2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

The 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah as seventh-year as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 1–10, 1–7 in Big Sky play to finish in 12th place.

2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
2018 record1–10 (1–7 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJustin Walterscheid (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorRod Chance (3rd season)
Home stadiumEccles Coliseum
(Capacity: 8,500)
2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 Weber State +^  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^  7 –1     12 –3  
No. 7 UC Davis +^  7 –1     10 –3  
No. 17 Montana State ^  5 –3     8 –5  
Idaho State  5 –3     6 –5  
Montana  4 –4     6 –5  
Cal Poly  4 –4     5 –6  
Northern Arizona  3 –4     4 –6  
Portland State  3 –5     4 –7  
Idaho  3 –5     4 –7  
Northern Colorado  2 –6     2 –9  
Southern Utah  1 –7     1 –10  
Sacramento State  0 –7     2 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games.
Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2016 season 9–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to earn a share of the conference championship with Weber State. They received the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Weber State in the second round.

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Thunderbirds were predicted to finish in sixth place in both the coaches and media poll.[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Eastern Washington 134 (6)
2 Weber State 124 (3)
3 Northern Arizona 121 (3)
4 Idaho 101 (1)
5 Sacramento State 94
6 Southern Utah 91
7 Montana 82
8 Montana State 76
9 UC Davis 64
10 Cal Poly 40
11 Northern Colorado 30
12 Idaho State 29
13 Portland State 21
Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Eastern Washington 651 (27)
2 Weber State 636 (19)
3 Northern Arizona 535 (1)
4 Montana 496 (2)
5 Idaho 483 (3)
6 Southern Utah 449 (1)
7 Sacramento State 415
8 Montana State 391 (1)
9 UC Davis 331 (1)
10 Idaho State 170
11 Cal Poly 169
12 Northern Colorado 166
13 Portland State 103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Thunderbirds had five players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[2]

Marquez Tucker – Sr. OT

PJ Nu’usa – Jr. OG

Zach Larsen – Jr. C

Chinedu Ahanonu – Sr. LB

Jalen Russell – So. CB

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.North Alabama*
Pluto TV 236L 30–348,912
September 86:00 p.m.at Oregon State*
P12NL 25–4836,448
September 159:00 p.m.at Arizona*
P12NL 31–6241,493
September 224:00 p.m.at Northern Arizona
Pluto TV 239L 23–315,832
October 62:00 p.m.at No. 5 Eastern Washington
ATTRML 17–558,887
October 136:00 p.m.Sacramento State
  • Eccles Coliseum
  • Cedar City, UT
Pluto TV 236W 48–2710,424
October 203:00 p.m.at Idaho
Pluto TV 242L 12–3112,798
October 276:00 p.m.Northern Colorado
  • Eccles Coliseum
  • Cedar City, UT
Pluto TV 236L 39–427,106
November 31:00 p.m.Montana
  • Eccles Coliseum
  • Cedar City, UT
ATTRML 14–577,162
November 105:00 p.m.No. 3 Weber State
ELVNL 18–317,415
November 175:00 p.m.at Cal Poly
Pluto TV 244L 24–384,520

Game summaries

North Alabama
1 2 3 4 Total
Lions 3 10 7 14 34
Thunderbirds 0 16 7 7 30
See also: 2018 North Alabama Lions football team

at Oregon State
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 7 9 9 25
Beavers 17 24 0 7 48
See also: 2018 Oregon State Beavers football team

at Arizona
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 17 0 14 31
Wildcats 7 17 24 14 62
See also: 2018 Arizona Wildcats football team

at Northern Arizona
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 7 16 0 23
Lumberjacks 7 7 10 7 31
See also: 2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team and Grand Canyon Rivalry

at Eastern Washington
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 3 7 7 0 17
No. 5 Eagles 14 20 21 0 55
See also: 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Sacramento State
1 2 3 4 Total
Hornets 21 3 0 3 27
Thunderbirds 7 20 14 7 48
See also: 2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team

at Idaho
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 0 0 12 12
Vandals 10 14 7 0 31
See also: 2018 Idaho Vandals football team

Northern Colorado
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 14 10 18 0 42
Thunderbirds 8 3 14 14 39
See also: 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Montana
1 2 3 4 Total
Grizzlies 20 10 21 6 57
Thunderbirds 7 7 0 0 14
See also: 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

Weber State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Wildcats 7 14 7 3 31
Thunderbirds 6 6 6 0 18
See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team and Beehive Bowl

at Cal Poly
1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 14 7 0 3 24
Mustangs 0 21 7 10 38
See also: 2018 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

References
  1. "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
  2. "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
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