Quickly: Southern Utah University opens its 2010 football season Saturday when the Thunderbirds take on Wyoming at 7:00 p.m. in Laramie, Wyo. The game is the season-opener for both squads.

Southern Utah (0-0/0-0 Great West) is coming off a 5-6 season, its best campaign since the 2004 squad finished with a 6-5 mark. The Thunderbirds finished 2-2 and tied for third in the Great West Conference last year.

Wyoming (0-0/0-0 Mountain West) posted a 7-6 mark last season, including a 4-4 conference mark. The Cowboys capped their 2009 campaign with a 35-28 double-overtime win against Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl.

Thunderbird Practice Schedule: The players are off on Mondays. Daily practices Tuesday through Thursday are scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. and end at 6:15 p.m.

Media Availability: Players and coaches are available for interviews on Tuesdays following practice, at approximately 6:15 p.m. To contact a player or coach on another day or time contact Neil Gardner at gardner@suu.edu or 435-586-7753.

The Game: Southern Utah (0-0) at Wyoming (0-0), Saturday at 7:00 p.m. (Mountain), War Memorial Stadium (30,514/Artificial), Laramie, Wyo.

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

SUU In Season-Openers and Road-Openers

A 36-7 home win over in-state rival Dixie State last season lifted Southern Utah to 25-22-0 in season-openers since the school moved to four-year status in 1963 ... over that same time-span SUU is 13-34 in road-openers ... although SUU has won six of its last 10 season-openers the Thunderbirds will be looking to stop a five-game streak of losses in road-openers, including a 35-19 setback at San Diego State last season ... the last time the Thunderbirds won their first road game of the season was in 2004 when they took a 34-31 season-opening win at Weber State ... this year's game gives SUU road openers at Mountain West Conference foes in three straight seasons, including last year and in 2008 when the team fell 41-7 at Air Force in the overall season-opener.

In his third season at SUU, Coach Ed Lamb is 1-1 in season-openers with the win over Dixie State last season and the loss at Air Force in '08.

The Thunderbirds have opened at home 10 of the last 17 seasons but have played their first game on the road in six of the last eight years, including this season. The previous road-openers in that span were the game at Air Force in '08, at Montana in '07, at Nevada in '03, at Weber State in '04 and at Idaho State in '05.
   
TV: There will be no live television for Saturday's game but first-half and final highlights will be available on SUU's ftp site. All of Southern Utah's home games will be televised live by KCSG-TV, which is available via cable channel 6 in Cedar City, Hurricane, Provo, Santa Clara, St. George and Washington City; via satellite in Utah on Direct-TV channel 44 and Dish Network channel 37; and via Comcast cable channel 116 in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder, Cache and Summit counties.
   
Video Highlights: Video highlights of the Thunderbirds' road games will be available to accredited media outlets via SUU's FTP site. For information on obtaining those highlights contact SUU Director of Athletic Media Relations Neil Gardner.

Radio: All of Southern Utah's 2010 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 road broadcasts by former Thunderbird standout Dave McMullin.

GWC Teleconference: The Great West Conference holds a weekly teleconference, beginning at 12:45 p.m. (Mountain). 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 Commissioner Ed Grom
    12:47 p.m. - Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh
    12:55 p.m. - South Dakota coach Ed Meierkort
    1:03 p.m. - North Dakota coach Chris Mussman
    1:11 p.m. - Southern Utah 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.

Next Up/Remaining Schedule

The Thunderbirds open their home season Sept. 11, when they host 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.

The Coaches: SUU's Ed Lamb (BYU, 1996) has a record of 9-13 entering his third season as the Thunderbird head coach and his third season as a head coach overall. Last year Lamb guided the Thunderbirds to their most successful season since 2004 when he guided the team to a 5-6 record, a mark which bettered the 2008 team's 4-7, which was also its best since '04. Prior to taking over at SUU, Lamb spent three seasons at the University 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 the University of Redlands, three as defensive coordinator and one as defensive line coach.

Wyoming's Dave Christensen (Western Washington, 1985) has a record of 7-6 at Wyoming. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the program, Coach Christensen led the Cowboys to a winning record as well a berth in the New Mexico Bowl, their first bowl appearance since 2004. UW made the most of that bowl opportunity, claiming a 35-28 double-overtime win over Fresno State. Christensen is only the second Wyoming coach to lead a Cowboy squad to a bowl game in his first season (Paul Roach was the other, in 1987), and is the only one to win it.

