This Saturday the SUU Thunderbirds will play Montana for the last time as a fellow Big Sky Conference member, I’m hopeful we can send them out in style – as all of their other opponents have as well so far this season. SUU has certainly not had the season they hoped for but honestly they have had a tough damn schedule.
They were also one of the teams that did not opt out of the spring season and while a 1-5 record there isn’t anything to celebrate, if you look back they were in most every game they played. Lost by 1 to NAU, lost by 2 to ISU, beat Poly by 10, lost to Idaho by 1, lost to Weber by 3, and lost to NAU (again) by 10.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds 1-7
14-45 loss @ San Jose State: This one got out of hand pretty quickly, it was 38-14 at the half. SJSU had 410 passing yards in the game, SJSU only scored once in the 2nd half and SUU only had 4 total possessions, but did cross midfield on 3 of those 4.
14-41 loss @ Arizona State: SUU hung around but couldn’t keep up on offense. It was 28-7 at the half. SUU had 4 turnovers in the game and ASU was able to do whatever they wanted on offense (230 rushing / 200 passing)
40-35 win vs Tarleton State: SUU’s lone win this season, there seemed to be practically no defense the first half, it was 28-28 at the end of the 2nd quarter. The teams tightened up in the 2nd half though but it was still a back and forth. Mid-way through the 4th quarter TSU scored a TD to go up 35-34 in the game, SUU answered with a touchdown (failed 2 point) with about 1:30 left in the game. TSU then was picked off the and the game was over. SUU passed for over 300 and ran for 150, they did lose two interceptions. I see TSU put the ball on the ground 4 times but didn’t lose a single fumble.
21-50 loss vs Eastern Washington: SUU once again was able to hang around for a while, early into the 3rd quarter they scored a TD to make it 30-21 and it kind of looked like they were going to get in a bit of a shootout, however from there SUU’s possessions went 3 and out, lost fumble, and two turnovers on downs – all while EWU added 20 more points. EWU did what they usually do, almost 550 passing in the game. SUU’s numbers on offense weren’t great, 101 rushing, 240 passing.
13-20 loss vs Portland State: For a lower scoring game there were 5 lead changes and 3 points of a tied game. PSU scored with 7:00 left in the game to go up 20-13, SUU’s last two possessions wound up being a 3 and out and then a turnover on downs on the PSU 4 yard line with just 3:00 left in the game. PSU with the ball back ran out the clock to secure the win. Neither team had much going for offense, 267 yards total for SUU, 307 for PSU.
20-41 loss @ Sacramento State: This one wasn’t much of a game, Sac was up 31-7 early in the 3rd and SUU just didn’t have the firepower to make it a game. Sac had 250 on the ground, and another 175 passing. SUU did get close to 300 passing, but had 3 interceptions, ouch.
35-59 loss @ Northern Arizona: NAU got the lead fast, up 24-0 just 2:30 into the 2nd quarter. From there, basically neither team played much defense as SUU’s offense came to life and NAU just kept on scoring. NAU had 721 total yards of offense (304 rushing / 417 passing) while SUU had 221 on the ground and 321 passing. It probably would’ve been a hell of a game if it weren’t for SUU’s first quarter that had them punt twice and lose 2 fumbles. Meanwhile for NAU on 13 possessions they only had to punt twice.
