0 entering his first season as the Thunderbird head coach and his first season as a head coach overall. Lamb spent the past three seasons at the University of of San Diego where he coordinated the special teams and recruiting and was the Toreros' defensive backs coach. Prior to his time at USD Lamb spent two seasons as defensive coordinator at Idaho. He also served a season at BYU as a linebackers coach and four seasons at Redlands, three as defensive coordinator and one as defensive line coach.

Air Force's Tory Calhoun (Air Force, 1989) is 9-4 entering his second season at the Academy and his second season overall as a head coach.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its fifth season in the Great West Football conference after eight seasons as an NCAA I-AA independent. SUU is affiliated with The Summit League in all its other sports except women's gymnastics, which competes in the Western Athletic Conference. Air Force is a member of the Mountain West Conference.

Travel Plans: Southern Utah will fly via charter from Cedar City to Colorado Springs, departing Cedar City Regional Airport at 1:00 p.m. and arriving in Colorado Springs at 2:40 p.m. The Thunderbirds will return home Saturday evening. While in Colorado, SUU will headquarter at the Colorado Springs Marriott. SUU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Neil Gardner may be contacted there at 719-260-1800.

SUU Versus the FBS and the Mountain West: This will be Southern Utah's 12th game against an NCAA Football Bowl Series opponent but its first against a team from the Mountain West Conference. All 12 contests have come on the road. The Thunderbirds are 1-10 against FBS foes. SUU's only win over an FBS team came at Arkansas State, a 34-24 win back in 1997. SUU's losses to FBS teams were at Florida Atlantic (32-7 in 2006), at Nevada (24-23 in 2003), at Arkansas State (38-16 in 2002), two at Troy State (20-17 in 2001 and 40-15 in 2002), at South Florida (42-12 in 2001), at San Jose State (47-4 in 2000), at Utah State (30-14 in 2000) and at Boise State (35-27 in 1999). For the record, SUU has met one team currently in the MWC, UNLV, but the last time was back in 1970 when SUU competed at the NAIA level and UNLV was an NCAA Division II competitor in football. UNLV is 3-0 against the Thunderbirds in football.

SUU In The FCS National Ranks:
Individuals: SUU had individuals ranked among the nation's top-50 FCS performers in two offensive categories in last year's season-ending statistics. WR Nick Miller accounted for both appearances, ranking 31st in all-purpose yards, with an average of 144.45 per game, and 32nd in punt return average, at 10.11 ypr. Punter Trevor Ward was close, at 55th, with a 39.18 yard-per-punt average, and now graduated WR Jeremy Edwards ranked 56th in receiving yards per game with 65.91.
Team: As a team, SUU ranked among I-AA's top-50 in two categories: passing offense at No. 38 with 224.45 ypg and punt returns, 48th at 9.7 ypr. SUU was 54th in kickoff returns at 20.5 ypr and 62nd in pass defense at 209 ypg.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

? SUU is entering its 46th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 23rd as a member of the NCAA. The 2008 season also marks the Thunderbirds' 16th as a member of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) and is the school's fifth in the Great West Football Conference.

? The opener at Air Force marks the fifth time in the last six seasons the Thunderbirds have played their first game of the season away from home. The only time SUU opened at home during that stretch was in 2006 when they kicked off the season with a 34-0 defeat of Montana Tech at Eccles Coliseum.

? The Thunderbirds have five returning all-conference players on the roster, including linebackers Robert Takeno and D.J. Senter, cornerback Colin Pretlow, kicker Steve Pulver and punter Trevor Ward. In addition to those five, defensive end La'Var Porter was a second-team selection at linebacker in 2006 before injuries limited his play last year.

? SUU also returns three academic all-GWFC honorees from the 2007 squad: safety Brandon Godfrey, wide receiver Tysson Poots and Ward.

? SUU plays 7 of its 11 games against FCS opponents this year, with the exceptions being the opener at FBS Air Force, the matchup with Division II Adams State and the games vs. North Dakota and South Dakota, a pair of teams making the transition from Division II to Division I status. Last year, the Thunderbirds played 10 of 11 games against FCS teams, with the exception a home game vs. North Dakota.

? The Thunderbirds have always been proud to be Utah's Team and this year is no exception as the SUU squad boasts 47 home-grown players. California has the second-highest number of players on the roster, with 16, followed by Nevada with 13. There are five players hailing from Arizona, three from Hawaii, and one each from Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, New York and North Carolina. The Thunderbirds also have four international players on the roster this season: three from American Samoa and one from Sweden.