Affiliations: Southern Utah is beginning its seventh season in the Great West Conference after eight seasons as an NCAA Division I (FCS) independent. SUU is affiliated with The Summit League in all its other sports except women's gymnastics, which competes in the Western Athletic Conference. Wyoming is a member of the NCAA Division I (FBS) Mountain West Conference.

SUU Versus the FBS and the Mountain West: This will be SUU's 14th game against an NCAA FBS opponent and its third against a team from the Mountain West Conference. All 14 contests have come on the road. Southern Utah is 1-13 against FBS foes and 0-2 vs. the MWC. The Thunderbirds' only win over an FBS team came at Arkansas State, a 34-24 triumph back in 1997. SUU's losses to FBS teams came at Boise State (35-27 in 1999), at San Jose State (47-4 in 2000), at Utah State (30-14 in 2000 and 53-34 in 2009), at South Florida (42-12 in 2001), at Troy State (twice, 20-17 in 2001 and 40-15 in 2002), at Arkansas State (38-16 in 2002), at Nevada (24-23 in 2003), at Florida Atlantic (32-7 in 2006), at Air Force (41-7 in 2008) and at San Diego St. (35-19 in 2009). For the record, SUU has met one more 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. The Thunderbirds ore 0-3 vs. UNLV in football.

SUU In The FCS National Ranks: 

Individuals: SUU had four individuals ranked among the nation's top-50 in 14 offensive statistical categories last year, including two returning players. Tysson Poots figured in six categories, ranking second in receptions per game (9.44), receiving yards per game (120.11) and scoring (10.0 ppg) as well as fifth in total receiving yards (1,081, he missed two games), 37th in all-purpose yards per game (120.11) and 45th in points responsible for (10.0). Fesi Sitake ranked in four categories, including seventh in punt return average (14.79 ypr), 10th in receptions per game (7.18), 31st in total receiving yards (848) and 33rd in receiving yards per game (77.09). QB Cade Cooper figured in five categories, ranking fifth in points responsible for (178.82 ppg), eighth in total offense (285.73 ypg), 11th in passing yards per game (271.64), 12th in total passing yards (2,988) and 17th in passing efficiency (143.10). Kicker Ryan Griffith finished the season 16th in field goals per game (1.36) and 21st in scoring (8.0 ppg).

Defensively the Thunderbirds had two players rank in three categories, including Akeem Anifowoshe, who was second in the nation in fumbles recovered with 4.4 per game. Colin Pretlow was 22nd in solo tackles (5.18 tpg) and 37th in passes defended (1.0 pdpg), and narrowly missed another category as he was 51st in interceptions (0.36 ipg). Punter Trevor Ward and linebacker Rob Takeno, just missed the top-50 as well, as Ward was the unofficial national leader after averaging 48.0 yards per punt but falling 4.6 kicks short of the NCAA minimum of 3.6 per game (Ward punted 35 times for 1,680 yards) while Takeno was 51st in tackles (8.55 tpg).

Team: The Thunderbirds ranked among the top-50 in nine categories and among the top 10 in four, including first in net punting with an average of 45.5 yards per punt. SUU was also third in defensive fumbles recovered (17), ninth in punt returns (14.79 ypr), 10th in passing offense (282.09 ypg), 11th in scoring (33.27 ppg), 16th in both total offense (404.73 ypg) and passing efficiency (143.62), 28th in turnovers gained (25) and 40th in turnover margin (plus 0.27). In three of the more esoteric statistical categories the Thunderbirds were third in red-zone offense, scoring 91 percent of the time inside the 20 (48 out of 53), 10th in third-down efficiency (45.75 percent) and 17th in fourth-down efficiency (61.9 pct.). SUU was also just outside the top-50, in 51st, in red-zone defense at 77.0 percent.

Preseason Accolades: Poots, Sitake and Anifowoshe all earned preseason honors from at least one publication. Poots is a consensus first-team all-American, is listed on the Payton Award Watch list (which honors the top offensive player at the FCS level) and was named the Great West Conference's pre-season offensive player of the year. Sitake also earned second-team honors as a return specialist from the College Sporting News, JB Scouting and from Phil Steele's Annual and third-team honors from The Sports Network. Anifowoshe earned honorable mention recognition from the Senior Scout Bowl.