9-17 loss vs Northern Colorado: In the “directional showdown” of the Big Sky, UNC came out on top. SUU was held to just 3 fieldgoals. SUU had two drives end in a turnover on downs. Looking at each team’s stats UNC was successful running the ball (250 yards) while SUU was successful passing (307 yards). The teams were a combined 10-30 on 3rd down.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game SUU (241 for SUU vs 219 for UM)
Rushing yards per game Montana (103 for SUU vs 147 for UM)
Total offense Montana (344 for SUU vs 366 for UM)
Passing yards allowed per game Montana (278 for SUU vs 250 for UM)
Rushing yards allowed per game Montana (201 for SUU vs 79 for UM)
Total defense Montana (479 for SUU vs 329 for UM)
SUU gets 1 by virtue of their passing yards, Montana gets all others giving them 5
Offense points scored Montana (20.75 for SUU vs 29.7 for UM)
Defense points allowed Montana (38.5 for SUU vs 15.9 for UM)
Turnover margin Montana – (-6 for SUU / +6 for Montana)
Fieldgoal % Montana (50% for SUU vs 67% for UM)
Punt Returns Montana (4 yards for SUU vs 12 yards for UM)
Kick Returns Montana (19 yards for SUU vs 29.3 yards for UM)
T.O.P. SUU (31:31 for SUU vs 27:55 for UM)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) Montana (71% SUU / 55% UM)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) SUU (56% SUU / 53% UM)
3rd down offense SUU – (41% for SUU / 36% for UM)
3rd down defense Montana – (54% allowed for SUU vs 32% allowed for UM)
And another big haul for Montana, adding 8 while SUU gets 3. That puts the total at Montana with 13 and SUU with 4
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Players to Watch:
#4 Justin Miller, QB: A 6-4 JuCo transfer (Snow CC – same as Marcus Knight), he had a good spring overall, his fall season he’s been able to keep up on the passing yards but has had more turnovers. He’s averaging 226 yards per game and a 63% completion, 7 TDs and 9 INTs. He’s also got 2 rushing TDs this season.
#83 Ethan Bolingbroke, WR: At 5-10, 175, he’s SUU’s leading target with 16 more catches than the next guy. He’s got 456 yards and 2 TDs this season through the air. He’s also their primary punt returner, averaging just about 5 yards per return. Ethan’s really stepped up especially when SUU’s all American WR, Judd Cockett (#80) went down with injury.
#23 Karris Davis, RB: SUU’s only running back this season to participate in every game, he’s leading the team with 270 yards rushing this season. He’s got 1 rushing TD, he’s also got about 80 receiving yards as well.
#30 David Moore III, RB: A 200 pound true freshman, I’m unsure his availability for this game. It appears to me that David was more of the workhorse than Davis was/is, but he only registered 1 touch against NAU and didn’t play against UNC. He’s got just 151 rushing but 4 rushing TDs.
#0 Brandon Schenks, WR: When Hicks-Onu lines up on him it’ll be two #0’s facing off. Shenks is SUU’s big target at 6-3. He’s 2nd on the team with receptions and yards (339) and leads the team with 4 TDs.
#8 La’akea Kaho’ohanohano-Davis, LB: One of the better linebackers in the conference, he’s go 67 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 3 sacks, and 1 INT.
#91 Fancis Bemiy, DE: A big dude on the D-line, 6-4, 271. He’s the TFL leader on the team with 10, he’s also got 3 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, a blocked kick, and 35 total tackles.
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Keys to a Grizzly win
1. Slow the screen game down – SUU is a short pass team with a group of quicker WRs and RBs that can get behind a defense quickly. They’ll presumably look to attack Montana’s aggressive defense and the Griz need to be prepared for what SUU will throw at them.
2. Run the damn ball – I would just love it if we could get an RB or two back healthy, but even if we can’t, I want to see 150+ on the ground from whoever the RB group is on Saturday.
3. Force 2 or more turnovers – SUU is a little turnover prone and that has really killed their momentum in a few games. Let’s steal a few away – the opportunities should be there – and not let them get rolling.
4. Let KB12 keep building off the Idaho success – Multiple teams have had good success passing on Southern Utah. I predict they’re going to play a little more base/zone defense that Sac did, which flustered Kris a bit. If the game plan can get him more success against that type of defense then it’ll help him moving forward.
5. Be the better team in the red zone. Interestingly SUU on offense has good success once they cross the 20, better than Montana. No better time than now for the Griz to start working to reverse that trend.
6. Start to clean up the costly errors. Last week Montana had 14 points wiped off the board because of penalties. The week before they had a punt return called back as well. Montana’s errors won’t kill them against bad teams, but they need to start ironing that out now or else it’ll bite them in the ass down the road.
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I felt great about Montana coming off their Dixie win, and then Sac tripped them up. However, they bounced back against Idaho and once again I’m feeling good here. SUU is no Sac State, as evidenced by their 21 point loss to them a few weeks back – and I think Montana is going to take care of business. As I mentioned earlier, it would be great to see a few guys back, but I have no clue their availability – so I’m going to bet we’ll still see some choppy play from some of our younger dudes. Much like many of SUU’s games, I’ll bet it’s close-ish at the half, but Montana should slowly pull away. I’m going to say 38-17 Montana
Go Griz!
