Scouting The Southern Utah Thunderbirds
11/26/2015 9:17:00 PM | Football
Southern Utan, Sam Houston's opponent Saturday at 2 p.m. in the NCAA Division I Football Championship opening round game at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, won its first ever Big Sky Conference championship this fall.
The Thunderbirds defeated Northern Arizona 49-41 in their final regular season game of the year to finish 8-3. Eleven Southern Utah players were named either first or second team All-Big Sky. James Cowser was named Big Sky “Defensive Player of the Year.”
Cowser finished the season with 62 tackles, 11 sacks and 17 tackles-for-loss on his way to setting new national FCS records. are Safety Miles Killebrew was a first team safety all-league selection and also was an all-conference special teams player. He lead Southern Utah with 123 tackles, third highest in the Big Sky.
Southern Utah's ball-hawking defense has played a big part in the Thunderbirds leading the FCS nationally in turnover margin with a plus 1.91 per game average. SUU also ranks No. 18 in the nation in scoring defense (18.9 points per game) and pass defense (185.7 yards per contest).
Quarterback Ammon Olsen directs an offense that is averaging 436.8 yards per game. Olsen has completed 258 of 430 passes for 2,965 yards and 22 touchdowns. He has thrown only six interceptions.
Running back Malik Brown leads the SUU ground attack with 818 yards on 152 carries. He has rushed for an average of 70.1 yards per game and has scored seven touchdowns.
Olsen's favorite targets are Justin Brown and Mike Sharp. Brown has 51 catches for 634 yards and four scores while Sharp owns 46 receptions for 748 yards and 10 scores.
Like Sam Houston, Southern Utah started the year with a pair of losses. The Thunderbirds fell to Utah State 12-9 in their season opener and lost at South Dakota State 55-40. The T-Birds bounced back with a seven-game winning streak that included a 43-23 win over Montana State. Portland State ended the streak with a 24-23 victory but SUU held on to the title with the win over Northern Arizona.
“Southern Utah is a physical team that likes to throw the ball around,” Sam Houston head coach K. C. Keeler said. “They are a really good football team.”
Tickets for the FCS opening round game are available now online at www.gobearkats.com and are on sale at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located on the west side of Elliott T. Bowers Stadium. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
The ticket office will be open Friday from 12 noon to 6 p.m. On game day Saturday, the ticket office will open at 10 a.m.