Captains: This year's captains are Tysson Poots, Colin Pretlow and Fesi Sitake.

SUU Picked Third In GWC Coaches Poll: Southern Utah pulled one first-place vote and 14 points in the annual pre-season poll of the Great West Conference coaches, placing them third, behind defending champion UC Davis and four-time champ Cal Poly. UC Davis was the clear favorite, with 23 points and three first-place votes, while Cal Poly accumulated 18 points and the final first-place nod. South Dakota tallied 11 points to finish fourth while North Dakota was picked to finish fifth with nine points.

Last season the Thunderbirds finished tied with North Dakota and South Dakota in second place after all three posted 2-2 marks in league play. UC Davis finished atop the standings at 3-1 (with the Aggies' only loss coming at the hands of SUU, 56-35) and Cal Poly was fifth at 1-3.

Thunderbird Quick Hits:

• SUU is entering its 48th season as a four-year football-playing institution and its 25th as a member of the NCAA. The 2010 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, FCS Fabulous-50 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 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, OL 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 of its 11 games against NCAA Division I opponents this year, with the exception being the game against Division II Dixie State. Two of the Division I opponents, Wyoming and San Jose State, compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, while the other eight compete at the Football Championship Subdivision level. North Dakota and South Dakota are in the transition phase between Division II and Division I.

• SUU's roster is heavy with Utah natives, as 45 hail from the Beehive State. California is the next-most represented state, with 24, while a baker's dozen call Nevada home. Four come from Texas, three are from American Samoa, and the Thunderbirds have one player from each of the following states: Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington, as well as one player from Samoa (in addition to the three from American Samoa).

Coaching Lineup: The staff returns almost intact for the 2010 season, but some of the titles will change. Head Coach Ed Lamb will give up his duties as defensive coordinator and hand those reins to third-year assistant Justin Ena. Ena, an NFL veteran and former BYU standout, will also continue as linebackers coach. Former BYU and Utah assistant Steve Clark will again handle offensive coordinator duties, while  Paul Peterson, a former JC all-American at Snow College who was also a successful QB at Boston College, will again handle the quarterbacks and receivers as well as heading up recruiting and taking on the mantle of passing game coordinator. Ryan Hunt, a former all-conference performer at offensive tackle for SUU, returns as defensive line coach while Demario Warren, who played running back at UC Davis before injuries cut short his career, returns as secondary coach. Another NFL veteran and former BYU standout Teag Whiting, takes over as offensive line coach after working as a graduate assistant last year. Whiting replaces Jason Andersen. Ronnie Pentz, who was a graduate assistant working with the linebackers and special teams last year takes over Ena's former duties as special teams coordinator this year. Aaron Fernandez, an all-GWC defensive tackle in 2008, returns as a defensive assistant and will take on the duties of assistant recruiting coordinator. The only newcomer is former Thunderbird standout Justin Wattenscheid, who replaces  Al Pupunu as tight ends and running backs coach. Pupunu left the Thunderbirds for the University of Idaho last spring while Andersen opted to devote his time to another business venture.

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.    

Quick SUU Outlook: Southern Utah's players and staff are optimistic as the team heads into the 2010 season. Although the team lost some key components from last year's squad – which is the case every year for every team across the country – the 2010 Thunderbirds have a good deal of returning talent to go with another outstanding recruiting class.

“Every year we've come in with a little more talent and this year is no exception,” Head Coach Ed Lamb notes as he heads into his third season on the SUU sideline. “The guys who have been around are more developed, and the recruits are a little better than the ones we've had previously. I think we have a chance to be really good.”

The optimism stems from the fact that the team returns nine players who started at least five games on defense last year and eight who were at least part-time starters on offense. Add in a handful of returning all-conference performers, and one all-American, and the cause for optimism becomes clear.

On offense the team returns all-American Tysson Poots and all-GWC receiver Fesi Sitake, its top four running backs from the past two seasons, its fullback and its tight end. A few spots on the line will need to be replaced but one full-time and two part-time starters return there. The biggest question mark on the this side of the ball is at quarterback, where the team will be looking for a new starter for the third time in the last three seasons.