Quick Outlook: An air of optimism surrounds Southern Utah's football program as the Thunderbirds head into the 2008 campaign.

First-year Head Coach Ed Lamb and his staff took over in January and immediately put into action a plan to make the Thunderbirds bigger, stronger, faster and tougher. Early morning meetings and workouts became the norm and expectations rose as student-athletes and coaches alike volunteered their time to a commitment to excellence.

That commitment has already paid off and anticipation is that the dividends will continue to be reaped as the season progresses.

“The team has worked hard during our off-season training program,” Lamb points out. “We instituted early-morning workouts and study hall and the team was receptive to the program.”

Under the program the players trained five days per week, with 6:30 a.m. sprints twice a week and 6:30 a.m. study hall twice a week. Because of the commitment 17 players gained 15 pounds or more over a 16-week training cycle.

“The team made a significant effort during the off-season and because of that effort the team feels deserving of being competitive,” Lamb notes.

The effort put in is not the only thing that has produced the optimism within the program, however, as the Thunderbirds have a good group of players returning, as well as a talented recruiting class coming in.

“We've got good talent across the board,” Lamb says. “We have talent at every position and with the work put in during spring ball we feel like we've come a long way toward putting in our systems on offense, on defense and on special teams.”

The Thunderbirds return a handful of starters on both sides of the ball as well as all of its special teams standouts. On the offensive side of the ball last year's starters WR Nick Miller and Tysson Poots return, along with OL Stephen Boyer and Jeremy Vilardo who started every game. Six starters return on the defensive side of the ball, led by two-time all-Great West Football Conference performer Robert Takeno at linebacker. Senior tackles Austin Curtis and Aaron Fernandez, a pair of two-year starters are also back, along with cornerbacks Colin Pretlow and DeWayne Lewis, safety D.J. Senter (who moves to linebacker this fall) and end Chad Westwood.

Kicker Steve Pulver and punter Trevor Ward also return after earning honorable mention all-GWFC honors last year, while Miller is back for returns after setting SUU single-season records for punt returns and punt return yards last year.

In addition to those players, quarterback Cody Stone, who started the final three games, and former starters or part-time starters Jeff Janes (OL), Joel Johnson (TE), Tysson Poots (WR), La'Var Porter (DE) and Fesi Sitake (WR) also return this fall.

Coaching Lineup: Lamb ? who will handle defensive coordinator duties in addition to his head coaching position ? brought in an entirely new staff, with defensive line coach Ryan Hunt the only exception. Serving as assistant head coach and working with the team's tight ends and running backs will be former Weber State all-American and NFL standout Al Pupunu. Former BYU and Utah assistant Steve Clark will handle offensive coordinator duties while former BYU standout and NFL veteran Justin Ena is the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. Paul Peterson, a former JC all-American at Snow College who was also a successful QB at Boston College, will handle the quarterbacks and receivers as well as heading up recruiting. Demario Warren, who played running back at UC Davis before injuries cut short his career, will serve as secondary coach, while another NFL veteran and BYU grad, Jason Andersen, is coaching the offensive line. In addition to those coaches, former SUU standout Sitiveni Tuivai returns to work with the defensive line and Shane Braman will work with the secondary. Both Tuivai and Braman are working as student assistants while they finish their degrees.

2008 Schedule: In addition to Bowl Subdivision Air Force, Southern Utah faces four teams ranked in the FCS pre-season top-15 this season. The first ranked team SUU meets is pre-season No. 7/8 Montana, whom the Thunderbirds will square off against Sept. 13 in Missoula, Mont. The Thunderbirds then host No. 12 Youngstown State on Oct. 4. SUU's only conference game against a ranked opponent comes Oct. 25, when the Thunderbirds face Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. SUU then wraps up the regular season with a matchup against No. 4/3 Northern Iowa. In addition to those four, SUU opponents Northern Arizona and UV Davis are receiving votes in both the FCS Coaches and The Sports Network Polls, the two polls cited above.

Last year the Thunderbirds faced 10 teams which were ranked in the pre-season polls and eight of those finished the year still in the rankings and all eight are ranked heading into this year.