They were also one of the teams that did not opt out of the spring season and while a 1-5 record there isn’t anything to celebrate, if you look back they were in most every game they played. Lost by 1 to NAU, lost by 2 to ISU, beat Poly by 10, lost to Idaho by 1, lost to Weber by 3, and lost to NAU (again) by 10.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds 1-7
14-45 loss @ San Jose State: This one got out of hand pretty quickly, it was 38-14 at the half. SJSU had 410 passing yards in the game, SJSU only scored once in the 2nd half and SUU only had 4 total possessions, but did cross midfield on 3 of those 4.
14-41 loss @ Arizona State: SUU hung around but couldn’t keep up on offense. It was 28-7 at the half. SUU had 4 turnovers in the game and ASU was able to do whatever they wanted on offense (230 rushing / 200 passing)
40-35 win vs Tarleton State: SUU’s lone win this season, there seemed to be practically no defense the first half, it was 28-28 at the end of the 2nd quarter. The teams tightened up in the 2nd half though but it was still a back and forth. Mid-way through the 4th quarter TSU scored a TD to go up 35-34 in the game, SUU answered with a touchdown (failed 2 point) with about 1:30 left in the game. TSU then was picked off the and the game was over. SUU passed for over 300 and ran for 150, they did lose two interceptions. I see TSU put the ball on the ground 4 times but didn’t lose a single fumble.
21-50 loss vs Eastern Washington: SUU once again was able to hang around for a while, early into the 3rd quarter they scored a TD to make it 30-21 and it kind of looked like they were going to get in a bit of a shootout, however from there SUU’s possessions went 3 and out, lost fumble, and two turnovers on downs – all while EWU added 20 more points. EWU did what they usually do, almost 550 passing in the game. SUU’s numbers on offense weren’t great, 101 rushing, 240 passing.
13-20 loss vs Portland State: For a lower scoring game there were 5 lead changes and 3 points of a tied game. PSU scored with 7:00 left in the game to go up 20-13, SUU’s last two possessions wound up being a 3 and out and then a turnover on downs on the PSU 4 yard line with just 3:00 left in the game. PSU with the ball back ran out the clock to secure the win. Neither team had much going for offense, 267 yards total for SUU, 307 for PSU.
20-41 loss @ Sacramento State: This one wasn’t much of a game, Sac was up 31-7 early in the 3rd and SUU just didn’t have the firepower to make it a game. Sac had 250 on the ground, and another 175 passing. SUU did get close to 300 passing, but had 3 interceptions, ouch.
35-59 loss @ Northern Arizona: NAU got the lead fast, up 24-0 just 2:30 into the 2nd quarter. From there, basically neither team played much defense as SUU’s offense came to life and NAU just kept on scoring. NAU had 721 total yards of offense (304 rushing / 417 passing) while SUU had 221 on the ground and 321 passing. It probably would’ve been a hell of a game if it weren’t for SUU’s first quarter that had them punt twice and lose 2 fumbles. Meanwhile for NAU on 13 possessions they only had to punt twice.
9-17 loss vs Northern Colorado: In the “directional showdown” of the Big Sky, UNC came out on top. SUU was held to just 3 fieldgoals. SUU had two drives end in a turnover on downs. Looking at each team’s stats UNC was successful running the ball (250 yards) while SUU was successful passing (307 yards). The teams were a combined 10-30 on 3rd down.