On defense three-time first-team all-GWC cornerback Colin Pretlow and 2009 first-teamer at safety Akeem Anifowoshe both return, along with safety Erron Vonner, who earned honorable mention honors last season. Two more starters on the line, two at linebacker and two more who started at least half the games in the secondary also return to bolster the defense.
The returning starters aren't the only players who will contribute, however, as Lamb says he thinks one of the strengths of this team is its depth.

“The depth is one strength of this team because at most of our positions we have a number of guys who can be winning-level players,” he notes. “We have a lot of players who are second-team players who have the ability to be starters, and this is the first time we've really been able to say that about the majority of our positions.”

Cowboy Capsule: Wyoming  has 16 starters returning from last year's squad. Of those 16, six earned post-season honors, led by quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who was named the Mountain West Conference's Freshman of the Year as well as MVP of the New Mexico Bowl. Senior free safety Chris Prosinski and junior linebacker Brian Hendricks, a pair of second-team all-MWC selections last year, return to lead the defense. In addition to those three, senior WR David Leonard and junior punter Austin McCoy were honorable mention all-MWC selections last season and safety Shamiel Gary was a first-team freshman all-American.

Carta-Samuels completed 191-of-326 passes for 1,953 yards and 10 touchdowns with five interceptions last season. He was also the team's third-leading rusher, with 366 yards and three scores. His three favorite targets, Leonard, Zach Bolger and Travis Burkhalter, are all back this year. Leonard led the team with 77 receptions for 705 yards and three touchdowns while Bolger had 28 catches for 314 yards and a score and Burkhalter finished the season with 21 receptions for 213 yards and two TDs. Sophomore running back Alvester Alexander also returns after leading the team with 640 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground last year.

Defensively, seven of the Cowboys' top-eight tacklers return this season. Prosinski led the team with a whopping 140 tackles in 2009, including 71 solo stops, and he was second on the team with six passes broken up. Defensive end Gabe Knapton was second on the team with 128 tackles, and 4.5 tackles-for-loss, while Hendricks had 116 stops, and another 4.5 TFLs. Gary had 98 tackles, and along with fellow returner Tashaun Gipson and the departed Weston Johnson, co-led the team with three interceptions each last season.

As a team Wyoming averaged 18.3 points and 309.4 yards per game last year, 136.2 on the ground and 173.2 through the air, while giving up 27.3 points and 393.3 yards, 172.5 rushing and 220.8 passing. Wyoming's 2009 schedule included four teams which finished the season ranked in the top-25: Texas, TCU, BYU and Utah.

Coach Ed Lamb On The Thunderbirds: “I know our players are really excited. They've put in a lot of work. In the last couple of years many of the games we've been competitive in I felt like our players were able to just play hard, and outplayed some of the other teams when we've been able to get a victory on occasion. Maybe for the first time this year I think our guys have some real confidence that their skill level, their fitness and their strength is on a par with the teams that we play. So I hope that it can be a very good year.

“In the past couple of years and in particular last year, we've had a game or two where if we had played a little better, or won Cal Poly or won at South Dakota we would have had at least a share of a conference championship but I felt that on those occasions in the past we haven't played with great confidence, and maybe confidence in a toughness way. By that I mean I think our guys have confidence in what they're capable of achieving but sometimes when we've been pressured or smacked in the mouth we haven't responded like a championship team would. This year I hope we accomplish that by playing with great confidence and toughness in all situations. “

Coach Lamb On Wyoming: “A year ago they had one of the premier defensive lines in the west. They really got after the quarterback …. With that great pass rush they were able to get with four guys they were able to stay in a soft zone all year, however there's nothing soft about the way their defense played. They got after it up front, they kept the ball in front of them with their secondary guys and  their linebackers have a lot of speed. We think that will be a big challenge for us. The guys who have been getting all the attention, the offensive guys, have been Austyn Carta-Samuels, a great runner out of the backfield who I think will mature as a passer as time goes on, so he will be a real challenge. [Alvestert] Alexander had a good year down the stretch as a freshman, he has great speed and Justin Leonard at wide receiver is probably an all-conference caliber guy.”