Southern Utah Thunderbirds come to Bowers
11/27/2013 2:06:00 PM | Football
Over the past two years, Sam Houston State has faced a bunch of schools from the Big Sky Conference in the FCS playoffs.
The Bearkats survived a hard-fought second-round contest against Cal Poly last year, beat Montana State twice in the 2011 and 2012 quarterfinals and held off furious rallies to defeat Montana and Eastern Washington in the 2011 and 2012 national semifinals, respectively.
The Kats have to take care of business again in the playoffs against another squad from the Big Sky. This time around, it will be the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah.
“We never played Southern Utah but we've seen them on video occasionally when getting ready to play another Big Sky opponent. They're a big team,” Bearkat coach Willie Fritz said. “They're disciplined and don't make many mistakes. You have to beat them. They're not going to beat themselves. They have the best kicker and punter combo we've seen in a long time, something that can really help them in the field position battle.”
The Thunderbirds (8-4 overall) won three of their last four contests to finish fourth in the conference standings behind No. 3 national seed Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona and No. 8 seed Montana.
Southern Utah is making its first-ever appearance in the FCS playoffs.
The Thunderbirds are scoring 20 points per game, while holding their opponents to 19.8.
Southern Utah runs a somewhat balanced offense (2,064 passing yards and 1,504 rushing yards). The offense is led by quarterback Aaron Cantu (1,763 passing yards and nine touchdown passes against 12 interceptions. A series of tailbacks run the ball with Raysean Martin (441 rushing yards and six TDs) and Mike Sharp (429 rushing yards and two scores) leading the team.
Defensively, the Thunderbirds give up 335.25 yards per game, but they have allowed just nine rushing touchdowns all season. Southern Utah has been a force in coming up with turnovers, picking off 15 interceptions and recovering nine fumbles.
“Southern Utah is different than the Big Sky teams we've played in the past few years. They're really physical and they will run it downhill at you. They have one of the top defenses we've faced this season,” Fritz added.
In the game against a common opponent, Sam Houston State defeated Eastern Washington 49-34 on Sept. 28 in Huntsville, while Southern Utah lost to the Eagles 34-10 in Cheney, Wash.
The Thunderbirds have played well on the road this season, sporting a 5-2 mark that includes a loss at FBS foe Washington State.