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General Stats
Passing yards per game SUU (241 for SUU vs 219 for UM)
Rushing yards per game Montana (103 for SUU vs 147 for UM)
Total offense Montana (344 for SUU vs 366 for UM)
Passing yards allowed per game Montana (278 for SUU vs 250 for UM)
Rushing yards allowed per game Montana (201 for SUU vs 79 for UM)
Total defense Montana (479 for SUU vs 329 for UM)
SUU gets 1 by virtue of their passing yards, Montana gets all others giving them 5
Offense points scored Montana (20.75 for SUU vs 29.7 for UM)
Defense points allowed Montana (38.5 for SUU vs 15.9 for UM)
Turnover margin Montana – (-6 for SUU / +6 for Montana)
Fieldgoal % Montana (50% for SUU vs 67% for UM)
Punt Returns Montana (4 yards for SUU vs 12 yards for UM)
Kick Returns Montana (19 yards for SUU vs 29.3 yards for UM)
T.O.P. SUU (31:31 for SUU vs 27:55 for UM)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) Montana (71% SUU / 55% UM)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) SUU (56% SUU / 53% UM)
3rd down offense SUU – (41% for SUU / 36% for UM)
3rd down defense Montana – (54% allowed for SUU vs 32% allowed for UM)
And another big haul for Montana, adding 8 while SUU gets 3. That puts the total at Montana with 13 and SUU with 4
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Players to Watch:
#4 Justin Miller, QB: A 6-4 JuCo transfer (Snow CC – same as Marcus Knight), he had a good spring overall, his fall season he’s been able to keep up on the passing yards but has had more turnovers. He’s averaging 226 yards per game and a 63% completion, 7 TDs and 9 INTs. He’s also got 2 rushing TDs this season.
#83 Ethan Bolingbroke, WR: At 5-10, 175, he’s SUU’s leading target with 16 more catches than the next guy. He’s got 456 yards and 2 TDs this season through the air. He’s also their primary punt returner, averaging just about 5 yards per return. Ethan’s really stepped up especially when SUU’s all American WR, Judd Cockett (#80) went down with injury.
#23 Karris Davis, RB: SUU’s only running back this season to participate in every game, he’s leading the team with 270 yards rushing this season. He’s got 1 rushing TD, he’s also got about 80 receiving yards as well.
#30 David Moore III, RB: A 200 pound true freshman, I’m unsure his availability for this game. It appears to me that David was more of the workhorse than Davis was/is, but he only registered 1 touch against NAU and didn’t play against UNC. He’s got just 151 rushing but 4 rushing TDs.
#0 Brandon Schenks, WR: When Hicks-Onu lines up on him it’ll be two #0’s facing off. Shenks is SUU’s big target at 6-3. He’s 2nd on the team with receptions and yards (339) and leads the team with 4 TDs.
#8 La’akea Kaho’ohanohano-Davis, LB: One of the better linebackers in the conference, he’s go 67 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 3 sacks, and 1 INT.
#91 Fancis Bemiy, DE: A big dude on the D-line, 6-4, 271. He’s the TFL leader on the team with 10, he’s also got 3 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, a blocked kick, and 35 total tackles.
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Keys to a Grizzly win
1. Slow the screen game down – SUU is a short pass team with a group of quicker WRs and RBs that can get behind a defense quickly. They’ll presumably look to attack Montana’s aggressive defense and the Griz need to be prepared for what SUU will throw at them.
2. Run the damn ball – I would just love it if we could get an RB or two back healthy, but even if we can’t, I want to see 150+ on the ground from whoever the RB group is on Saturday.
3. Force 2 or more turnovers – SUU is a little turnover prone and that has really killed their momentum in a few games. Let’s steal a few away – the opportunities should be there – and not let them get rolling.
4. Let KB12 keep building off the Idaho success – Multiple teams have had good success passing on Southern Utah. I predict they’re going to play a little more base/zone defense that Sac did, which flustered Kris a bit. If the game plan can get him more success against that type of defense then it’ll help him moving forward.
5. Be the better team in the red zone. Interestingly SUU on offense has good success once they cross the 20, better than Montana. No better time than now for the Griz to start working to reverse that trend.
6. Start to clean up the costly errors. Last week Montana had 14 points wiped off the board because of penalties. The week before they had a punt return called back as well. Montana’s errors won’t kill them against bad teams, but they need to start ironing that out now or else it’ll bite them in the ass down the road.
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I felt great about Montana coming off their Dixie win, and then Sac tripped them up. However, they bounced back against Idaho and once again I’m feeling good here. SUU is no Sac State, as evidenced by their 21 point loss to them a few weeks back – and I think Montana is going to take care of business. As I mentioned earlier, it would be great to see a few guys back, but I have no clue their availability – so I’m going to bet we’ll still see some choppy play from some of our younger dudes. Much like many of SUU’s games, I’ll bet it’s close-ish at the half, but Montana should slowly pull away. I’m going to say 38-17 Montana
Go Griz!