Falcon File: Air Force returns a pair of all-Mountain West Conference performers this year, one on each side of the ball. Offensive guard Nick Charles (6-4, 285) was a second-team all-MWC selection last year, while defensive end Ryan Kemp (6-5, 255) earned honorable mention. Both are on the 2008 pre-season all-MWC team.

The Falcons return just eight starters and will be looking to replace quarterback Shaun Carney, who tallied over 2,100 yards of total offense last year. Junior Eric Herbort (5-11, 185) came out of spring ball atop the depth chart but senior Shea Smith (5-11, 190) moved past him through the first couple of weeks of fall ball. Smith came on in relief after Carney was knocked from the Armed Forces Bowl but threw just 12 passes, completing four, all season.

At running back the Falcons are looking at a pair of sophomores, Savier Stephens (5-11, 190) and Kyle Lumpkin (5-9, 180). Stephens averaged 4.1 yards on 36 carries last year. Fullback Todd Newell also returns after averaging 4.5 yards on 14 carries while playing in 13 games last year.

One challenge for Air Force is to replace WR/RB Chad Hall, last year's MWC Player of the Year. Hall tallied 1,478 yards and 15 rushing TDs and 524 yards and a touchdown receiving last year to lead the team in both categories. Kyle Halderman (5-11, 175, So) and Reggie Rembert (5-7, 175, So) are listed at Hall's Z-receiver position through the first weeks of camp.

The line looks to be a strength of the defense as six of the top seven from last year, led by Kemp and fellow DE Jake Paulson (6-4, 255, Sr). Kemp had 54 tackles and four sacks last season, while Paulson had 18 stops with 1.5 sacks. Nose guard Ben Garland also returns after tallying 31 tackles and three sacks.

The Falcons were hit hard by graduation in the secondary and at linebacker. Safety Chris Thomas (5-11, 205, Jr) gives the secondary a strong foundation, however, as the junior earned honorable mention all-MWC honors last year after racking up 110 tackles and breaking up 10 passes. OLB Hunter Altman (5-11, 205, Sr) leads the linebacking corps after tallying 62 tackles, 10 for losses last season.


SUU Picked Fifth In GWFC Poll: The Thunderbirds are picked fifth in the GWFC pre-season coaches poll this year.
The coaches tabbed Cal Poly to win its first title three years, with UC Davis tabbed to finish second. Cal Poly picked up three first-place votes, with the Aggies grabbing the other two. Newcomers North Dakota and South Dakota were picked to finish third and fourth, respectively, with SUU tabbed for a fifth-place finish.
SUU has finished fifth the past three seasons. The Thunderbirds' best league finish came in 2004, when they finished third in the conference's first season.

SUU's Eccles Coliseum is one of two football stadiums in the world sporting both the Olympic Rings and an Olympic Cauldron inside the stadium (The Los Angeles Coliseum is the other). Southern Utah's Olympic Cauldron, donated by DCI Incorporated of Utah, was lit by the Olympic Torch Feb. 5, 2002, during the Olympic Torch Relay.

Ed Lamb On Air Force: “I feel like I know Air Force, this is the third way I've faced them. I faced them as a player, I've faced them as an assistant coach and now I'll be facing them as a head coach. One thing I know about Air Force is that even though you may read in the press about everyone they've lost, every year they're able to reload. They're a team that may be a little undersized for their level but they won't be undersized to us. They are one of the most disciplined teams in the country and as a result they execute what they do to perfection.

“Offensively when you think about Air Force you think option. We think that will still be the case this year but we also realize that, with a new staff last year and a new quarterback this year, they may be moving away from the option.

“Defensively we expect them to try to put a lot of pressure on our quarterback. Again, this is something that, traditionally, Air Force defenses have been able to do well.”

Lamb on the Thunderbirds: “Our objective, coming out of training camp, is to have this team come out knowing that they have worked harder than any team in the country over the past eight months. I think we've achieved a high fitness level which will help us compete against one of traditionally one of the most fit teams in the country in Air Force.

“The objective this weekend will be to win. We understand we are underdogs, that's the beauty of the sport; we're probably underdogs by 40 points but our guys feel like they're the only ones who know how hard they've worked and how improved they are over last year. They're looking forward to the opportunity to match themselves against one of the very best teams, in Air Force.

“We've come a long way in conditioning and getting our size where it needs to be. The players have worked hard and are looking forward to playing a game this weekend.”